Every spring semester, Tulane Chabad hosts Shabbat 1000, an event on the Berger Family Lawn that welcomes students from all walks of life to celebrate Shabbat in a vibrant atmosphere. This year, Shabbat 1000 is on Friday, Feb. 21, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. With over 1,500 students expected to attend, the event has grown in size and impact, making it the most significant Jewish gathering on campus.
Shabbat, the weekly Jewish day of rest, is traditionally observed every Friday evening with family, friends and good food. While Tulane Chabad and Tulane Hillel host Shabbat dinners every Friday, Shabbat 1000 takes this tradition to another level, emphasizing the power of community and Jewish pride.
“Shabbat 1000 has been going [on] for about 20 years now,” said Rabbi Leibel Lipskier, co-director of Chabad at Tulane. “It began with 500 [to] 600 [students], and at this point, we’ve doubled [that] … there’s a seat for everyone at the table.”
The impact of Shabbat 1000 extends beyond just a large-scale dinner. For many, it is a source of comfort, identity and resilience, especially in light of recent events affecting the Jewish community. “Shabbat 1000 is so special,” Mushka Lipskier, co-director of Chabad, said. “It brings out so much Jewish pride. Especially now, [with] our community…really feeling the effects from Oct. 7, [we’re] connecting to our identity, who we are as a people.”
Mushka also noted the diversity of Jewish experiences represented at Shabbat 1000. “What’s interesting about Judaism and the Jewish people is that we’re all from different walks of life … There’s so many different traditions in Judaism from different countries, different cities, whether your grandparents came from Europe … or the Middle East. We’re not [just] an ethnicity, or a culture, it’s our identity.”
She emphasized how Shabbat 1000 is a celebration of that shared history, a way for students to connect with generations before them. “Shabbat 1000 is really a time where we come together as a community. [This] is what our parents, our grandparents and our great-grandparents did.”
Mushka also described the significance of gathering on campus to carry on these traditions.
“We’re taking [the] power that has been given to us from generations back, and we’re coming together in the middle of campus on a Friday afternoon where everybody could be doing anything they want. Any college student is out from 4:30 to 6:30 on a Friday afternoon—think about what you could be doing—and we’re congregating for one special Shabbat, to celebrate together.”
For student leaders like Jake Brownstein and Jillian Tobasky, co-presidents of the Chabad Student Board, the event represents more than just a dinner — it is a cornerstone of their college experience.
“As someone who’s been a volunteer for [Shabbat 1000] for the past four years, it’s really cool to see the whole community come together,” Brownstein said. “It’s really cool to see people of all different backgrounds, some Jewish, some not, all different levels of observance, coming out [to support] the Jewish community.”
Tobasky shared the same excitement, emphasizing how Shabbat 1000 brings everyone together in such a beautiful way. “It’s a time where people from anywhere can come together and celebrate for one night. It’s a night of community and unity, and it’s [something so] special and unique [to Tulane].”
As students gather this Friday on the Berger Family Lawn, Shabbat 1000 will once again serve as a reminder of the strength of community, the power of tradition and the importance of coming together. Whether attending for the first time or the fourth, everyone has a seat at the table.
