From Freshers’ Fairs to Sukkot: A vibrant start to the year

Craig Meltzer
Oct 23
3 min read

The following email was sent out to all subscribers on 23-10-25

Dear Friend,

Approximately one month into both the new academic and Jewish year, and it's fair to say that our Chaplains have hit the ground running. As many of the Freshers' Fairs clashed with the Jewish holidays, Chaplains organised a range of welcome events for this new cohort of Jewish students, alongside their other programmes for the High Holiday period. Taking advantage of the mild weather across much of the country, Chaplains were able to welcome students in their gardens for barbecues and Sukkot events.

Freshers Highlights

Bristol - Chaplains Rabbi Asaf and Atara Forges welcomed over 30 students for a Freshers’ barbecue.
Cambridge - New Chaplains Rabbi Yekutiel and Netanya Greiff hosted 60+ students at a welcome barbecue and, together with Cambridge JSoc, hosted over 120 students at their first Friday night dinner of the year.
London - Rav Gav ran a stall at LSBU Freshers Fair giving students and interfaith leaders the opportunity to learn more about the lulav and etrog.
Nottingham - New Chaplains Rabbi Aviad and Tehila Raviv also hosted a Freshers’ barbecue with the local JSoc, attended by 100+ students.
Scotland - Rabbi Eliran Shabo found an innovative way to attract students to the Jewish Society’s stand at the University of Edinburgh Freshers’ Fair - by blowing the shofar!

With the festival of Sukkot falling in October, Chaplains’ homes were hives of activity throughout the week, bringing hundreds of students together for regular prayer services and serving several thousand meals. With much of this activity taking place on days of religious observance, students were able to come together in a truly present ‘offline’ mode, celebrate the holidays and reflect on the start of the new term.

Sukkot on Campus

Birmingham - As part of our work to develop stronger relationships with universities, Rabbi Fishel Cohen welcomed the University of Birmingham’s Director of Students Affairs Jon Elsmore to join him and students in the Sukkah on campus.
Brighton - The Markses convened students for a memorial event on campus marking two years since the October 7th attacks.
Lancaster - Rabbi Natan built a sukkah on campus with 20 students attending and using the opportunity to shake lulav and etrog.
Leeds - New Chaplains Rabbi Yisroel Meir and Mindi brought students together to help build their sukkah, hosted at least 50 students at each of the festive meals throughout Sukkot including supper following an afternoon hike on Sunday.
Liverpool - Rabbi Natan Fagleman hosted this region’s first dinner of the year - attracting a record 35 students - with a ‘Shawarma in the Sukkah’ event attracting a similar turnout.
London - Rav Gav hosted a Lunch ‘n’ Learn at QMUL and also brought together students for a vigil at UCL marking two years since the October 7th attack in Israel.
Newcastle - The Lipseys brought together students with members of the local Jewish community for ‘Pizza in the Hut’ - welcoming over 60 people.
Oxford - Chaplains Rabbi Moish and Tanya Blum recorded over 200 student attendances for Sukkot meals, where students met the Blums’ new pet chickens!
Scotland - The Shabos hosted students for most meals throughout the week including ‘Soup in the Sukkah’ and a special event for post-graduate students. Rabbi Eliran also hosted Sukkot Bagel Lunches in Glasgow and Aberdeen - alongside his well travelled pop-up sukkah.

We were naturally relieved when the last remaining living hostages were released from captivity in Gaza, which gave everyone a much needed moment to finally exhale, with a sense of celebration and hope that tensions will calm for Jews on campus - and around the world. We know that challenges and threats to Jewish academic life persist - for example - one professor at a London university is being hounded out of his workplace simply for being Israeli. Sadly, this is only one of many cases of this nature, which reinforces the crucial and relentless nature of our work to protect Jewish life on campus.

Of course, student safety remains a core component of our mission and this vital topic continues to be at the forefront of our ongoing discussions with Vice-Chancellors and faculty staff alike. Alongside this, we continue to maintain frequent communication with UJS, CST, campus security teams and other partners to ensure that all programmes and activities can continue uninterrupted. We remind all Jewish students to remain alert and report distressing activity or threats to their Chaplain or suitable authorities.

For those students with Reading Week upcoming - we wish you a productive week - and remind you that UJC Chaplains are on hand to help you with a friendly ear, shoulder to cry on or a hearty meal as needed. Just contact your regional Chaplain for support.

Warmest wishes,

Sophie Dunoff,

Chief Executive Officer