As the weather gets cooler and tree branches become bare, the holiday season starts to arrive. Local universities and institutions have already begun to celebrate various religious holidays alongside their community members. The Museum of Fine Arts, for example, kicked off the holiday season Wednesday by hosting an evening of dances, lectures and art to celebrate Diwali, or the “Festival of Lights,” which begins Nov. 11.
“Diwali is the most important Hindu festival in India [and] is celebrated all over the world,” said Rupal Shah, a 2015 graduate of the Boston University School of Public Health, during her lecture titled “Diwali around the World.”
Shah, who grew up in Tanzania and currently resides in Cambridge, spoke of the religious background of Diwali and the various religious groups that celebrate it.
“Diwali is celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs,” Shah said as she explained the five-day celebration and its religious significance.
With students who come from all around the United States and the world, various religious organizations on Boston University’s campus offer services and social events to help make students more comfortable. For many students who are away from home, these organizations make it easier to practice their faith.
“At home it’s so much easier to go with your mom or with your family, you know, for religious service,” said Neeti Mehta, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences whose family lives in California. “But then here, with school and stuff, it’s not exactly part of your daily routine. Whenever there are things like [religious events], it definitely reminds you of your roots.”
Mehta said she attends some of the various events hosted by the BU Hindu Students Council. The HSC holds pujas, or prayers, throughout the year and organizes bigger events to celebrate Diwali and Holi. The ability to choose to attend a variety of religious services is appealing, Mehta said, to both religious and nonreligious students alike.
“For me especially, religion is a really personal, spiritual thing, so I’m really happy with the way things are on campus,” Mehta said. “The BU religious organizations are really accepting and it’s comfortable [for students].”
Other religious groups on campus also cater to their students’ needs during the holidays. Currently, Marsh Chapel offers religious services on Sundays and is open year-round, including during the university’s winter break.
“We will continue to have services here at the chapel,” said Jessica Chicka, interim university chaplain for international students and chapel associate for the Lutheran Campus Ministry. “We’re here every Sunday. We do offer for Christian services [during the holidays]. We offer two Christmas Eve services.”
For Muslim students on campus, on the other hand, major holidays often do not fall during what is considered the typical holiday season.
“We had Eid al-Adha which is right after Hajj, so [during] the ten days of Hajj, we offered dates to break the fast to students who were fasting those ten days,” said Zainab Kazmi, a senior in Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and the sisters’ social chair for the Islamic Society of Boston University.
Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, occurred in late September this year. ISBU celebrated the holiday with an Eid dinner that was open to all students and the Boston community.
“We also have weekly halaqas with our chaplain Ebraheim Ismail and those alternate every Wednesday and Tuesday,” Kazmi said, “and then we talk about various topics that pertain to us as Muslim students.”
The Florence and Chafetz Hillel House on Bay State Road also serves as a central place where students who practice Judaism can gather for both religious and social events.
“Daily, there is what we call minyan, which is prayer group three times a day,” said Ethan Sobel, director of student life at Hillel. “Then we also have Friday night Sabbath services and Saturday morning services on the Sabbath day.”
Hillel provides religious services for almost every Jewish holiday, Sobel said. Most of the services are held in Hillel, but on the High Holidays, the days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the services are moved to Metcalf Hall in the George Sherman Union due to the larger audiences. They offer reform, conservative and orthodox services so they are accessible to students, the BU community and Boston community members.
“Students come and go as they wish,” Sobel said. “Some students have class, some students are more observant [and] they want to stay for the whole thing. So really, we want to make students as comfortable as possible.”
For Hanukkah, which falls between Dec. 6 and Dec. 14 this year, menorahs will be available every night at Hillel for anyone who wants to light one. Hillel also hosts various social events, open to all students, such as Latkepalooza and a menorah decorating party.
Sobel added, “We try to be as much of an active and supportive member of the BU community as we can.”
