When I arrived at Carleton this past September, I had two main concerns regarding my upcoming first year of university: making new friends and achieving good grades, all while living away from home for the first time in my life.
I’m sure these are typical concerns among first-year students.
However, I also had a third concern that was equally important to me: maintaining my connection to Judaism by getting involved with Jewish clubs on campus.
My main outlet for achieving this goal has been through the Chabad Student Network of Ottawa (CSN), a joint Carleton-uOttawa club that provides Jewish students — regardless of background, level of observance or affiliation — with a Jewish experience on campus.
CSN Ottawa is directed by Rabbi Chaim Boyarsky and his wife Yocheved, who continuously work for hours on end to ensure Jewish students feel at home while at university. For instance, every Friday evening, they provide many students, including myself, with a Kosher Shabbat meal at the “Chabad House.”
In addition to plenty of other weekly events, Chabad has also provided me with the opportunity to celebrate the Jewish holidays, learn a small Torah portion every week and even help others through community service initiatives, such as feeding the homeless.
Despite the great experience I’ve had so far, I’m still especially looking forward to one event in particular, which is coming up in just two short weeks.
Chabad will attempt to make Ottawa history March 2nd when it hosts “Shabbat 300” at city hall with the goal of gathering 300 Jewish university students and young professionals for a free Friday night Shabbat dinner.
With approximately 1,800 Jewish students across the two Ottawa university campuses, according to an estimate by Rabbi Boyarsky, Shabbat 300 will attempt to break the record set last year at Shabbat 200, where over 200 Jewish students were in attendance.
The event will feature Kaila Lasky, a former actress, as a guest speaker. During her career, Lasky appeared in films, such as Wall Street and television programs, including The Bill Cosby Show.
However, it was her journey from secularism to Judaism that Rabbi Boyarsky said he hopes will inspire those who attend.
“There’s a lot of hype, which gets people to come out,” said Rabbi Boyarsky. “For a lot of people, this will be their only Shabbat to celebrate. A girl may light Shabbat candles and she’ll remember 20 years from now that she lit [them]. Other people may enjoy it and they’ll stay involved in Jewish life on campus.”
Like Rabbi Boyarsky, I too hope students who attend Shabbat 300 find the motivation to take part, at least every now and then, in some of the many events offered by Chabad and other Jewish clubs on campus, such as Hillel Ottawa.
“One benefit [of bringing 300 Jewish students together] is that it brings out Jewish pride,” Rabbi Boyarsky said.
“Why is there so much more Jewish pride in Toronto than there is in Ottawa? It’s because there’s so many Jewish people. There are also a lot of Jewish people here, but they’re very spread out. So, hopefully getting the needles out of the haystack and pulling people out of the woodwork will build a lot of friendships.”
As a Toronto native, the smaller Jewish community of Ottawa has been a slight shock compared to what I’m used to. Unlike in Ottawa, there’s no shortage of Jewish pride in the Greater Toronto Area, where families have the opportunity to join a diverse variety of synagogues and send their children to one of many Jewish day schools from kindergarten to grade 12.
Shabbat 300 will provide an excellent opportunity for Ottawa’s young Jewish community to come together and share this pride that is so commonly felt in cities with larger Jewish communities.
From the small sample of experience I’ve gained this year, I can say for certain that I would not be getting as much out of university as I am thus far if it wasn’t for the Jewish community on campus, to which I already feel a strong sense of belonging.
