YU Girls Inspired at Crown Heights Shabbaton

Last Friday afternoon, a group of students of the Stern College for Women at the Yeshiva University stepped off a bus and took a group photo at 770 Eastern Parkway. Some of the girls fidgeted and felt out of place among the crowd of black and white, but by the end of their weekend they would no longer use the phrase “out of place” to describe how they felt in Crown Heights.

As one who grew closer to Judaism with the help of the incredible Chabad of S. Francisco, I’ve always felt comfortable around the Lubavitch community. After high school I decided to widen my perspective of Jewish Orthodoxy and attended a Modern Orthodox seminary. As one can imagine, I returned from my year in Israel feeling somewhat emotional and confused about the path ahead of me. People started asking me, “Michelle, are you still Chabad?” and, strangely, I didn’t know how to respond.

That summer, I met a girl from Crown Heights who told me something that changed the way I looked at what “being Chabad” meant. She told me that once you’re Chabad, you’re always Chabad. Once you learn Chassidus, you can’t unlearn it. I then understood that Chabad was not just a sect of Judaism, but a deep and introspective way of thinking about what it means to be a Jew.

The Crown Heights Shabbaton, organized by the Chabad Club at Stern College for Women, served as an introduction to Crown Heights and the inner workings of Chabad-Lubavitch at its headquarters for many Yeshiva University students. Thirty students ventured out of their dorms for Shabbat to immerse themselves in a community that seemed very different than their own.

A number of the girls had never visited Crown Heights before. They attended the Shabbaton out of curiosity and interest. It was a chance to either reaffirm their preconceived position that Lubavitchers had nothing in common with other Orthodox folk or to be proven otherwise.

Chabad Club at Yeshiva University provides many programs to the student body in an effort to allow girls from all backgrounds to find applicable ways of incorporating Lubavitch philosophy and ideas into one’s everyday life. Although the club has designed many classes and programs, the Shabbaton brought Chassidut to an accessible level. Organizers Rochel Spangenthal, Leah Meadvin, and Leah Bermann assured attendees that they would leave with a different perspective on the Chabad community than the one they came with.

The shabbaton schedule was packed. It included tours by Rabbi Yehuda Dukes, Rabbi Beryl Epstein, and shiurim with Rabbi Chaim Miller and Rabbi Mordi Dinerman. For Melave Malka we were hosted by Mrs. Chana Gurowitz and the girls at Beis Rivkah Seminary.

Every experience was valuable, but the highlight of my Shabbat was the Friday night meal.

On Friday night, all thirty of us were welcomed into the beautiful home of Rabbi Simon and Shaindy Jacobson. Girls held their breath as Rabbi Jacobson walked into the room. They gave each other glances, as if saying, “yep, typical Chabad Rabbi. Long beard. Black Hat. Same old.” As we approached the main course, Rabbi Jacobson opened the floor for questions, and prefaced with a short introduction about himself. He spoke about his teenage years being filled with skepticism and a desire to understand Judaism beyond what he was taught. Girls started to breathe again. Everyone could relate.

The stereotype of the lofty, untouchable Rabbi was torn to shreds. Hands started to rise with questions that were answered by Rabbi Jacobson with a request for even more controversial questions. The girls were surprised by his openness and understanding. At this meal, no topic was shunned or turned away.

Rabbi Jacobson inspired and shocked us career-driven young girls when he stressed our duty to be ‘non-conformists.’ He told us that each of us has our own role in the world, and that wherever we find ourselves, we must grab the opportunity to make a difference. He stressed the fact that Judaism and career are not two separate entities and that stepping into a cubicle does not mean one is departing from Judaism, but rather that one has new opportunities bring Judaism to her environment.

We realized that far from being an isolated Chassidic community, Crown Heights is filled with people who try to pull the mundane and the holy together. Being Chabad doesn’t mean taking yourself away from the world, but rather using Torah to infuse the world with love, understanding of one another, and spirituality.

“They’re just normal!” I heard some girls exclaim as they recounted how they watched their hosts prepare Shabbat dinner and joke with their children just like their own parents do.

As we walked back to our bus after Shabbos, I caught up with one of the girls. At the end of our conversation she profoundly summed up her experience: “We entered this Shabbaton trying to understand the differences between us and them, but at the end of the day we are left thinking: are we really all that different?”