Jewish students share culture at Latkepalooza

For several days leading up to Latkepalooza, sophomore Kyla Alterman, one of the organizers of the event, worked with other members of the university Jewish group Kesher to bake 800 potato latkes. By the end of the night, every latke was gone.

"We were freaking out the last three days in the kitchen," Alterman says. "There were lines for the latkes we made."

More than 260 students attended Latkepalooza Thursday night at the Trabant University Center. The event was co-sponsored by all seven Hillel organizations, including Project Change, KOACH, HSL, Chabad, Haven, Blue Hens for Israel, U*SAID and the Chainamics.

Alterman says despite the abundance of food they cooked, the group was caught off guard by the number of attendees.

"It ended up turning into a much bigger event than we imagined," Alterman says.

Junior Leah Diamant, one of the event organizers, says the event's turnout was due in part to a performance by the Maccabeats, an all-male a capella group from Yeshiva University whose "Candlelight" music video has received more than 6 million hits on YouTube.

"They were a major drawing force," Diamant says. "Only around 60 people came last year."

Diamant says members of Kesher contacted the Maccabeats last April on a whim, and did not expect the group to respond.

"We really didn't think it was going to happen," Diamant says.

The event also featured performances by university a capella groups YChromes, the Chainamics and Meludees. Alterman says the groups warmed up the crowd for the Maccabeats.

"They really got the energy going," she says.

Six members of the Maccabeats took the stage at the end of the two-hour event and performed a variety of songs, including Coldplay's "Viva la Vida," Matisyahu's "One Day" and several Hebrew prayer hymns.

"They were amazing," Diamant says. "Kids were running around dancing and even standing on chairs."

Maccabeats member Julian Horowitz says group members did not expect their "Candlelight" video to become so popular.

"The Apple Store had like a hundred views, like an hour after we put it up," Horowitz said. "We were like, ‘Oh my gosh, we were like Michael Jackson.'"

David Block, a member of the Maccabeats, says the group posted the video in order to spread their name and express Jewish pride.

"We wanted to first start with the Jewish community, then we were floored when it hit everyone else and we got YouTube comments like, ‘I'm Catholic, this is my favorite holiday song,'" Block said.

Diamant says Latkepalooza also featured eight tables with Hanukkah-inspired activities that were run by each of the Hillel organizations. Students played "light the flame on the menorah," created edible dreidels and sampled challah bread. She says the event was an opportunity to reach out to members of the university community and loosen up at the end of the semester.

"It was the one time to kind of go crazy," Diamant says. "We had this huge idea and we made it happen."

Alterman says Kesher is one of the more informal Jewish organizations on campus and has less traditional activities than most of the other groups.

"We played Red Rover after one of the prayer services," she said. "We've already started thinking of more ridiculous things to do next year."