Dartmouth Ski Shabbaton gives college students opportunity to study, play and pray together

Posted 02/22/00

Jewish college students from all over the northeast will have the opportunity to study, play and pray together at the Fourth Annual Intercollegiate Ski Shabbaton Feb. 25-27.

The student-organized event, sponsored by the Dartmouth College Hillel, is a chance for Jewish and other interested students to gather for a weekend of outdoor winter sports, including skiing at Killington, Vt., and for Torah study and special Shabbat services.

"The shabbaton is a wonderful combination of people gathering both for social and religious purposes," said Rabbi Edward Boraz of Dartmouth's Roth Center for Jewish Life. "Shabbaton" is a Hebrew word for the activities that surround a Jewish Sabbath and suggests a Jewish-themed experience.

A unique aspect of the gathering is that it provides activities and opportunities for people of all levels of Jewish observance, rather than focusing on only one particular branch of Judaism, according to Boraz.

"Students can experience Shabbat on a level they are comfortable with," he said. "The shabbaton is a great opportunity for people of varying Jewish observances to come together as a community. It's also a chance for students to experience Shabbat on one of the most beautiful campuses in the country."

Activities will include Torah study and Shabbat and Havdalah services at the Roth Center, as well as skiing, ice skating, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, sledding and hiking.

Students from Harvard, Brown, Brooklyn College, Baruch College, Syracuse University and Franklin and Marshall College, among others, have already signed up to participate in the weekend event. Past ski shabbaton weekends have attracted 125 students from 13 schools across the northeast, according to Jeff Murphy '02, one of the Dartmouth organizers. Students will cook meals together at the Roth Center, and visitors from other colleges will stay with Dartmouth students in the dorms.

While the skiing is open only to students, the public is invited to attend a Friday, Feb. 25, lecture on Israeli culture by Anat Gilead, Vice Consul of Israel at the Consulate General of Israel to New England. The event, scheduled for 9 p.m. at the Roth Center, is free.

A musical performance by Jewish a cappella groups from Harvard University and Brown University will also be free and open to the public. The groups will perform at 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, also in the Roth Center.

Click here for more information about the weekend.