NYU’s Bronfman Center and Hillel will be hosting it’s annual “Shabbat for 1000″ on March 2-3. This year they have made several changes, including the name: “Shabbat for 2000″ or, S2K.
This year’s co-chairs, Becca Oshins (’09) and Emily Grunewald (’09), explained their planning in an email interview with CampusJ.
How do you expect to deal with 2000 people this year?
We are expecting about 2000 people to participate in the entire weekend. The weekend consists of the Friday night dinner, Friday night dessert and entertainment, Saturday lunch and events, and finally a social action project for Sunday. The event began 5 years ago with an attendance of 800 and has grown over the past years. This is the first time we are calling it shabbat for 2000, and we are SO EXCITED ABOUT IT.
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The goal of s2k is to create a larger sense of community in the city. We want people who always attend shabbat and people who never attend shabbat to feel welcome at s2k.
Who attends the event?
The program is open to EVERYONE. Though it is a NYU event, we expect lots of people from other universities and religions to attend.
Traditionally, there has been a featured speaker during dinner. NYU President John Sexton has spoken the past two years. Do you have any special appearances planned?
Regarding a speaker, this year we are not having one at the actual dinner. Feedback from last year told us that it was hard to hear the speaker without a microphone, and we want to respect the varyingly levels of observance, so instead of adding a microphone we subtracted the speaker. However, expect a much more exciting friday night this year.
Do you have more reasons to share other than #18 “Because it’s too big to stay home” as listed on the postcard/marketing design?
Some other reasons are
-to rest your muscles
-to meet my besheret
-to teach an old shabbat new tricks
-to do something new
-because its not your grandmothers shabbat.

Other reasons that people have submitted have ranged from
- to hang out with the tribe,
-to meet nice jewish girls
-to make my mother happy.
-what else would i do on a friday night?
What has the planning and preparation process been like?
The planning process has been sensational! It is so interesting to work with people to range from all levels of observance, all levels of commitment and involvment. Getting all these people to focus on this one event that is truely for the entire community has been rewarding (if a little time-consuming…). Over 40 people have worked on this event from adversiting to marketing to decorating to seating arrangments. It all comes together on March 2.

Registration and information can be found online. All attendees must pick up a purple wristband at the Bronfman Center (7 E. 10th Street) before the event and wear it as their entrance ticket. This has been done in the past as a way to include those wishing to participate who could not carry a ticket or sign their name on Shabbat for religious observance reasons.

Last year, attendees could sign up online requesting up to 9 others to be seated with at a table. This year’s new registration system allows people to request seating at one of many themed tables: Liberal Judaism, Conservative Judaism, Orthodox Judaism, LGBT, NYU Dorms, Alternative Break Alumni, Birthright alumni, Chabad, JHP (Jewish Heritage Program), Iranian/Sephardic, Interfaith, Muslim-Jewish Dialogue Group, Russian, Shabbat 101, Politics, Social Action, or Israel.

Jewish student and Washington Square News contributing writer Aaron Greenblatt studies the Quran with NYU’s Muslim Chaplain:

“Like the Jewish or Christian Bibles, the Quran represents many things to many people, so instead of focusing on what it is not, I plan to explore what the Quran is.
That’s why, on a chilly Friday morning, I joined NYU’s first Muslim chaplain, Khalid Latif, for a crash course on Islam. Perhaps it seems strange that a Jew would want to engage in scriptural analysis of the Quran, but the chaplain pleasantly indulged my interest in hoping to create a different type of discourse about Islam and religion.
Latif exudes wisdom beyond his 24 years. He is young, cool and hip, and thus attracts a queue of students seeking counsel, support or friendship. With black, wispy hair like dusk and a medium build, he would not stand out in a crowd. In his part-time position, he functions as director, administrator, social worker, community leader and social activist.
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True enough, Latif’s office represents a blend of his passions, pursuits and the American lifestyle. Nintendo (”It’s a collector’s item, I’m told,” says Khalid), Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 systems offset a dry-erase board filled with the Arabic alphabet - and a note from a student saying, “Khalid is a girl” - a picture of Mecca, Arabic calligraphy and other traditional decoration.
[…]
As the chaplain says, “It’s incumbent on all of us to effect social change.”

Several fellowships are being offered this year at NYU for Jewish students through the Bronfman Center and MEOR. Washington Square News reporter Sarah Malanga discusses the new Jewish Learning Fellowship:

Several NYU Jewish organizations have collaborated to bring the Generation to Generation Fellowship to the university, a program that educates students on the Jewish faith and gives them opportunities to exercise their faith within the community.
“It’s a course on Judaism, similar to a cooking class. You learn the recipe and then you taste the goods,” said Rabbi Aaron Eisemann, director of the University Jewish Experience, one of the organizations that helped bring the program to NYU along with Meor International and the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life. “In this program you learn the wisdom of Judaism and understand the meaning behind things that are Judaism and then you hear from people who are successful. And then you go out into the community and see how it all works.”
Participants in the program will attend lectures and discussions given by prominent local rabbis and community leaders, and will have the opportunity to meet and build relationships with successful professionals who can mentor the students. Students will participate in field trips exploring highlights of the Jewish community. Because the program is aimed at college students, classes are only held one night a week with minimal homework, and trips are only on weekends to accommodate student schedules. Students chosen for the fellowship will also receive a $500 stipend.

Shir Harel is the Vice President of NYU’s Middle East Sustained Dialogue Group (MESDG). Below are her responses to a recent email interview regarding Muslim-Jewish relations on campus:
Robert Friedman, a volunteer for Obsession, said that the approach taken by NYU toward Muslim-Jewish dialogue was one of “denial” of the claimed danger represented by radical Islam. Do you think NYU’s Muslim-Jewish dialogue has resulted in denial?
I think at NYU we do a good job of confronting many sensitive issues that are important to both sides in a way thats dynamic and bring in many perspectives. I think we’ve shown that we want to put all the arguments on the table.
The view of Mr. Friedman and Obsession is that radicalism in the Middle East is an inherent product of Islam- an idea I very strongly disagree with. From their perspective, Muslims who don’t want to question Islam are “in denial.”
I think many of the students who attended the event made very good points about how to better understand these extremists who are, yes, Muslims, but who more importantly have these particular political agendas as a result of political, economic and social circumstances in their region. I think if you want to really understand extremism you need to look at these factors. It doesnt make you in denial to assert that there are better explanations for extremism.
What do you think of Jewish-Muslim relations at NYU? How and why do you think it may be different from those at other universities and in larger communities?
I think Jewish-Muslim relations at NYU are dynamic. There are many on both sides who will not engage the other, but I feel that MESDG is helping to create a forum and a community of those who genuinely want to. I think the growing turnout of Jews and Muslims at dialogue events are testament that nyu has a strong base of good Jewish-Muslim relations.
What do you think Jews at NYU should be doing about Jewish extremists who produce violence and violent rhetoric?
I disagree with the idea that people of a certain religion need to necessarily “do something about” each other. For example I don’t feel that I can hold one Muslim accountable for something another Muslim does, just as I wouldn’t think to hold one doctor responsible if a different one was being accused of malpractice — or think this necessarily reflects on the medical profession.
I do think, being moderate and progressive, that it’s a shame that sometimes the actions and words of Jewish extremists reflect on me and my Jewish peers, and in these cases I feel the need to clarify my views and my disagreement with them.
The event was a good example of this situation — I felt there was a strong presence of Jewish and pro-Israel groups endorsing Obsession, and felt a responsibility to voice my differences with them. That’s why I made the statement I did, that I was disheartened to see people believing that this propaganda somehow helps Israel and its future, or that demonizing Islam is a Jewish concern.
How has the MESDG at NYU worked towards or chosen not to participate in Muslim-Jewish dialogue?
MESDG has strived to create challenging events and discussions which are inclusive, but are also not evasive of serious issues. I think this is one of our great strengths and I think the reason why so many passionate people come to our dialogues, and why so many people also learn something. One of the things we try to do in creating programming is look at other events happening on campus and think about whats not being said or examined in a multi-dimensional way.

Jordan Dunn, NYU sophomore, is the President of the Middle East Sustained Dialogue Group. Below are his responses to a recent email interview about the university’s Muslim-Jewish relations:
The Middle East Sustained Dialogue Group held a screening of “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West” with a discussion co-sponsored by the Bronfman Center and Islamic Center following; why do you feel people chose to attend or not to attend?
Some Muslims chose to boycott the screening because they believed the film was too unfair and derogatory to be given the legitimacy of a serious screening. I believe some of the Jews who came were supportive of the film and others were neutral or critical.
Robert Friedman, a volunteer for Obsession, said that the approach taken by NYU toward Muslim-Jewish dialogue was one of “denial” of the claimed danger represented by radical Islam. Do you think NYU’s Muslim-Jewish dialogue has resulted in denial?
The purpose of the dialogue is not to discuss national security policy. The amount of awareness of the threat of terrorism people leave with is not a criterion by which to evaluate the dialogue as that is not our objective. The goal is to foster and maintain understanding and good campus relations. In that sense, the dialogue was a success. We learned from one another the ways in which Muslims find this films hurtful and also Jewish concerns relevant to the film’s theme. We had a challenging discussion and left as friends — that is the measure of success. Our primary responsibility is toward one another in how we share our campus community. We don’t affect foreign affairs; it is our local affairs we can influence for the better.
What do you think of Jewish-Muslim relations at NYU? How and why do you think it may be different from those at other universities and in larger communities?
I think we have excellent relations because we work at it. The persistent work of the Dialogue Group, along with Rabbi Sarna’s and Khalid Latif’s friendship, along with Bronfman/Islamic Center efforts like the joint trip to New Orleans keep the lines of dialogue open and allow us to get to know one another, rather than otherize and fear each other.
What do you think Jews at NYU should be doing about Jewish extremists who produce violence and violent rhetoric?
We have a responsibility to drown the hate out with a positive message. Robert Friedman believes Muslims should have self-introspection in order to address the radicalism within their faith community. I say, why dwell on the negative; why not invest our time and energy in coexistence. We should race to join together with our friends of all faiths to refute the message of hate and intolerance.