Heya, I know that there are a lot of Jewish students at Yale, but I’m wondering if it ends up feeling overwhelming or not. What’s Shabbat like size wise (particularly the services)? Is it easy or hard to take the lead? I want to know things like that. Thanks a bunch!
Multiple minyans across the theological spectrum including reform, egal/conservative, orthodox, etc. Dinner after Friday night shabbat services is fairly large, but since the services themselves are broken up into multiple minyans, none of the individual groups are overwhelmingly large. Haven’t heard of anyone who is enthusiastic and committed failing to find their niche. More info @ https://slifkacenter.org/
Thank you so much for the reply @tdy123! I actually felt like there wasn’t quite enough information on the Slifka center’s website, which is why I asked here as well. I do USY, so I’ll probably join the egalitarian service. A big dinner is fine as you’ll probably end up just sitting with friends anyway.
The main reasons I even asked this question are: 1) I don’t want a service to feel like a regional USY convention (about 100 for my region). I enjoyed Vassar’s 20 person service and I’d be okay with 50, but over 70 is just a bit too much.
- I hear it’s almost harder to become a tour guide at Yale than it is to get in. That’s something I would really want to do if I somehow got in, but the competition is daunting. I want being able to take the lead in Hillel to feel like becoming a leader in USY rather than becoming a tour guide competition wise: Nice and challenging, but not disheartening.
Yale has so many different Jewish programs and holiday celebrations. There is something for everyone. I love that some like Simchat Torah take place outside of Slifka - I forget exactly where but it was a big thing. Same for Hanukkah. For Passover there are many options including Seder to go if you want to have your own Seder with friends. Try following Slifka on Facebook to get a feel for it. They also offer lots of programs in Israel if you are interested in traveling there.