With terrorist murders in France, as well as growing campus anti-Semitism on the minds of Jewish students everywhere, some Chabad on Campus chapters are making special efforts this Shabbat to feature French-themed Shabbat dinners in a show of unity and support for French and world Jewry. They can also serve to help students deepen their understanding of the recent tragic events through the Torah’s teachings.
France is still reeling from a week of violence that included the murderous attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which left 12 dead; the killing of a female police officer; and the murder of four Jewish men by a terrorist holding Shabbat shoppers hostage for hours in a kosher grocery store in Paris.
Rabbi Yehoshua Chincholker, co-director of the Indiana University Chabad House-Jewish Student Center in Bloomington, Ind., is inviting students to join him and his wife, Zlata, this Friday night for a Paris-themed Shabbat. Similar gatherings will be taking place at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland; the University of Central Florida in Orlando; Syracuse University in Upstate New York; Chabad on Campus NL & Amsterdam Zuidas in the Netherlands; in addition to a number of other Chabad on Campus centers around the world.
“It’s called ‘Paris Shabbat’ in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in France,” explains Chincholker. They plan, for example, to have a French-baguette challah and tablecloths patterned after the French flag.
Additionally, a young man from Marseilles—in the south of France and a city with a sizable Jewish population—is scheduled to talk about his experiences there. Then the rabbi plans to open up the discussion as to what students would do if they were living in France right now.
The event has been posted on Facebook, and is expected to draw between 50 and 70 participants, according to the rabbi. “I think the students are thinking about what happened in France, and they are looking for some place they can express themselves,” he says. That means also talking about any concerns and fears they might have for their own security as Jews.
Chincholker says students should be encouraged and inspired to take on mitzvahs. Specifically, he will be publicizing the wrapping of tefillin, eating kosher food and affixing mezuzahs to doorways.
It’s important to enhance Jewish identity and pride among young adults, he says, “so they’ll be happy being Jewish.”
Also on the agenda is the singing of “Napoleon’s March,” a marching tune played by the armies of French Gen. Napoleon Bonaparte, which Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (the Alter Rebbe) transformed into a Chassidic niggun.
“We have encouraged Chabad Houses on campus globally to dedicate their Shabbat experiences in the merit of the French Jewish community,” says Rabbi Yossy Gordon, executive vice president of Chabad on Campus International. “We know that every Jew is family, and in this time of distress, we want to show that we care.”
‘Shabbat Around the World’
Sara Alevsky, co-director of Chabad at Case Western & University Circle in Cleveland, and her husband, Rabbi Mendy Alevsky, are welcoming students back for their first Shabbat of the new calendar year.
They’re planning to host 10 to 20 students at their house for a France-themed Shabbat dinner. Sara Alevsky has been talking with a friend, an emissary in France, who gave her some ideas for how to make Shabbat food with a French twist. “We’ll have chicken in wine [coq au vin], and French desserts like crème brûlée and lemon meringue pie.”
Chabad holds a Shabbat dinner weekly, and three times a semester also features “Shabbat Around the World,” focusing on a different city or country with a Jewish tie-in. Under the current circumstances, France was a natural choice.
“Usually, we wouldn’t do a themed Shabbat right after they come back,” explains Alevsky, “but this week, because of what happened, that’s why we’re doing it—to support the students, give room for discussion about what happened and have them voice their opinions.”
In Florida, 20-year-old Rachel Sorsher pitched the idea of a Paris-themed Shabbat dinner for her campus Chabad, co-directed by Rabbi Chaim and Rivkie Lipskier, as a way to show support for France during this “tough time.”
The junior at the University of Central Florida in Orlando says they’re planning on incorporating red, white and blue from the flag into decorations, as well as create a menu featuring dishes like salad niçoise and tomato soup Française.
“I think this Shabbat is important because it’s our right not only as Jews, but as human beings, to be able to freely believe in and practice what we wish,” she says of the significance of this week’s Shabbat service and meal.
In the face of terrorism, she notes, it is important to stand strong: “By being brave, continuing to do the things that mean so much to us, we create more light to dispel the darkness. We don’t let them win.”
For more information on events at local college or university campuses, contact Chabad on Campus at www.chabad.edu.
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