A dinner hosted by Oregon Hillel drew more than 250 students Friday night, exceeding expectations and making it the largest Shabbat dinner in the University’s history, said Oregon Hillel Executive Director Hal Applebaum.
Despite not having any flyers advertising it, the event – Shabbat 200 – was intended to draw at least 200 students in an attempt to reach out to the Jewish community, said Sara Bryan, a Jewish Campus Service Corps Fellow who helped organize the event. Advertising was done through Facebook.com and by word-of-mouth.
“We’ve never had a Shabbat that’s had this many people,” sophomore Samantha Brotman said. “Everyone was excited about being part of the first Shabbat 200.”
Shabbat, the Jewish observance of the Sabbath, usually begins on Friday night at sundown with religious services and blessings before a meal, but Shabbat 200 was mostly about the dinner.
One of the reasons for hosting a large Shabbat was to make Jewish students at the University aware of the Hillel house, Applebaum said.
“We want to open the door to Hillel, show them Hillel exists and show them what Hillel is about,” he said.
Sophomore Will Keller said another objective of the night was “making Judaism more accessible to the non-religious Jew via Hillel.”
Preparation for the meal was done entirely by student volunteers, Applebaum said, but even though the meal was over in a matter of hours, cooking that much food took weeks.
Junior Rachel Williams, who headed the cooking committee, dedicated more than 25 hours over two weeks to cooking the dinner. On Friday she also spent from 6:45 a.m. until an hour before the event making sure everything was complete.
Applebaum commended Williams for her hard work.
“This is a student volunteering a huge amount of her time for a community that she believes in, and this event would not be happening without her,” he said.
The idea for Shabbat 200 came from other institutions around the nation. Applebaum said the concept of hosting a large Shabbat dinner came up two months ago when he noticed an increase in people coming to Hillel.
Actual preparation didn’t begin until a month before the event. Along with cooking, students were involved with setting up the room and public relations for the event. All preparation was done on free time and it was all volunteer work.
The dinner was made up of the traditional Shabbat Challah bread, matzah balls used in soup, and chicken. All food, with the exception of the chicken, was vegetarian-friendly.
Before consuming the Challah bread, a blessing was said. The bread is traditionally consumed before the rest of the meal is served.
Applebaum was pleased with the way Shabbat 200 turned out.
“If a positive memory was created; it was a success,” Applebaum said. “I think everyone got something out of tonight.”
Williams agreed.
“It’s a really positive thing for Oregon Hillel, and it’s a good way to reach out to Jewish and non-Jewish students,” Williams said.
Graduate student Tamar Mali said that she was glad to see the amount of Jewish students who attended.
“I like it when Jews are brought together,” Mali said.