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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.
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3rd Round of Nuclear Talks Between Iran, US Concludes in Oman
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – The third round of talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program has concluded on Saturday, US media reported.
The two sides are understood to have discussed the US lifting of sanctions on Iran, with focuses on technical and key topics including uranium enrichment.
On April 12, the US and Iran held indirect talks in Muscat, marking the first official negotiation between the two sides since the US unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term.
The second round of indirect talks took place in Rome, Italy, on April 19.
All parties, including Oman, stated that the first two rounds of talks were friendly and constructive, but Iranian media pointed out that the first two rounds were mainly framework negotiations and had not yet touched upon the core issues of disagreement.
According to media reports, one of the key issues in the expert-level negotiations will be whether Washington will allow Iran to continue uranium enrichment within the framework of its nuclear program. In response, Araghchi made it clear that Iran’s right to uranium enrichment is non-negotiable.
The US, Israel and other Western actors including the United Nation’s nuclear agency reject Iranian claims that its uranium enrichment is strictly civilian in its goals.
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Hamas Says It’s Open to 5-Year Gaza Truce, One-Time Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – The Palestinian jihadists of Hamas said they were willing to secure an agreement with Israel that that would see them remain in charge of the enclave, a source told international media. The deal would include an internationally guaranteed five-year truce and the release of all Israeli hostages in a single batch.
The latest bid to seal a ceasefire follows an Israeli proposal which Hamas had rejected earlier in April as “partial,” urging a “comprehensive” agreement to halt the war ignited by the October 7 massacres.
Israel demands the return of all hostages seized in the 2023 attack, and the disarmament of Hamas, which the jihadists rejected as a “red line.”
An earlier Israeli offer, rejected by the Palestinian terrorists, included a 45-day ceasefire in exchange for the return of 10 living hostages.
More than a month into a renewed Israeli offensive in Gaza after a two-month truce, a Hamas official said earlier this week that its delegation in Cairo would discuss “new ideas” on a ceasefire.
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Suspected Chemical Blast at Iran’s Bandar Abbas Kills 4, Injures Hundreds
People walk after an explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port in Bandar Abbas, Iran, April 26, 2025. Photo: Mohammad Rasoul Moradi/IRNA/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
A huge blast on Saturday likely caused by the explosion of chemical materials stored at Iran’s biggest port, Bandar Abbas, killed at least four people and injured more than 500, Iranian state media reported.
The explosion, which hit the Shahid Rajaee section of the port, occurred as Iran began a third round of nuclear talks with the United States in Oman, but there was no immediate indication of a link between the two events.
Hossein Zafari, a spokesperson for Iran’s crisis management organization, appeared to blame the explosion on poor storage of chemicals in containers at Shahid Rajaee.
“The cause of the explosion was the chemicals inside the containers,” he told Iran’s ILNA news agency.
“Previously, the Director General of Crisis Management had given warnings to this port during their visits and had pointed out the possibility of danger,” Zafari said.
An Iranian government spokesperson, however, said that although chemicals had likely caused the blast, it was not yet possible to determine the exact reason.
Iran’s official news channels aired footage of a vast black and orange cloud of smoke billowing up above the port in the aftermath of the blast, and an office building with its doors blown off and papers and debris strewn around.
Bandar Abbas is Iran’s largest port and handles most of its containers in transit.
The blast shattered windows within a radius of several kilometers and was heard in Qeshm, an island 16 miles south of the port, Iranian media said.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency posted footage of injured men lying on the road being tended to amid scenes of confusion.
State TV earlier reported that poor handling of flammable materials was a “contributing factor” to the explosion. A local crisis management official told state TV that the blast took place after several containers stored at the port exploded.
As relief workers tried to put out fires, the port’s customs officials said trucks were being evacuated from the area and that the container yard where the explosion occurred likely contained “dangerous goods and chemicals.” Activities at the port were halted after the blast, officials said.
DEADLY INCIDENTS
A series of deadly incidents have hit Iranian energy and industrial infrastructure in recent years, with many, like Saturday’s blast, blamed on negligence.
They have included refinery fires, a gas explosion at a coalmine, and an emergency repairs incident at Bandar Abbas killed one worker in 2023.
Iran has blamed some other incidents on its arch-foe Israel, which has carried out attacks on Iranian soil targeting Iran’s nuclear program in recent years and last year bombed the country’s air defenses.
Tehran said Israel was behind a February, 2024 attack on Iranian gas pipelines. And in 2020, computers at Shahid Rajaee were hit by a cyberattack. The Washington Post reported that Iran’s arch-foe Israel appeared to be behind that incident as retaliation for an earlier Iranian cyberattack.
Israel has indicated it is nervous about the outcome of US-Iran talks, demanding a full dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran says the program is used solely for peaceful purposes, while international observers say it is getting closer to being able to build a bomb.
There was no immediate comment from Israeli military or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office when asked for comment on whether Israel was in any way involved in Saturday’s explosion.
Oil facilities were not affected by the blast on Saturday, Iranian authorities said. The National Iranian Petroleum Refining and Distribution Company said in a statement that it had “no connection to refineries, fuel tanks, distribution complexes and oil pipelines.”
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