After nine years leading San Francisco Hillel, Alon Shalev is leaving his role as executive director “to take an extended vacation, spend additional time with his family and pursue new challenges in the nonprofit world,” Brett Goldstein, the president of S.F. Hillel, announced last week.

Alon Shalev

“Alon joined San Francisco Hillel at a time of great challenge to the organization,” Goldstein wrote in a release. “He was immediately thrown into the deep end, having to handle a building eviction notice within weeks of becoming executive director. Over the years, he has navigated many difficult situations for Hillel on campus, and has represented the organization with all his heart.”

Shalev, 50, is a prolific author. He has written three social justice–themed novels but is most known for his “Wycaan Master” series, classified as young adult epic fantasy. The first in the series, “At the Walls of Galbrieth,” won an Eric Hoffer Award in 2013; the fourth, “Sacrificial Flame,” is due out this summer.

Ollie Benn, current S.F. Hillel governance chair and board member, has assumed the role of interim executive director. A former lawyer, Benn recently sat on the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation’s board of directors as an observer, served in the federation’s Fed Fellows program and was on the S.F.-based Jewish Community Relations Council’s metropolitan council.

San Francisco Hillel serves students at San Francisco State, University of San Francisco, UCSF, Academy of Art University, California Culinary Academy, Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, California College of the Arts, Golden Gate University and community colleges in San Mateo, San Bruno and San Francisco.