Getting to know: Sadie Hilf
'The Jewish community is as strong as its people...We've been here for 3,000 years, and we'll be here for another 3,000 years, as long as there's leaders in every generation that take up that mantle'
Sadie Hilf went to a consignment store on the Upper West Side looking for a prom dress. She left with a silver-covered Haggadah and a life-changing reminder.
Hilf and a friend had traveled to New York City six years ago, she said.
Inside the Manhattan-based store, while searching for a memorable gown a Hebrew text captured Hilf’s eye. She reached for the book. She quickly noticed it was a Haggadah. Hilf went to purchase the item, but a curious exchange ensued: The clerk asked Hilf if she’d been on Birthright Israel, a free 10-day trip to the Jewish state.
Designed to foster connection to Jewish history and strengthen Jewish identity among 18- to 26-year-olds, according to organizers, Birthright has taken more than 900,000 young Jewish adults to Israel since 1999.
Hilf was 17. She told the clerk she hadn’t participated in the trip as she wasn’t old enough. Though too young to participate in Birthright, the interaction triggered a memory. Growing up in Bethel Park, Hilf didn’t regularly attend a synagogue.
Still, she said, “My family was very pro-Israel.”
Hilf had heard about Birthright at some point in her childhood, she told the Chronicle, but forgot about the free trip until the shopkeeper’s reference.
After entering college, Hilf eventually joined a Birthright mission to Israel.
She described the excursion as her “first big interaction with the Jewish community” and a learning experience of enormous “magnitude.” Birthright starkly countered her experiences at school where she was “the only Jewish student.”
After graduating from Grove City College with a degree in mechanical engineering, Hilf frequented more Jewish spaces. She served as a regional adviser to Hasabara Fellowships and returned to Birthright. Between May 2022 and June 2025, Hilf staffed 12 trips to the Jewish state. All the while, she blogged for The Times of Israel, interned at the Knesset, completed a master’s degree in international relations from Johns Hopkins University and spent a year living in Italy. Hilf also developed a professional fluency in Arabic.
“I really enjoy staying up to date on things that are happening in the region, and speaking with people about what a future could look like,” she said.
Six months ago, Hilf, 25, accepted a position at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh as its senior development programming and missions associate.
The job, she explained, involves planning international travel for donors and assisting with “donor-centric events,” including demographically tailored programs for women and young adults.
Her goal as a Jewish professional, she said, is to not only gain a “better appreciation” for the work that was “poured into me as a recipient of different programs from the Jewish community, but also provide that experience to other people.”
Hilf credits the Federation and other legacy organizations with offering pathways to understanding Jewish communal leadership.
Through these opportunities, she said, younger people can develop skills that are “crucial” to the Jewish community’s continuance.
Hilf, a classically trained ballerina who still dances once a week at Texture Ballet School in McMurray, said her engagement with Jewish communal life has grown exponentially in recent years. She hopes others, regardless of age or location, consider increasing their involvement.
“Get in touch with someone either at the Federation or somewhere else in the community and just dive in head first. The Jewish community is as strong as its people,” she said. “We’ve been here for 3,000 years, and we’ll be here for another 3,000 years, as long as there’s leaders in every generation that take up that mantle.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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