Chavuranakkah 2023!

Penn Chavurah is a student organization at the University of Pennsylvania for progressive Jewish students. We were formed in 2021 with the goal of giving Jewish students a community and space to have Shabbat dinners, without feeling like they had to have a particular political position to be fully welcomed. We aim to have Shabbat dinners every other week. Our 6th – and final – Shabbat for this semester is scheduled for December 8th, which is also the second night of Hanukkah. However, Chavurah is only able to receive limited funding from the university, and our attempts to apply for more grants have not been successful. We currently lack the appropriate funds to put on our last Shabbat dinner of 2023. It has been a hard time on campus to be a progressive Jewish student and it is so important to Chavurah to be able to provide our students with positive, community building events such as our annual Chavuranakkah Shabbat. We are seeking $250 to help cover: a 10-12 person catered meal combo from Hummus Grill (total cost is $175 plus tax and delivery fees), latke ingredients (it is tradition that community members make latkes together as part of the event), dreidels and gelt, plastic utensils, paper plates, and solo cups. We would greatly appreciate any contribution you can make, no matter what size, to ensure that progressive Jewish students have a place to go for Shabbat and somewhere they can celebrate Hanukkah without feeling judged, threatened or having their own Jewish identity called into question