The news came late to some students, so when all 450 chairs set up for a Friday night dinner with Chabad at the San diego State University campus were taken, another 100 students waited outside to get in.

“The Shabbaton was incredible. Students from several West Coast On-Campus Chabads got together from as far as Arizona and Colorado for one unforgettable Shabbat. Everyone had a great time,” said one student.

The annual Shabbaton drew students from UCSD, Uof A, ASU, UC Davis, UC S. Cruz, USC, CSUN, UCLA and UCSB. At Shabbat lunch, a student representative from each university spoke, and with Chabad campus rabbis leading Shabbat dinner table discussions and Shabbat melodies, a Saturday night beach BBQ and a Sunday visit to Mexio, the weekend inspired a deep sense of Jewish pride and identity among participating students.

“We spent Sunday in Tijuana with paintball shooting and horseback riding. Yes, there is Chabad in Tijuana, no surprise there, but a Superbowl party with Chabad and hundreds of Jewish college students in Tijuana, that’s not something you see every day!” said Gabe Rosenthal, a senior at UCLA.