By BEAR ATWOOD
The Ramspondents
Kicking off its 18th year on Nov. 7, the CSU Shabbat 500 creates space for Jewish and non-jewish people to come together and have a night of community, food, tradition and education.
Lauren Maskus is the president of the Chabad Jewish Student Organization, one of the main Jewish organizations on campus that hosts the Shabbat 500 every year. The name Shabbat 500 refers to the estimated number of attendees.
“Our overall goal is we want (attendees) to go away with the sense of peace, belonging and education,” Maskus said. “If we can educate, you know, just the smallest amount of people on who we are as a people, and what Shabbat is and what it means to us, then we succeeded in our goal.”
While the event is hosted by a CSU organization in the campus's Main Ballroom, community members outside of CSU are also encouraged to come and celebrate the event. The event is completely free but the Center asks for voluntary donations for community members not affiliated with CSU to help fund the dinner.
Nathaniel Framks never attended a Shabbat before but became interested after having to find a cultural event to observe for his Interdisciplinary Approaches to Globalization class.
“It’s something I’ve never experienced before and I love trying new things, plus I’ve heard good things about Matzah Ball soup so I've wanted to try some,” Framks said. “I do like to study religion on my own time, so this is something not only for my CSU class but also for my own personal studies.
In addition to the Shabbat 500, the Chabad Jewish Student Organization also puts on smaller, weekly Shabbat dinner every Friday as well as other events throughout the year.
“We always say that Chabad is a home away from home, and we welcome everyone, regardless of faith, religion, religiosity, identity, whatever, you're welcomed,” Maskus said. “It's another place where I get to feel welcomed and not judged. It's just a place where you can just feel the love — you can feel the light. I'm really grateful to have experienced that and to also contribute to that.”
The Shabbat provides a four-course kosher meal in collaboration with the Lory Student Center kitchen that includes several traditional Jewish foods such as Matzah Ball soup, challah bread and gefilte fish, along with a short history lesson of the foods’ place in Jewish culture.
“Our goal for Shabbat 500 is to bring everyone in to experience what Shabbat is, regardless of if they're Jewish or not,” Maskus said. “Honestly, it helps with Jewish students who might not feel comfortable in their Judaism to come and just experience what it feels like without that feeling of ‘am I going to be judged’ or, ‘I don't know anyone here' kind of feeling. It helps encourage them so they end up coming to more events.”
Given the current political climate in regards to the war between Israel and Hamas, some may be hesitant to participate in events like the Shabbat 500. From her own personal perspective outside of being a representative for the Chabad Jewish Student Organization, Maskus encourages those to see these events as bringing people together as a place of community and understanding.
“We see that this is a nasty war that's going on, and there are no good outcomes for any side,” Maskus said. “I would just encourage people to come from a place of open mindedness. And you know, just because we're Jewish doesn't mean we support everything that's going on in Israel.”
Bear Atwood is a writer and reporter with a passion for community-based journalism. He’s a first gen college student attending CSU with a major in English and a minor in Journalism and Media Communication.