Student Weekend Brings Music and Light to California Beach

Hundreds of Jewish college students took over two S. Diego, Calif., hotels last weekend for the annual West Coast Intercollegiate Shabbaton.

Sponsored by Chabad-Lubavitch centers on the West Coast and the Chabad on Campus International Foundation, the weekend bash featured beachside activities, intensive workshops, networking sessions and musical performances.

The Shabbaton was the first in its seven-year history to go off campus.

Thought-provoking discussions were the norm throughout the jam-packed schedule of the West Coast Intercollegiate Shabbaton, held this year in the Pacific Beach neighborhood of S. Diego, Calif.

Hundreds of students from California, Arizona and Nevada took over two S. Diego hotels for the seventh-annual Shabbaton, which student organizers billed as the spiritual and social event of the year.

A mass candle-lighting ceremony Friday night ushered in the holy day of Shabbat.

A musical beachside Havdallah ceremony Saturday night marked the conclusion of Shabbat.

Each student got a candle for the ceremony.

Workshops included a “Stump the Rabbi” session, a Talmudic-based exploration of modern-day ethical problems, and a presentation by Rabbi Zalman Kravitz, education director of the Los Angeles Jews for Judaism.

Days began with prayer services for those who wanted to participate.

Social activities included an evening concert.