In Judaism, there is an idea of passing knowledge and traditions down "l'dor v'dor"—from generation to generation. As if called to fulfill my part, I learned that I was accepted to Harvard's Divinity School while visiting the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland. I have always been passionate about my Jewish identity and wanted to explore that identity from an academic and pluralistic perspective. As the only Orthodox Jew in the program, I wanted to be an ambassador for my people. I wanted to share my culture with other community leaders and learn about theirs. I came to Harvard to build...