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Jewish Herald-Voice

The Jewish holiday season can be challenging for students on campus, especially for those celebrating away from family for the first time.

They need to decide where and how to celebrate and how to balance holidays with their school obligations.

Rosh Hashanah

“At first, I was nervous about going to Chabad for Rosh Hashanah,” said Matthew Edelstein from Florida. As a freshman, I had only been in college a few weeks, and it’s not easy to put yourself out there. I was worried about feeling out of place and excluded.

“But, those worries were put to rest as soon as I called Rabbi Shmuli [Slonim] to tell him I was coming for services. I could tell just by his tone that Chabad was going to be a familiar and hospitable place I could go to meet a lot of great, new people.”

Eddelstein was one of more than 100 students who participated in one of the many offerings Chabad at Rice provided for the Houston Jewish student community during the holiday season.

In addition to meaningful services and large Rosh Hashanah dinners, Chabad offered multiple “Short Shofar Services” at the Rice campus and Chabad.

“We know how busy students are, and we try to find creative and fun ways to bring them mitzvahs at their convenience,” said Rabbi Slonim. “Every year, we get more and more feedback from students, telling us how much they appreciate these opportunities.”

Yom Kippur

What’s a synagogue without a Yom Kippur fundraising appeal? A Chabad house with a mitzvah appeal, said Rabbi Slonim.

Yom Kippur is a day when we focus on something deeper. We look to connect and grow. No one likes long boring services and sermons. Definitely not college students, he added.

Chabad works hard to make its services meaningful and user-friendly.

This year, Rabbi Slonim spoke about the Shema prayer and how it has traveled with us for more than 3,000 years. How even New York’s Mayor Ed Koch – although buried in Trinity Church Cemetery – has the prayer inscribed on his tombstone. And how it’s a mitzvah to recite the Shema morning and night.

Then came the Yom Kippur appeal: Who is ready to commit to saying the Shema twice a day?

Many students took on this resolution and since have shared positive feedback on how it has changed their days.

Sukkot

Sukkot is all about unity. The Talmud says, “It is fitting for all of Israel to sit in one sukkah,” regardless of one’s affiliation or practice.

The holiday started with more than 30 students coming together from Rice, University of Houston and the Houston medical schools to celebrate this holiday of unity and enjoy poke bowls in the sukkah.

“They just kept on coming,” Nechama Slonim, co-director of Chabad at Rice, said. “We kept on adding tables, chairs and food to our sukkah. The students know that the walls of Chabad, and – by extension – our sukkah, can stretch.”

“Sukkot at Chabad was so much fun,” said Anastasia Kravchenko, UH ’23. “It was amazing to see so many Jewish students all together under one sukkah, sharing a meal. I met so many friendly faces and can’t wait to come back for more events.”

Chabad also brought the lulav and etrog shake to Rice and UH campuses, to allow students, faculty and staff to do this special and quick mitzvah.

As we transition from the busy holiday schedule to our normal one, Chabad continues to search for creative ways to engage the young Jewish minds studying at our local universities in impactful ways that are fun for them.

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