More than 500 Students Gather for Shabbat Dinner

With exclamations of “Shabbat Shalom” circling, more than 500 Jewish students gathered to celebrate a traditional dinner together at the University of Georgia.

On Friday evening the Rohr Chabad House, one of the Jewish ministries on campus, hosted a dinner to bring together students to celebrate the weekly holy day, Shabbat. The same event last year drew a crowd of about 475 students, and this year Rabbi Michoel and Chana Refson, directors of the Chabad House, were hoping for even more.

As the area began to fill with students, Mrs. Refson felt confident about the number of students expected to come.

“We’re going to have a good turnout,” she said.

The idea for such a large-scale dinner began with Rabbi Refson’s desire to create a Jewish community for University students.

“The idea of Jewish unity is very important,” Rabbi Refson said.

Junior consumer foods major from Roswell Ally Moskowitz agreed that as a minority group it is important for Jewish students to spend time together as a community.

“Being Jewish, we’re used to being the minority. Jews are kinda pushed to the side,” Moskowitz said.

But at the Chabad House, Jewish students can find a welcoming environment.

“It’s very homey. They make you feel so welcome,” said Jamie Silverboard, a junior early childhood education major from Roswell.

Even students that do not usually attend events at the Chabad House still attend the “Shabbat 500” dinner.

“Even though we don’t usually attend, we like to come to [“Shabbat 500”] to support since it’s such a big event,” Lenni Nager, a junior communication sciences and disorders major from Houston, Texas, said of herself and her friend. “It’s really cool to see all the Jews together.”

But the large group of people can make things a little chaotic.

“It gets a little crazy. There are so many people,” Nager said.

Mrs. Refson described her view of the night during her welcome speech.

“One famiy, one community, all under one tent,” she said.