Jewish Cultural Celebration 2025
November 17 – 21, 2025
“Climbing the Mountain”
Even if the world seems to be tough right now, always remember that you are climbing towards a brighter tomorrow. Please join the Jewish Student Association and the James Farmer Multicultural Center in this celebration of Jewish traditions and community uplift.
JCC Week Kickoff – Sherut (שרות)
Monday, November 17 | 5:30 pm | Colonnade Room, Cedric Rucker University Center
This kickoff event for the Jewish Cultural Celebration will provide opportunities for individuals to engage in community service projects while learning about the Jewish value of giving back or Tzedakah. This is a special event dedicated to performing acts of philanthropy while educating about the roots, branches, and values of the Jewish community. This event is open to everyone!
Jewish Cultural Dinner at the Top of the CRUC
Tuesday, November 18 | 5:00 p.m. | Restaurants at the Top of the CRUC, Cedric Rucker University Center
Cost with Campus Meal Plan: 1 meal swipe or $15.27 flex. The cost for EagleOne or credit card is $17.64, plus tax, and $5.24 plus tax for children ages 4 – 10. The cost for UMW faculty/staff is $7.57.
Co-sponsored by University Dining
Join the Jewish Student Association for themed dinner, and learn about upcoming events.
Jewish Cultural Celebration Major Speaker: Dr. Jeff Grossman
Wednesday, November 19 | 7:00 p.m. | Monroe Hall, Room 116
Jeffrey A. Grossman is Associate Professor of German and a founding member of the Jewish Studies Program at the University of Virginia. His research focuses on German and German Jewish literature and thought, Yiddish literature, and translation/transmission of literature, knowledge, and ideas. Besides the book The Discourse on Yiddish in Germany from the Enlightenment to the Second Empire (Camden House, 2000) and a co-edited issue of the online journal Quest devoted to German and Habsburg Jews during the First World War, he has published numerous articles and book chapters on Yiddish and German literature. His work deals with such writers as Sholem Aleichem, Y. L. Peretz, Dovid Bergelson, Shalom Asch in Yiddish and Heinrich Heine, Franz Kafka, and Walter Benjamin in German, among others. He has additionally published on English writer Martin Amis’s writing and the Holocaust. At present, he is working on a book tentatively titled, Scenes from the East: Translating Yiddish and the Eastern Jew in Early Twentieth Century German and German Jewish Culture.
Shabbat Dinner
Friday, November 21 | 5:00 p.m. | Chandler Ballroom C, Cedric Rucker University Center
The Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday and continues until three stars appear in the sky on Saturday night. During Shabbat, families, friends, and community come together to reflect on the week and enjoy a nice meal. Join the Jewish Student Association as we conclude our week of celebration and enjoy a Sabbat dinner together.
All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. For more information, please contact the James Farmer Multicultural Center at (540) 654-1044 or visit students.umw.edu/multicultural. Please email us at jfmc@umw.edu if you have any questions regarding disability-related accommodations.