We were trying to brainstorm a theme for a mid-November Shabbos. It’s long after the Fall Jewish holidays but not quite yet Thanksgiving. And the Torah portion is Toldot, about Jacob and Esau, the birthright, the blessings and the Lentil Soup.
Perhaps so less nowadays with online shopping but back in the day (and still to some degree today) “Black Friday” is one of the biggest retail sale days of the year, with steep discounts on desirable items for a limited window of time. Eager customers would get up early on the Friday morning after Thanksgiving and wait on long lines, some winding around the block, to get in and make the most of the Black Friday sales opportunities.
Retailers expanded “Black Friday” to add “Early Black Friday” for the week of, then two weeks. Mid-November you start seeing “Early Black Friday” sales and promotions. And on the Jewish calendar, mid-November is when sunset comes earlier and we have these early Fridays when Shabbat comes in soon after 4pm!
We’re doing this theme here for Shabbat (the little shopping baskets on the tables, the tags on the Challah bags, etc) because we feel that the college years may be “The Jewish Early Black Fridays” of your life! This is true in a few different ways, on a few levels:
During college years, Judaism is heavily subsidized and steeply discounted. It may be the cheapest time to do Jewish! So much of Jewish campus life is free, available and accessible, barrier-free and there’s little ask for commitment or buy-in. It’s a window of opportunity, there’s steep discount now, take advantage of it!
And beyond a plethora of free Shabbos meals and no-cost-to-you ongoing programming, there’s perks in college like Chabad on Campus’ Tefillin Bank and the Mezuzah Bank (free loan with deposit) here at Shabbos House, among various subsidized religious expenses up to 50% and often more! UAlbany has The Emunah Fund which gives small annual grants to students for assistance on their Jewish journeys. Jewish campus life has things like Birthright trips, and Chabad’s StudyAway grants and more.
Your years at college are your Early Black Friday season of your life, with opportunities you don’t want to miss!
Not to scare you about real life, but Jewish life can get more expensive when you have a family in the real world. No doubt, there’s also a lot of Jewish communal infrastructure and support for families, but nothing like what you have now at college. The type and degree of resources and programming available to you now at college won’t be all on a silver platter when you enter Jewish communal life. Some of it will, but some of it won’t. It’s on sale now, so don’t miss out!
These great deals and steep discounts are not only financial. Time-wise and emotionally, we’re often much more available during our college years. Working life doesn’t have academic breaks, it doesn’t offer the leeway, flexibility and freedom that college life has. We’re not as settled yet, and there’s not as much pressure to settle down yet. The real world is much more tied down, locked-in, with work life and family life and its many obligations and pressures. College life is much freer in that regard. We can get so much now for so little!
As great deals abound, be sure to make the most of it. This is when you can cash in and stretch your Jewish resources, expand your Jewish horizons, and do so much with so little. As they say in Yiddish: “Chap-Arein!” grab as much as you can, maximize!
But also be careful. Not every deal is as good as it seems. Remember, in this week’s Parsha of Toldot, Eisav sold his birthright for some hot lentil soup. Don’t shortchange your future. Don’t be short-sighted! Go for the stuff that will last you for years to come.