At 6:30 p.m. every Friday night, several dozen UCSD students aren’t hitting the books, the town or their Nintendo Wii – in fact, two of those things are arguably forbidden to them for at least another day. From sundown on Friday until the “”first three stars”” in Saturday’s evening sky, according to Rabbi Lisa Goldstein, the practicing Jewish students of UCSD’s chapter of Hillel San Diego observe the Shabbat: their holy day of rest.
The Friday evening services are a gathering point for much of UCSD’s practicing Jewish community. With their fluctuating (but often sizable) numbers, student-led prayers for each denomination and huge communal dinner following services, Shabbat services at UCSD’s International Center may seem informal and essentially social. However, it’s not the food or the friends that bring this diverse band of students together again and again on a night that is often spent drinking or sleeping.
The gatherings start early, sometime before 6 p.m., though the time spent preparing and mingling for this crowd is more important than punctuality. Students in yarmulkes, dress shirts and jeans chat while others work in the kitchen and wander off to greet newcomers. Among the easiest of this easy-to-approach crowd is Goldstein herself, the 11-year executive chair of Hillel San Diego and frequent attendant of Shabbat services.
An attendant, not a leader – Goldstein is quick to point out that students, with her guidance, lead and have led the concurrent Orthodox, Conservative and Reform services that the Union of Jewish Students organizes. Sixth College sophomore Justin Elkrief heads the Orthodox congregation, which he estimated as being the smallest with about 12 regular attendants, and his Reform counterpart, Eleanor Roosevelt College senior Irena Pikovsky, leads a larger service of about 20 students. Elkrief and Pikovsky are relatively new to this, both having assumed their roles after some training at the beginning of fall quarter.
Not so for their third colleague, Michael Hirshman, who in turn leads UCSD’s weekly Conservative welcoming of the Shabbat. The A.S. presidential candidate’s congregation is the largest of the three and he often goes the longest.
“”The service itself – I never look at the clock,”” Hirshman said, which often leads to the three concurrent services not running quite as concurrently as intended.
But there is no one to fuss over those details, even though their Hebrew isn’t as perfect as it could be when they read the prayers, Hirshman confided.
Though their Orthodox associates may be more exacting, he said, “”A lot of us guys in the Reform and Conservative world – you’ll hear a few stumbles.””
Goldstein notes that students generally opt to visit a service for the observation of any major holiday. While April 7’s Shabbat falls in mid-Passover and thus sees a larger attendance than most of their regular services, most of the prayers read by Hirshman’s congregation are still routine. At one point, those students in mourning – for anyone and at any time, it seems, the service leaves the definition of this up to the grieving person themselves – stand and recite a separate prayer. While not all of the students’ Hebrew is in perfect sync, everyone is paying steadfast attention.
At one point in the service, prayer is interrupted for a weekly topic of discussion, which, in April 7’s case, is community. The questions raised are simple and almost secular: “”How do we see the Jewish community at UCSD? Do our numbers or our demographics change this?””
The discussion is relatively brief, but those students who raise their hands to contribute do so boldly. They discuss the various applications of the words Hillel, San Diego, Jewish-American and even the Jewish communities, and while no one launches into a debate, there’s no definite consensus reached.
Even so, if “”discussion”” is a far more appropriate word for the talk than “”sermon”” or “”debate,”” it still rests on one conclusion that everyone seems to accept as a fact. They gather as a community – somewhere in the weekly gathering at the International Center, the late-starting and late-running services and the generously estimated but strictly kosher meal, UCSD students of all majors, backgrounds and disciplines of faith find a reason not to do anything else on a Friday night.