Reflections on the AEPi European Shabbaton

Benjy Egel
I had a great time at the DOJAS Shabbaton in England this fall while studying abroad in Cork, Ireland. As a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi, it was really cool meeting brothers from all over the United States and Britain. I stayed with an AEPi brother in London on Friday night, then took a train down to Birmingham Saturday and stayed in a very nice hotel that night. I actually bonded the most with a couple brothers from Manchester, and got the opportunity to talk to them about Judaism and anti-Semitism in England while watching an English Premier League game and having a couple pints at a pub in Birmingham. Despite living our entire lives in separate continents, we still had mutual friends, proving Jews around the world are really all connected. I also had the opportunity to attend a Shabbat service at a Chabad house, where the food and company was fantastic. The rabbi and his family couldn’t have been more welcoming; it felt like I was back at the Chabad house where I go to school in California. Imagine my surprise when I ran into the former president of my chapter of AEPi! Turns out he is now working for our national office helping set up colonies in Europe. After a few months in a predominantly Christian country, it was a welcome change of pace to be surrounded by fellow Jews at the Shabbaton.

Zach Schenck
My weekend at the UK Shabbaton this past October was an enlightening experience. Being an American living in Israel I hadn’t truly understood what AEPi could really be about until I went. In Israel AEPi is just getting started and from what I know the most active group of brothers is my chapter at IDC Herzliya.

My weekend in Birmingham showed me what more it could be, a group of college men who unite together under the banner of brotherhood and keep to it. The people that I met allowed me to see the true brotherhood aspect of AEPi to an extent that is much larger than what I could get by just interacting with my chapter. Inside of our chapter we are, like others, a tight knit group who share common traits and interests and are able to bond over others. We look out for and make sure that everything is ok with each other.

Regardless of that fact, it felt like there was something absent about my AEPi experience before that weekend. Having a brother who is also in AEPi I would hear about his time at convention in Orlando as well as in New York and how it was an amazing experience to be with so many people who believe in the same thing that you do, and after having just met them know that if asked there was a very high chance that they would do any favor put before them. My weekend in Birmingham gave me a small glimpse of that. While it was only about 30 Brothers, having the international aspect of us coming together and taking each other in was phenomenal to see.

Shay Peleg
I really enjoyed the shabbaton meeting the rabbi and top Aepi personal and other students from the states was a great experience for me. The food was great I must say really something amazing that I missed (homemade food). I am really happy to have gotten this opportunity from Aepi . It is thanks to this generosity that I am now trying to plan my own events in my home city with the DoJAS grant. Everyone was really pleasant and had good energy.
I think I learned a lot about myself that day. I learned that Judaism is something important that we need to protect in order to have a better life for ourselves and others. Judaism is a part of ourselves we will never be able to get rid of and that’s a good thing. Judaism is a very selective religion and it showed in the level of the participants in the Shabbaton . I learned that I can be even more proud of my religion after this event.
I was able to network quite a bit and I have quite a few friends in England now which I greatly enjoy. I even visited a few of them after the shabbaton and did a small uk trip. I found almost everyone had great virtue and I am proud to have networked with such friends who cared about me enough to host me in their house and take me out to places.
In conclusion I have no complaints the food was great I am very happy that you were willing to pay for my flights in order to get me there as well. I am more than happy to do more events with DoJAS or create events for Jewish people.

Noah Shulruff
The Shabbaton was an amazing experience. I was able to travel to the UK for the first time and learned a lot about their culture. It was the first time I had used the pound as well which was interesting to see. I really enjoyed hearing the difference in vocabulary between the British and American English as well as some of the other cultural differences.

I really enjoyed getting to know AEPi brothers from different countries and chapters. It was cool to see the differences and similarities between our chapters and learn some of their customs. I heard a few ideas that I will definitely bring back to the U.S when I return.

I found it humorous to see that the Chabad dinner was very similar to the one at my local Chabad. The atmosphere was extremely similar and comforting. It was a very welcoming atmosphere and a familiar feeling that I have missed since being in Europe. This taught me that while there are many cultural differences between myself and the other brothers, there are also many similarities. We might have different versions of football, but we have many of the same ideas on Judaism and growing up.

The guys that I met on the trip were awesome people whom I would like to stay in contact with in the future. This past weekend, I visited one of the brothers who was on the trip after he visited me in my study abroad city. We have become good friends and we would have never met if not for the great experience that we had at the Shabbaton.

Neal Cowen
I had the pleasure of traveling to England from my host country in the Netherlands because of DoJAS. When I arrived to London on the third weekend of October and went to a fellow brother’s house in London, I was greeted by Maurice and Ben. The brothers of Kings College were welcoming and proceeded to help me find the place we were going to in Birmingham. At the Birmingham station I met Sam who attends Birmingham University. He was exceptional at organizing all of the international brothers that were studying abroad and getting us to the Chabad for Shabbat.
At Shabbat, I had a wonderful time meeting Jewish people from the University of Birmingham as well as brothers from all over the country. It was amazing to have Shabbat services given by the rabbi with fellow Jews in a religious environment on another continent. It was interesting how similar Shabbat is no matter where you live in the world. After the service I heard about progress that our international brothers were making from the leaders of the English chapters. I also enjoyed meeting and then listening to Andy Borans discuss the state of affairs of the fraternity. Through these interactions I learned more about the brotherhood making me excited for the future of Alpha Epsilon Pi. One of the best things about this trip was getting to know new brothers on the other side of the world as well as in other parts of the country. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and to be part of this organization.

Adam Bach
The AEPI weekend at Birmingham was an incredible one. Having the ability to reconnect with many of the UK brothers that  I have previously met as well as meeting new ones, is something that I love about AEPI.

DOJAS is doing wonderful things and I thank them for offering me that opportunity, and I hope they continue to do great things for AEPI. Having a weekend filled of Jewish unity in a way that we all share and being brothers made the weekend special for many of us are away from our chapters or even AEPI in general is something that many of us have missed. Having been away for two seperate semesters those brief moments with AEPI have been one of the best and it brings a sense of comfort. Seeing Andy again and Mark Cowan who came down for the weekend as well was great and I cannot thank DOJAS and AEPI enough for that weekend.

Tzvi Miller
Never imagined myself spending Simchat torah and Shabbat in Birmingham. But I’m so thankful I did! I attended the first ever international AEPi shabbaton in England a few months ago, and it gave me the opportunity to meet brothers studying abroad from the states, but almost more importantly it gave me a chance to see how the AEPi’s in the UK work, and to interact with people who share the same fundamental values as me, yet live in a place that was and still is completely foreign to me.
Because I don’t travel on Shabbat, I actually spent a few more days in Birmingham with AEPi Birmingham guys, and so by the time the shabbaton came around, I felt like a connection had already been established between me and Joel, Sam, Ben and Sasha. Really good guys and without this opportunity, I’m not sure if I ever would have gotten to meet them.

I think it is important to interact with Jewish college students from different countries just to broaden our horizons, and get different perspectives while looking through the same glass. We are all in AEPi, yet our experiences are all so different, and we come from such different backgrounds, so the shabbaton provided a great opportunity to just meet each other. Logistically, there are definitely some kinks to be worked out, vis a vis meeting times, scheduling and accommodations, but considering this was the first time, and the main planner of the entire shabbaton wasn’t there, it was enjoyable.