Chabad Club Shabbaton Big Hit

On Shabbat Parshat Vayishlach, twenty Yeshiva University students headed down to Crown Heights for the annual Chabad Club Shabbaton. The group left YU at one PM LST (Lubavitch Standard Time), to the Lubavitch World Headquarters, known as 770. Some knew what to expect, while others were in for a pleasant surprise. All students were set up to stay with households in the Lubavitch community.

As Shabbat approached some of students ran to the mikvah (ritual bath). Ten minutes before Shabbat, Crown Heights appeared to be transforming. Men wearing Kapatos, the long traditional garb of Hasidic Jews (Bekeshes for those Lithuanians) were seen running to 770 with mikvah towels slung over their shoulders. All gathered at 770 for the Mincha prayer. One student commented "This place is like Penn Station." He was seemingly right, 770 is the Hassidic Penn Station. Minyan after minyan, kedusha after kedusha, was an inspiration to us all.

After Kabblat Shabbat, a frenzy of Lubavitchers started singing and dancing. Some of the students joined the circle, while others were in shock.

After the evening service (Maariv) we went to our respective hosts for a Chabad style dinner. The alcohol flowed along with the Hassidic tunes, the niggunim. Students had the chance to ask their hosts questions that interested them.

After the meal the group gathered at the home of Rabbi Levi Gorelick, of the OK Kashrus Labs, for a Fabrengen (gathering, for those taking the Yiddish course). A Fabrengen can be a spiritual and refreshing experience for participants, and many students commented that they felt the same. The fabrengen went on till the wee hours of the morning, inspiring students to thank heaven for the ten AM minyan the next morning.

Shabbat lunch was a communal gathering, with the students all eating together at the home of a Harvard Law School graduate while enjoying chassidic stories and dictums.

"The Shabbaton was a smashing success," said Yosef Levine, President of the Chabad Club. "It facilitated the acclimation of many students to the realm of spirituality and the chassidic lifestyle. Certainly it will contribute to the arrival of the Messiah and the redemption of YU and the Jewish people."