Over 2,000 Jewish college students from 176 universities across eight countries gathered in Brooklyn over the weekend for this year’s “Pegisha,” meaning “encounter,” the world’s largest Jewish student Shabbat celebration.
Organized by Chabad on Campus International, the three-day event set attendance records — and highlighted a surge in Jewish unity amid a particularly difficult time for Jewish students on college campuses.
The massive gathering started Friday and featured traditional Shabbat meals hosted by Crown Heights families, workshops and speeches from prominent Jewish leaders.
But the emotional high point came during Saturday night’s Havdalah ceremony, where 2,000 attendees joined in prayer, song and dance. Organizers described the moment as “a powerful display of Jewish resilience and unity.”
The gathering comes amid escalating antisemitic incidents at universities, spurred in part by protests surrounding the current Middle East conflict.
Some campus demonstrations, which initially focused on calls for ceasefires and divestment, have reportedly adopted more extreme rhetoric — explicitly endorsing groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis on campus, according to several outlets.
“Pegisha’s been going on for like, 20 years or so, and every year it gets larger. But this year it went to a whole new level, and we speculate that’s because of the atmosphere on campus,” said Rabbi Avi Weinstein, COO of Chabad on Campus International. “Students might be feeling intimidation, related to what’s happening in Israel, and all the secondary effect it’s been having on campuses — where there may have been in situations they’ve felt threatened or, you know, less than welcome.”
Protesters on campus, in some instances, used slogans such as “Glory to the resistance!” and celebrated Hamas leaders like Yahya Sinwar while displaying Hamas insignias — including the inverted red triangle — according to The Washington Post.
Jewish students report facing direct harassment, with incidents such as being called “baby killers” and “terrorists.”
Those students who spoke to The Washington Times said that, for them and many of their friends, the climate on campus has led to a sense of isolation and fear. Pegisha, they maintained, offers a refuge from these tensions, providing Jewish participants with a sense of belonging and solidarity.
The Gaza conflict erupted in October 2023 following a large-scale attack on Israel by Hamas, an Islamist group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and others.
The attack resulted in the deaths of over 1,200 Israeli civilians and the capture of approximately 250 hostages, who were taken to Gaza. In response, Israel launched extensive military operations in Gaza, which, according to Gaza health officials, have killed over 43,000 people, the majority of whom they report to be women and children.
Data from Pew Research show that, when it comes to the conflict in Gaza, young Americans throw their support to the Palestinians.
A third of adults under 30 say they sympathize with Palestine, compared to just 14% siding with Israelis. Older Americans flip the script: nearly half of those 65 and up back Israel, while only 9% support Palestine.
One Pegisha participant, University of Pittsburgh senior Mark Rhoge, said the Gaza War has seemed to change the way people in America think of all Jews — regardless of their viewpoints toward the war itself.
“In terms of my personal Judaism, I think it’s never felt stronger. And I think that’s a message from a lot of our allies and from a lot of organizations that you know, as a group of people: we don’t back down from stuff like this,” he told The Washington Times. “But this weekend really just urges us to grow and to become closer with God … to each other and to the community itself.”
Mr. Rhoge added that his own campus has felt the pangs of antisemitism. Indeed, in September, a Jewish student wearing a Star of David necklace was attacked by a group of people in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. Police told the press the group was using antisemitic language, reported CBS News.
Some participants believe that’s why this year’s Pegisha nearly doubled last year’s turnout of 1,300.
Courtney Berman, another Pegisha attendee and a junior at Arizona State University, said a couple of groups at her school have orchestrated organized protests “specifically targeting Jewish students.”
“If they notice anything Jewish related — if we’re wearing a Jewish star or a shirt that has anything related to it — they will say something,” she said, adding that anti-Israel protesters have even thrown rocks at her and her friends. “We actually ended up having to be escorted off campus by police back to our Chabad House because it wasn’t safe for us to walk on campus at night.”
The line between anti-Zionist and anti-semitic acts on campus often feels blurred to Jewish students, said Ms. Berman, though she agreed that pro-Palestine protesters usually insist that the line exists.
Columbia’s appointed task force on antisemitism noted in an op-ed in The Spectator, the school’s newspaper, earlier this year that the word “Zionist” has become a one-size-fits-all accusation.
“It is usually only Israelis and Jews who are asked to assure people, as the price of acceptance, that they are not ‘Zionists.’ That is about as clear-cut a case of discrimination as one can find,” the task force wrote.
They added that Jewish students “feel that they cannot belong to a wide variety of student activities if they consider themselves to be ‘Zionist.’ This happens in graduate student union settings, in student government organizations, and in other student groups — even ones with no obvious relationship to religion or Middle East politics.”
At the end of last year, Congress grilled the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn faced a grilling over antisemitism on their campuses. They were asked whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” violated their schools’ codes of conduct — and they replied that the answer was dependent upon context.
The backlash was swift, and soon after, Harvard’s Claudine Gay and Penn’s Liz Magill stepped down under mounting criticism.
Data from the Anti-Defamation League show that since October 7 of last year, the share of Jewish students who feel at ease openly identifying as Jewish on campus has plummeted, shrinking to nearly half of what it once was.
Rabbi Weinstein said these more hostile campus environments force Jewish students to seek a safe place to be obviously proud of their faith, pushing them toward Jewish gatherings like this weekend’s Pegisha.
“Ultimately, I think this forces students to really think about what it means to be Jew: ‘What is my connection to Israel, and why are people threatening us? Why are people hating on us?’” Rabbi Weinstein told The Washington Times. “And I think those questions then trigger a reaction that maybe I should learn more about this, let me get more involved, and let me get comfort and strength for my community — and also learn more about my tradition so I can understand what may be behind some of this.”
“This weekend reaffirmed my pride in being Jewish,” added one attendee from a university in the Midwest. “It was empowering to see so many of us come together at a time like this.”
Organized by Chabad on Campus International, the three-day event set attendance records — and highlighted a surge in Jewish unity amid a particularly difficult time for Jewish students on college campuses.
The massive gathering started Friday and featured traditional Shabbat meals hosted by Crown Heights families, workshops and speeches from prominent Jewish leaders.
But the emotional high point came during Saturday night’s Havdalah ceremony, where 2,000 attendees joined in prayer, song and dance. Organizers described the moment as “a powerful display of Jewish resilience and unity.”
The gathering comes amid escalating antisemitic incidents at universities, spurred in part by protests surrounding the current Middle East conflict.
Some campus demonstrations, which initially focused on calls for ceasefires and divestment, have reportedly adopted more extreme rhetoric — explicitly endorsing groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis on campus, according to several outlets.
“Pegisha’s been going on for like, 20 years or so, and every year it gets larger. But this year it went to a whole new level, and we speculate that’s because of the atmosphere on campus,” said Rabbi Avi Weinstein, COO of Chabad on Campus International. “Students might be feeling intimidation, related to what’s happening in Israel, and all the secondary effect it’s been having on campuses — where there may have been in situations they’ve felt threatened or, you know, less than welcome.”
Protesters on campus, in some instances, used slogans such as “Glory to the resistance!” and celebrated Hamas leaders like Yahya Sinwar while displaying Hamas insignias — including the inverted red triangle — according to The Washington Post.
Jewish students report facing direct harassment, with incidents such as being called “baby killers” and “terrorists.”
Those students who spoke to The Washington Times said that, for them and many of their friends, the climate on campus has led to a sense of isolation and fear. Pegisha, they maintained, offers a refuge from these tensions, providing Jewish participants with a sense of belonging and solidarity.
The Gaza conflict erupted in October 2023 following a large-scale attack on Israel by Hamas, an Islamist group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and others.
The attack resulted in the deaths of over 1,200 Israeli civilians and the capture of approximately 250 hostages, who were taken to Gaza. In response, Israel launched extensive military operations in Gaza, which, according to Gaza health officials, have killed over 43,000 people, the majority of whom they report to be women and children.
Data from Pew Research show that, when it comes to the conflict in Gaza, young Americans throw their support to the Palestinians.
A third of adults under 30 say they sympathize with Palestine, compared to just 14% siding with Israelis. Older Americans flip the script: nearly half of those 65 and up back Israel, while only 9% support Palestine.
One Pegisha participant, University of Pittsburgh senior Mark Rhoge, said the Gaza War has seemed to change the way people in America think of all Jews — regardless of their viewpoints toward the war itself.
“In terms of my personal Judaism, I think it’s never felt stronger. And I think that’s a message from a lot of our allies and from a lot of organizations that you know, as a group of people: we don’t back down from stuff like this,” he told The Washington Times. “But this weekend really just urges us to grow and to become closer with God … to each other and to the community itself.”
Mr. Rhoge added that his own campus has felt the pangs of antisemitism. Indeed, in September, a Jewish student wearing a Star of David necklace was attacked by a group of people in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. Police told the press the group was using antisemitic language, reported CBS News.
Some participants believe that’s why this year’s Pegisha nearly doubled last year’s turnout of 1,300.
Courtney Berman, another Pegisha attendee and a junior at Arizona State University, said a couple of groups at her school have orchestrated organized protests “specifically targeting Jewish students.”
“If they notice anything Jewish related — if we’re wearing a Jewish star or a shirt that has anything related to it — they will say something,” she said, adding that anti-Israel protesters have even thrown rocks at her and her friends. “We actually ended up having to be escorted off campus by police back to our Chabad House because it wasn’t safe for us to walk on campus at night.”
The line between anti-Zionist and anti-semitic acts on campus often feels blurred to Jewish students, said Ms. Berman, though she agreed that pro-Palestine protesters usually insist that the line exists.
Columbia’s appointed task force on antisemitism noted in an op-ed in The Spectator, the school’s newspaper, earlier this year that the word “Zionist” has become a one-size-fits-all accusation.
“It is usually only Israelis and Jews who are asked to assure people, as the price of acceptance, that they are not ‘Zionists.’ That is about as clear-cut a case of discrimination as one can find,” the task force wrote.
They added that Jewish students “feel that they cannot belong to a wide variety of student activities if they consider themselves to be ‘Zionist.’ This happens in graduate student union settings, in student government organizations, and in other student groups — even ones with no obvious relationship to religion or Middle East politics.”
At the end of last year, Congress grilled the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn faced a grilling over antisemitism on their campuses. They were asked whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” violated their schools’ codes of conduct — and they replied that the answer was dependent upon context.
The backlash was swift, and soon after, Harvard’s Claudine Gay and Penn’s Liz Magill stepped down under mounting criticism.
Data from the Anti-Defamation League show that since October 7 of last year, the share of Jewish students who feel at ease openly identifying as Jewish on campus has plummeted, shrinking to nearly half of what it once was.
Rabbi Weinstein said these more hostile campus environments force Jewish students to seek a safe place to be obviously proud of their faith, pushing them toward Jewish gatherings like this weekend’s Pegisha.
“Ultimately, I think this forces students to really think about what it means to be Jew: ‘What is my connection to Israel, and why are people threatening us? Why are people hating on us?’” Rabbi Weinstein told The Washington Times. “And I think those questions then trigger a reaction that maybe I should learn more about this, let me get more involved, and let me get comfort and strength for my community — and also learn more about my tradition so I can understand what may be behind some of this.”
“This weekend reaffirmed my pride in being Jewish,” added one attendee from a university in the Midwest. “It was empowering to see so many of us come together at a time like this.”
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