On Nov. 13, 21 years after helping create Rock Chalk Shabbat, Jay Lewis and Rabbi Neal Schuster are reuniting for a special celebration.
When Lewis helped launch KU Hillel’s Rock Chalk Shabbat more than two decades ago, the idea was relatively simple: create a Shabbat dinner that brought as many Jewish Jayhawks together around the same table as possible. Rabbi Schuster, meanwhile, helped shape what happened around that table. As a rabbi and mentor, he worked with students to lead Kabbalat Shabbat services, explore their Judaism and create educational experiences that made Jewish life at KU feel both meaningful and accessible.
Over the years, that dinner grew into one of KU Hillel’s defining traditions, drawing students, parents, alumni, families and community members together each fall. Since then, Rock Chalk Shabbat has helped build generations of Jewish leadership on campus and deeply rooted engagement in the community.
“Together, Jay and Neal created more than an annual event,” KU Hillel Executive Director Ethan Helfand said. “These two giants in the history of our organization seized the opportunity to foster a culture of connection at KU Hillel, where every student was welcomed and had a place at the table.”
For Lewis, returning to Rock Chalk Shabbat is an opportunity to celebrate both the tradition and the organization that has remained important to him long after his student days.
“I am so excited to join Neal as honorary co-chair for Rock Chalk Shabbat this year. For over 20 years, Rock Chalk Shabbat has been the centerpiece of Jewish life at KU, bringing together students, parents, alumni and community members,” said Lewis, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Kansas City. “It is a very special event for a special organization at a special university. From my time as a college student until now, KU Hillel has given me so much. To be in this role alongside Neal is one of the greatest honors of my life.”
Rabbi Schuster, now rabbi at Temple B’nai Israel in Des Moines, Iowa, sees the anniversary as a chance to revisit some of the people and experiences that made those early years so memorable.
“Rock Chalk Shabbat is 21! Being asked if I’ll be an honorary co-chair with Jay Lewis is like getting a call that ‘We’re gettin’ the band back together!’” Rabbi Schuster said. “What an amazing opportunity to reach back into the archives of memory: how many superstar students were shaped into superstar grown-ups through KU Hillel and Rock Chalk Shabbat.”
The students Lewis and Rabbi Schuster remember are now alumni, parents, community leaders and supporters of KU Hillel, many of whom will return to Lawrence for this year’s celebration. They’ll sit alongside current students experiencing Rock Chalk Shabbat and the power of the KU Jewish community for the first time.
That connection between generations may be the most fitting part of this 21st anniversary. The KU students who are now 21 years old were born the same year Rock Chalk Shabbat began. As a community, Rock Chalk Shabbat will host three or four generations of Jewish Jayhawks, sitting side by side and finding common ground in a shared love of KU Hillel.
“Twenty-one years behind us have absolutely shaped and defined the Jewish community in the present,” Rabbi Schuster said. “And I look at the 21-year-olds at KU now — they were born the same year as Rock Chalk Shabbat, and they are just poised, ready to leap into the future. They’re going to shape Jewish life and community in ways we can’t even imagine.”
For Lewis and Rabbi Schuster, November’s celebration offers a chance to look back at what they helped create, reconnect with the people who came through KU Hillel along the way and see what the next generation of Jewish Jayhawks will do with the community they inherit.
“I can’t wait to work with Jay again and be in Lawrence for this event,” Rabbi Schuster said.
In addition to joining KU Hillel for the special occasion on Nov. 13, KU Hillel is seeking alumni to share their favorite memories and photos from their time on campus.
Those interested can contact Megan Pener at with questions or to share their stories. To reserve seats, they can register online by going to kuhillel.org/rcsrsvp.
