Celebrating Interfaith Connections with a Feast
At Hillel, we believe in the power of communities to support college students when they need it most. We believe college campuses are safer, more inclusive places when they come together across lines of difference. And we believe that food makes any event better!
The Interfaith Moveable Feast event, held recently across several faith community spaces at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), is a perfect example of all three of those beliefs in action. This annual tradition brought together 50 students from faith and religious groups on campus for a meal on the move: an appetizer with one organization, starters with another, a main course with a third, and so on.
“The moveable feast invites everyone to see a different community that has the same goal of inclusivity and caring for the students, just like our own faith community spaces do,” said Rafi Myers, a fourth-year student at UC Davis, “We got to know each other on a surprisingly deep level, and it was very safe,welcoming, and understanding.”
Rafi is actively involved with Hillel at Davis and Sacramento, and has been attending Shabbat dinners and other gatherings since his first year on campus. Last year was the first time he attended the moveable feast — and as antisemitism was rising and conversations about Israel, Zionism, and being Jewish on campus were getting more difficult, he recalled that the event brought him closer to other students. “I felt really isolated as a Jewish student on campus after October 7,” he recalled. “The Interfaith Feast made me feel a lot more interconnected with other groups throughout UC Davis.”
Despite a rain storm this year, dozens of people turned out to attend the roving dinner. “We were making s’mores, and we had to figure out how to do that in the middle of this crazy rain,” said Heather van Waasbergen, a third-year student studying animal biology. “We were putting marshmallows and chocolate on cookie sheets and just baking them in the oven — we had to be creative!”
For Heather, who lives at the CA House, a multifaith living community at UC Davis, the Interfaith Moveable Feast represents an opportunity to open up to people of different faiths and backgrounds. “It’s a chance to just get to know each other,” they said. “Food can really be a factor that draws you in and connects people. I think a lot of religions say, ‘Come, have a seat at our table, we’ll break bread together.’”
In addition to UC Davis Hillel and the CA House, students from The Belfry, the Davis Christian Fellowship, the Newman Catholic Center, and the Baha’i Club for Discourse and Action all took part in the Moveable Feast. For the professionals who have seen the event evolve over the years, the legacy of the Interfaith Moveable Feast is really about watching students grow and learn, and seeing connections happen in real time.
“I’ve been involved with planning the Interfaith Moveable Feast for six years now,” said Seth Browner, development manager for Hillel at Davis and Sacramento. “Hillel normally hosts the main course, and my favorite part is always showing the guests our Torah scroll upstairs. They are so impressed with how beautiful the calligraphy and case are. It’s even inspired many of our guests from outside the Jewish community to attend Hillel’s programs and services that aren’t specifically interfaith related. I want to thank Hillel International and Interfaith America for supporting these programs with their generous grants.”
The connections students make at the Interfaith Moveable Feast don’t end at dessert. “It’s allowed me to recognize more students around campus,” Rafi said. “Instead of walking past each other, we’ll stop and say hi, ask how everyone is doing. I get to see more friendly faces.”
Helping to support interfaith community connections on campus is just one of the many ways campus Hillels and our allies across other faith communities support each other on campus. Read more about how Hillels build bridges across campus communities here.