More than 65 students from universities across the Northeast came to enjoy the winter weather this past weekend for the Dartmouth Hillel's third annual Ski Shabbaton at Killington, VT.
Hillel invited all Dartmouth students -- Jewish and non-Jewish alike -- to attend the event, according to event-chair Sean Alpert '01.
"The ski weekend surprised many people, especially the freshmen, because they weren't expecting to see what they saw -- it definitely turned a lot of people on to Hillel," said Eli Diament '02, who skied on Sunday and attended two dinners hosted by Hillel.
The students -- visiting from Boston University, Brown, Cornell, the University of New Hampshire, Amherst and other nearby schools -- stayed with Dartmouth students for the weekend. Skiing continued through Sunday and students departed Sunday evening.
The group first gathered at the Roth Center for Jewish Life for the start of the Shabbaton -- an event held over the Sabbath -- with student-led services and a home-cooked dinner on Friday evening. In addition, Israeli Consul General Itzhak Levanon spoke on the Israeli peace process.
On Saturday students departed for the slopes via busses while those who observe the Sabbath or do not ski could choose to stay at the Roth Center with the option to hike, snowshoe or skate at Occom Pond.
Festivities continued through Saturday night with a performance by a Boston University a capella group, Kol Echad, and The Klezmer Quartet, a Dartmouth group that specializes in traditional Jewish music. Both groups played for about an hour.
Although Hillel does not hold any other large exchange events, the success of the program in the past has assured its continuance, Alpert said.
"People had a lot of fun with it last year. It made use of the Roth Center; it made use of our locations," Hillel Vice President Erica Blachman '00 said.
Blachman said she would have liked to have had more Dartmouth participation in the Friday evening events: "Nobody really came for that speech who would not have come for the night," she said.
Co-chairs Alpert and Rachel Roth '02 -- along with other Hillel members -- have been planning for the event since last November.
"Lots of the kids who came... saw they could have events like it," Alpert said.
