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.