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Largest Shabbat Gathering in US Draws Over 2,000 Jewish Students
Over 2,000 Jewish students attending “Pegisha,” the largest Shabbat gathering of young people in the US. Photo: Chabad on Campus International
Chabad on Campus International, the campus wing of the Orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch movement which aims to forge connections between Jewish college students while exposing them to a more traditional religious observance, recently organized the largest Shabbat gathering of young people anywhere in the US.
Held in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York this past weekend, the event — titled “Pegisha,” which means “encounter” in Hebrew — drew over 2,000 students from 176 universities across eight countries for three days of learning, socializing, and reflection on an explosion of antisemitism unlike any seen in the Western world since World War II.
“We’ve been holding this event for around 20 years. What was unique about this year was the doubling of our numbers. Last year, we had 1,300 students; this year we had over 2,000, and we attribute that to everything going on at college campuses,” Avi Weinstein, chief operating officer of Chabad on Campus, told The Algemeiner during an interview. “Some students are feeling the results of increased antisemitism and a lack of support from the university. Their showing up in such large numbers is indicative of their wanting to connect and find strength and comfort within the community.”
As The Algemeiner has previously reported, anti-Israel activity on college campuses has reached crisis levels in the 13 months since Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7. According to a report published by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in September — titled “Anti-Israel Activism on US Campuses, 2023-2024” — anti-Zionist activity involving assault, vandalism, and other phenomena increased by a “staggering” 477 percent during the 2023-2034 academic year. The report added that 10 campuses alone accounted for 16 percent of all incidents tracked by ADL researchers, with Columbia University and the University of Michigan combining for 90 anti-Israel incidents — 52 and 38 respectively. Harvard University, the University of California – Los Angeles, Rutgers University New Brunswick, Stanford University, Cornell University, and others filled out the rest of the top 10. Violence, it continued, was most common at universities in the state of California, where an anti-Zionist activist punched a Jewish student for filming him at a protest.
This sudden change in the climate of American life has set off an awakening of Jewish consciousness, Arizona State University third-year student Courtney Berman told The Algemeiner on Wednesday.
“After the events of Oct. 7, we faced such extreme antisemitism, and it’s so in your face. I would have been crazy not to attend Pegisha this year because the experience of talking to other Jews who are feeling the same way and having the same experiences, as well as growing together, is necessary given the times we’re in,” she said. “And, it’s undeniable that we’re seeing a revival of Jewish identity on a mass scale. Students who grew up secularly or heavily reform are now keeping Shabbat, keeping kosher — and I’m seeing it in myself, keeping Shabbat and kosher. I grew up secular, and now I’m in a world where people are trying to take away our Judaism and take away our culture, but that makes us want to get closer and come towards Judaism more.”
She continued, “It was incredible, definitely an event to remember. Inspiring, empowering, and unifying, it demonstrated the power that can be generated when all of the Jewish campus cohorts come together to celebrate our heritage and who we are, and I feel confident about heading back and home to campus. I will show that I’m not afraid to be a Jewish student.”
Mark Rhoge, a University of Pittsburgh student, told The Algemeiner that he intends to “radiate” what he learned over the weekend for the benefit of his Jewish friends who could not attend.
“That sense of pride and hope is great for the Jewish people, I think,” he said. “It’ll create a snowball effect with how many people we are able to touch.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Largest Shabbat Gathering in US Draws Over 2,000 Jewish Students first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.