Superbowl XLII Shabbat
2/1/08 at Shabbos House
 The Chabad Jewish Student Center serving UAlbany

Genna Friedman and Rachael Woren table for L'Chaim outside the UAlbany Campus Center to spread awareness of the Superbowl Shabbat event. Giants fans were given cupcakes (in the big plastic on the table). Just kidding, anyone who wanted cupcakes could get one. Each cupcake had a green "Game-Day" flag.
As we can't take photos on Shabbos, pictured above is the set-up crew who worked hard on Friday afternoon to shelp out the couches, make room, set-up tables and benches and all the football accessories. L-R: Mushky Rubin, Marissa Butensky, Chani Rubin, Bassie Rubin, Rachel Woren, Rabbi Mendel Rubin, Mike Nissan, Adam Kris, Justin Hirsch, Craig Messer, Dima Tovbin, and Joe Joralemon.

Click here for a PDF download of the 4-sided booklet put on each table
with Jewish Football Tidbits and Messages. The Table-Card had additional info.
The Friday Night Superbowl Shabbat: Despite an icy film on the walkways and cold rain outdoors, it was full inside (and even too hot!) at Shabbos House (though there was room for more) for a special themed "Superbowl Shabbat". The menu included 2 types of wings, celery sticks and ranch dressing and many other football-related specialties. In addition to the weekly Table-Card, there was a booklet (by Rabbi Mendel) of Jewish Football messages and trivia. Balloons, tablecloths, centerpieces all added to the football themed decor.
Rabbi Mendels' Friday Night Dvar Torah/Speech:

Patriots and Giants in the Lens of Tanya

This Superbowl XLII (42) has a mix of teams that reflects an important concept in Tanya - the classic work of Chassidic Thought. In a nutshell (among many other things) Tanya talks about the Tzadik (perfectly righteous) vs. the Benoni (the struggling imperfect folks). Unlike the Tzadik, a Benoni has issues, he/she struggles, and is inconsistent. Yet, the Alter Rebbe insists that Judaism is a lot about the Benoni.

The Patriots want to make history by being the first all-perfect team in NFL history (well, in addition to the Dolphins, but they played less games back then). They won 3 recent superbowls, and are coming into this Superbowl 18-0, they were favored to win in every game they played this season. Contrast that with the Giants, who lost their first two games, a key player didn't show up to practice camp, there were issues between the coach and his players and the quarterback is inconsistent. They were the underdogs in all their playoff games. Like the Benoni of Tanya.

Talk about an inconsistent quarterback. With all the pressures on the quarterback, he needs to stay focused - getting distracted is almost as bad as getting sacked.

Rebbe Meir of Premishlan, a Chassidic Rebbe, was insistent on his daily immersion in the Mikvah. The problem is that the Mikvah in town was atop a steep slope and was a treacherous climb on some winter days. Yet he didn't let that deter him and climbed it daily. Some scoffers thought little of this daily climb, so they attempted the same but ended up bruised and banged up from their falls. So they went and asked Rebbe Meir, "How do you do that crazy climb?" He answered, "When you're tied above, you don't fall below."
HOME / WELCOME / Schedule / Ask Rabbi Mendel / News in the Family / Time Out for Torah / Students Speak / Picture Us / What's Cooking? / Links / Map / What's Happening / Alumni / Sponsors  / Learning  / About Shabbos House / Jewish UAlbany / Holidays / Programs & Events / Step into our Future / Donate