By Gavi Tropper and Hadar Katsman, Features Editors
Staying in for Shabbos is a sore topic for the Yeshiva University community.
Beyond the long-winded debates between many in-towners and out-towners about extending their time on campus into Shabbos, there is also debate among those who do often stay in for Shabbos: How is the food? Is there enough programming? Are there enough Minyan Men?
Shabbos life on the Wilf and Beren campuses are different in many ways, and both have their own pros and cons.
Wilf Campus
“Anyone who says YU doesn’t have a Shabbat life has not been here for Shabbos,” Jonah Adler (YC ‘28) told the YU Observer. He explained that plenty of people stay in for Shabbos, but compared to the overall size of the Wilf student body, “it doesn’t feel like a lot of people in for Shabbos.”
In an attempt to get more students to stay on campus for Shabbos, YU hired a catering company, Five Stars Caterers, for both the Wilf and Beren campuses at the beginning of the Fall 2025 semester. Last year’s food consisted of similar food that the cafeteria makes during the week, and baked goods for dessert.
Adler found the new food to be “pretty much the same quality” as last year. “I don’t know if I’m a fan of the catering,” he said.
“I think it’s better during the day than at night,” Daniel Sigelman (YC ‘29) told the YU Observer. “But it gets the job done.”
About 100 students participate in Shabbos programming on Wilf every week. Given that Washington Heights has a sizable Jewish community, students can choose to eat at the homes of their rebbeim or at friends’ apartments, or other families in the neighborhood can host them instead of having their meals on campus.
Sigelman said Shabboses where few people stay in, like the Shabbos before Succos, are not as enjoyable. But, in general, he finds “it’s a good enough amount of people here. As long as you have some people to talk to, to schmooze with, to do whatever, I think it’s enough,” he said.
Sigelman lives in Kensington in Brooklyn, and though he has the opportunity to go home for Shabbos, most weeks he chooses to stay in. “I see the value in being in,” Sigelman said. “You can connect a lot more to the community versus the week when everyone has their own schedule and it’s harder to meet people you want to meet.”
A rabbi or YU rosh yeshiva comes to Wilf every Shabbos as well. But Sigelman feels that extra programming could improve campus Shabbos. “Shabbos is about meeting people, so if you had some type of meet and greet event, I would definitely try to go to it,” he said.
Other students were satisfied with the amount of programming on campus. Meir Orlansky (YC ‘28), from Silver Spring, Maryland, told the YU Observer that “even if there were more programming, I wouldn’t go to it most likely.”
Beren Campus
Shabbos life on the Beren campus in Midtown Manhattan is a staple for many Stern students. Over the past few years, the Beren campus has made several improvements to Shabbos life — making a women’s only kabbalos Shabbos, making a minyan on campus, and the newly catered meals — with the goal of getting more students to give Shabbos at Stern a chance.
As a resident advisor and consistent Shabbos waitress, Gittel Friedman (SCW ‘26) stays in for Shabbos often. “Ever since I started Stern, I always felt so at home staying in,” Friedman, who is from Baltimore, told the YU Observer. “It’s always an option that I know is always there.”
On Shabboses where there are no guests or Shabbatons, around 50-60 girls will attend the Beren Shabbos meals, but about 120 girls will stay in for more eventful Shabboses, said Beren Campus Rabbi Azi Fine. Many girls who stay on campus for Shabbos make their own Shabbos meals or go to the Chabad of Bowery, which is only a short walk away from Beren. “It would be nice if more people put in more effort to stay in more often,” Friedman said. “But in the end Shabbos always feels so nice no matter how many people stay in. I think it’s the way you make it.”
Rabbi Fine, Beren Campus Rebbetzin Ellie Fine and scholars-in-residence Rabbi Yosef and Rebbetzin Gitty Tropp, who all live on campus, also stay in for Shabbos almost every week to spend Shabbos with students. They help coordinate the weekly Shabbos schedules and run the programming every week.
“I stay in for Shabbos a lot, and I genuinely enjoy it,” Sofia Rauh (SCW ‘26) told the YU Observer. “My first semester, I stayed in for the orientation Shabbos and had such a great experience that I ended up spending the majority of my Shabbatot on campus after that.” Rauh stayed in so often that she saw value in applying to be on Shabbos waitstaff the following year, and she is now one of two Shabbos coordinators.
“Staying in Stern for Shabbosim is such a beautiful experience, even during the busiest weeks,” Rauh said.
The newly catered Five Star food has received both positive and negative feedback from the students, but it appears that the change of food might not be enough to convince students to stay in. “I think the catering is a huge improvement from last year but is still not good,” Maayan Kahan, (SCW ‘27) told the YU Observer. “Last year I feel like the food was a deterrent to staying in and this year, while it’s not a deterrent, it’s definitely not a reason to stay in.”
The new catering does not make much of a difference for Friedman, who is a vegetarian, but she agreed that the food has improved since last year. “It feels a lot more Shabbostic now, it’s not just food from the Caf,” she said.
Beyond the change to the meals, YU also started ordering food for melava malka, a post-Shabbos meal, for the first time on both campuses. So far, this has been pizza delivered to campus about two hours after Shabbos is over. It has been very popular on both campuses thus far. “I appreciate that they’ve changed things — catering, motzei Shabbos pizza,” Friedman said. “I think what they do is enough already. I just wish more people would try it out and take a chance.”
The Beren campus has weekly Shabbos programming, including a women’s only kabbalas Shabbos, a Friday night oneg and optional shiurim with the campus rabbis and rebbetzins. “I think the programming is a really nice enhancement for Shabbos,” said Kahan. “I like how you can have a very busy Shabbos with programming if you want to but it’s also very low-pressure in that you can just not go and that’s totally fine.”
There are also frequent seminary and YU shabbatons, which various rabbis, professors and roshei yeshiva attend.
When it comes to davening, students staying on the Beren campus for Shabbos who wanted to daven with a minyan have traditionally had to attend Congregation Adereth El for tefillos (prayers). This sparked in recent years the concept of Minyan Men, students from the Wilf campus who are recruited to spend Shabbos on Beren in order to make a minyan for the whole Shabbos. This means students do not have to walk to Adereth El and davening can be done at their own pace, in the comfort of the school building.
Alongside the Minyan Men, Stern students are very involved in making Shabbos on the Beren campus possible. Students have been taught how to check the newly put-up Beren campus eruv, which many students rely on over Shabbos, and a student waitressing team sets up all the meals, prepares the food for serving and cleans up after the meals.
“I love waitressing; the team itself is always incredible,” said Friedman, who is in her second year of Shabbos waitressing. She added that it definitely adds to the reason she stays in for Shabbos.
The relaxing and inclusive Shabbos environment on the Beren campus goes further than the logistics. It also comes down to the camaraderie built on Friday night and Shabbos afternoon when the games, books and snacks are pulled out in the dormitory lounges and school building. “It gives you a time to really spend time with friends without phones and without distractions,” Friedman said.
“My favorite part of Shabbos, when I’m not on shift, is hanging out in the Brookdale lounge or playing Catan with my friends,” Rauh said. “Maybe it’s the community we built, or maybe it’s the new Five Star Catering’s chicken soup, but I’ve definitely noticed more students — both in-town and out-of-town — staying in each week, and it brings a real sense of warmth to my heart.”
Paving The Way Forward
This year, YU has taken a lot of initiative to improve the Shabbos experience on the Wilf and Beren campuses, both to encourage students to stay in and to make Shabbos more enjoyable for those who already do.
There are parts that still need improvement, but overall Shabbos is a relaxing and social part of the week for many students. “More than anything, staying in for Shabbos has given me a sense of community, stability, and joy throughout my college years,” Rauh said. “It’s where friendships were built, memories were made, and where campus truly feels like home.”
Photo Credit: Shloimy Lowey