More than 100 Jewish students from across the nation's midsection descended on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for a Midwest Shabbaton hosted by the campus' Chabad Center for Jewish Student Life. The weekend event coincided with another regional Shabbaton occurring more than 1,500 miles away at the University of Florida for a group of 300 students.

"Shabbat, the central aspect to a Shabbaton, is the day of rest," said Illinois freshman Michael Kerendian, a member of the event's planning committee. "This Shabbaton promises to be a day of rest from all the worries in our lives, giving us the time to strengthen our connections to Judaism and our fellow Jews."

Billed as a "Jewish Student Leadership Weekend," the affair began as students from nine different schools served by Chabad-Lubavitch centers arrived to meet their hosts.

RELATED

"The energy that you feel walking into Chabad this morning is electrifying," said Rabbi Dovid Tiechtel, co-director of the Center for Jewish Student Life, on Friday. "The spirit and energy will only grow."

After a lively service marking the onset of Shabbat, students networked at a grand dinner, followed by an all-night Chasidic gathering known as a farbrengen. Saturday afternoon workshops focused on Israel, leadership both on campus and outside of the university, and maintaining Jewish identity in the student and professional worlds.

Saturday boasted a "Mega Barn Party" with a live deejay and bonfire.

"The Shabbaton is a great opportunity to bring together Jewish college students to celebrate Jewish unity and spirituality," said coordinator Sam Zimbovsky, a junior. "This [is] both an inspirational weekend and a great social event."

Meanwhile, in Florida, the seventh annual Chabad-Lubavitch Southeastern Campus Leadership Conference drew students from as far west as Texas for a welcome brunch at a nearby Holiday Inn.

Rabbi Yossi Lazaroff, co-director of the Chabad Jewish Student Center serving Texas A&M University, leads a Havdalah service marking the close of Shabbat at the annual Chabad-Lubavitch Southeastern Campus Leadership Conference.
Rabbi Yossi Lazaroff, co-director of the Chabad Jewish Student Center serving Texas A&M University, leads a Havdalah service marking the close of Shabbat at the annual Chabad-Lubavitch Southeastern Campus Leadership Conference.
According to Rabbi Berl Goldman, co-director of Lubavitch-Chabad at the University of Florida, the event was a weekend of comradeship, inspiration, good food and fun. After a Shabbat dinner of traditional homemade Jewish cuisine, student representatives from each of the 16 schools shared words of inspiration. A stump-the-rabbi session after services on Saturday aimed to challenge both guests and organizers, while a mock "Saturday Night Live" program after Shabbat featured kosher hip-hop sensation Nosson Zand and a kosher barbeque.

"We invited many campuses to spend this weekend together, share ideas and resources, see the energy that exists within each campus, and hopefully to feel linked to their collective Judaism," said Goldman.

Rabbi Yossi Lazaroff, who drove 16 hours with 12 students from Texas A&M University, said that his delegation reveled in their first-ever inclusion in the Shabbaton.

"They were excited about spending Shabbat with so many others," said Lazaroff. "It was a weekend to remember."

Both events were co-sponsored by the Chabad on Campus International Foundation. In Florida, additional co-sponsors included the Chabad-Lubavitch SE Jewish Campus Alliance, Lubavitch-Chabad Student Group at UF, Jewish Awareness Month and Jewish Student Union.