Jewish students celebrate Rosh Hashanah amidst feelings of cautious optimism

Chabad at Pitt hosted their annual “Shofar in the Park” event on Thursday afternoon for Rosh Hashanah. Jewish students and families attended a brief service and enjoyed brisket sandwiches together on the WPU lawn. 

Rosh Hashanah, also known as the Jewish New Year, is a celebration that lasts two days. As part of the celebration, a ram’s horn, also called a shofar, is ceremonially blown to mark the start of a new year.

Rabbi Schmuli Rothstein, head of Chabad at Pitt, said Rosh Hashanah is “not celebrating new year or life, but the energy of the new year, and we are celebrating that new level of energy.”

“Community is the best part — showing that every Jewish student here has a family,” Rothstein said. “Judaism is a heritage more than just a religion, and just seeing people celebrate is the best part of it all.”

Rothstein talked about the history of the annual “Shofar in the Park” event, which has been going on since before 2020. 

“We celebrated in Schenley Park every year,” Rothstein said. “We started before Covid. We moved the location this year because there were many other events going on and we wanted to ensure the safety of everyone involved.” 

Rothstein was accompanied by his wife, four sons and daughters. Sara Schechter, senior architecture student and vice president of Chabad at Pitt, said attendance at this event “was a bit more than previous years, which is very exciting.” 

Despite the joy of the holiday, attendees felt tension in the wake of the two antisemitic hate crimes that occurred in Oakland. Schechter thinks that the University can do more to protect its Jewish students.

“We are lucky, because it isn’t as difficult as some other campuses,” Schecter said. “A lot of people don’t want to come to our holiday events because they’re just nervous about people being disrespectful.”

Rothstein similarly commented on people feeling more nervous to attend Chabad events, but added that “there are still tons of people, a beautiful service and no decline in attendance.”

Morgan Madison, a junior psychology major, feels similarly, saying she does not feel Pitt does enough for its Jewish students.

“I appreciate the offer that you can get escorted by police to Chabad, but that’s after there was a few hate crimes,” Madison said.

Rosh Hashanah is traditionally celebrated by eating challah, a traditional Jewish sweet bread, with food being a significant part of the holiday. Madison was very happy with her brisket sandwich, which had pickles, onions and various other toppings. 

Rosh Hashanah in the park was Andrew Beer’s, a junior ecology and evolution major, first Chabad event at Pitt.

“It’s very welcoming,” Beer said. “There’s free food, so I’m always going to take advantage of that.” 

Even though Chabad at Pitt is a Jewish organization, anyone is welcome to attend all events. 

”I bring my non-Jewish friends here all the time too,” Madison said. “It’s as safe as it can get, as far as being a Jewish space goes.” 

Madison feels that events like “Shofar at Pitt” are important for Jewish students to express themselves and celebrate their culture.

“Now is more important than ever to show your Judaism rather than hide it, and attend these events,” Madison said. ”If you’re ethnically Jewish or religiously Jewish … be proud of it.”

Rothstein and Schechter similarly hoped that Jewish students will stay confident. 

“Be proud of who you are,” Schechter said.