Ryan Torok, JTA Dustin Hoffman, Gene Simmons, Jon Voight and Bob Odenkirk were among the Hollywood names who gathered at UCLA’s Royce Hall on Monday night for “Letters, Light, and Love,” a theatrical production celebrating the centuries-old connection between the Jewish people and Israel through letters written by historical figures and ordinary people. The sold-out Oct. 19 event, organized by Jewish Federation Los Angeles, blended readings, music, and storytelling to trace that relationship across generations, from Maimonides and Julius Caesar to Golda Meir, Albert Einstein, and Leonard Bernstein. The evening also featured personal accounts of people whose lives and families have been intertwined with Israel. All ticket proceeds benefited the Sha’ar HaNegev Resilience Centre, which provides emotional and therapeutic support to individuals and families in southern Israel as they work to recover and rebuild after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. For Rabbi Noah Farkas, president and CEO of Jewish Federation Los Angeles, the event carried particular significance because of its setting. Less than three years ago, UCLA was the site of a violent anti-Israel encampment where Jewish students reported feeling unsafe. The campus became a flashpoint in the national debate over antisemitism and anti-Israel activism, with buildings and property damaged during the demonstrations. “This place [Royce Hall] was inundated with protesters during the encampment,” Farkas told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “It was boarded up. Its windows were broken. There was graffiti everywhere.” On Monday, the hall had been restored as a gathering place, with UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk and his wife, Felicia Knaul, among those attending and participating in the staged readings. “The fact that the chancellor himself is here tonight is, I think, really restorative,” Farkas said. “It’s almost like teshuvah for the campus.” The evening’s celebrity readings offered moments of humor alongside more solemn reflections on Jewish history and the enduring ties to Israel. Simmons, the KISS co-founder who was born in Israel, introduced himself with a joke that played on the name of the late television personality Richard Simmons. “Hello, my name is Gene Simmons. I know some of you were expecting Richard Simmons,” he said, before adding, “And I’m a Jew. I was born in Israel, but more importantly, I’m a human being.”