Our first Spring Shabbaton was a success!

We welcomed 35 students from across 10 North Carolina colleges to Greensboro's Camp Weaver over the February 24-26 weekend for our first Statewide Shabbaton. The retreat allowed students to disconnect from their everyday life and build relationships with friends from across the state through outdoor adventures, meaningful Shabbat celebrations, Jewish learning, and more.

Reciting Shabbat Blessings on Friday Night

One NC State student participant shared with us that it was an "incredible and unique experience to get off campus and meet other likeminded Jewish students from different colleges across NC. I was surprised to recognize several students there from previous Hillel events, and had the best time sharing meals together, hiking, doing the high ropes course, canoeing, and group activities. I am so thankful for the opportunity to have participated!"

Immersive Hillel programs like these enable us to support an even more interconnected next generation of Jewish NC. Our post-event student surveys consistently prove that the interest from college students to attend another statewide event with NC Hillel is at an all-time high and that students from across the state eagerly want to make sincere connections with their Jewish peers.

After attending the Shabbaton, one of our students from UNC Wilmington wanted donors to know, “it’s because of them that I am able to finally get the big Hillel experience that I’ve always wanted, despite going to a small college.” Another student from a small campus observed that because of the Shabbaton, they got “the chance to meet different people and make the connections I wouldn't get otherwise from my own campus. Overall this was one of the, if not the best experience I had gotten in college so far.”

If you would like to help support our next Link-sponsored statewide event, you can donate to Link here or contact Ginny Vellani for more information.