The Chabad on campus at the University of Washington had a menorah lighting last year in the Red Square in honor of Chanukah and it was stopped due to a pro-Palestine sit-in. So they planned this year a Jewish concert in the same spot.
“Just a year ago [this place] created a lot of division, and here we’re coming together to unite both Jews and non-Jews to…show up and show that the Jewish presence is still strong and alive here on campus,” Weingarten said.
On December 5th, 2024, the Chabad held “The Great Jew-Dub Concert,” featuring the band “8th Day”. According to the co-head of the Chabad, Miram Weingarten, the concert was meant to celebrate togetherness, community, and Jewishness. It would also take place in the Red Square, the same place from which they were forced to move their Chanukah menorah lighting last year, and around the same time of year as well.
Last year, Chabad at the University of Washington held its menorah lighting in UW’s Red Square, where they hold their menorah lighting every year.
However, a student group called Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return, or SUPER, was holding nightly protests at the Gerberding Hall administrative building right next to the Red Square. They also specifically held a sit-in protest that day inside the hall.
The menorah lighting was scheduled for 5 p.m., the time that Gerberding Hall closed and the sit-in was supposed to end. However, the protesters continued the sit-in, causing Chabad to move locations.
“It was a very surreal experience,” said Andy Kaplan, Northwest Yeshiva High School’s music and English teacher, who played guitar for last year’s event.
“When we stopped playing between songs, you would hear the mob yelling and screaming down below by the library,” he said. “But it was a very unique experience being able to drown out the sounds of hate and antisemitism with music.”
Miriam Weingarten talked about how last year was hard for the Jewish community on campus, but though there was a lot of antisemitism and hate, there was also a lot of light and Jewish pride. That Jewish pride shone brighter at the concert this year.
Jeff Fisch, head football coach at UW, gave a speech about how proud he was to be a Jew, and a student gave a speech about how grateful she was for such a great community at UW. The American Hasidic pop rock band 8th Day played at the concert.
“We’re here, we’re showing unity. We’re showing Jewish pride, Jewish strength, and Jewish resilience. And we also want to create a fun time for the Jewish students on campus in a place where just a year ago there was a lot of division in the same space,” said Weingarten
