Outside the Rohr Chabad Jewish Student Center in Isla Vista, students, faulty and community members gathered Friday for a night of friendship, good food and a celebration of Jewish tradition.
The annual Mega Shabbat dinner brought out more than 1,000 people and offered a space for both Jewish and non-Jewish UC Santa Barbara community members to celebrate Shabbat. While Chabad at UCSB hosts Shabbat dinners every week, the Mega Shabbat dinner is the biggest night of the year.
“Every year, Mega Shabbat just gets bigger and better,” said Sarah Feuer, one of three UCSB seniors who helped plan the event.
“It’s awesome to see campus support with funding and admin and faculty. Having that presence here is really awesome,” Feuer added. “We feel very supported as a community here, which is really nice.”
Guests spent the first part of the evening mingling, enjoying appetizers, and taking photos at the photo booth. An a capella group performed as guests made their way to the tables, followed by a candle lighting and prayer.
The dinner included salmon, pasta, sushi, challah, salad and chicken, all prepared by 60 in-house volunteers.
Gloria Kompel, a UCSB student and co-organizer of the event, said Mega Shabbat offers a rare opportunity to reunite with various members of the UCSB and Jewish community.
“It’s nice to be able to see all the staff, even admin from school, and see a bunch of familiar faces, alumni that come into town, and a bunch of people that may not come every week anymore, they always pull through for this event,” Kompel said. “It’s awesome to see everyone in one place.”
The annual dinner was held on the eve of Deltopia, an annual unsanctioned street party in Isla Vista that brings in thousands of students and visitors. Kompel said last year was the first time they held the dinner on the night before Deltopia.
“It worked out really well because people are in town for Deltopia anyway, and so it’s the perfect opportunity to just make it one mega weekend,” Kompel said. “People really loved it last year, so we figured we’d do it again.”
Rabbi Gershon Klein, who runs the Rohr Chabad Jewish Student Center with his wife, Miri Klein, said the point of the evening is to celebrate Jewish unity and pride, and to invite friends into the Shabbat experience.
“Shabbat is a time when we focus on community, on family, on the inner values, the inner world, what our purpose is,” Klein said. “During the week, we’re busy with school, this and that. This place is to just come together and sort of regenerate from within.”
Miri Klein said Mega Shabbat started in 2008 and has happened every year since, except for during the COVID-19 pandemic. Klein said it’s only gotten bigger over the years. After the pandemic, 600 people attended, but for the past two years, they’ve had more than 1,000 guests.
“It’s so special to come together for something so happy and beautiful like Shabbat dinner,” Miri Klein said. “It’s a really cool experience.”