The album

A year at the house.

Shabbat dinners, holidays, graduations. What a home away from home actually looks like.

Fall · Friday nights

The table fills before the syllabus does.

Move-in week to midterms, the backyard is the loudest address on Buchanan Blvd.

The Fleishman House backyard full of students at Shabbat tables under string lights — Twenty minutes after sundown

Rabbi Nossen wrapping tefillin with a student before dinner — On the porch

Students moving through the Shabbat dinner buffet line — Seconds encouraged

Friends seated together at a round Shabbat table — Save me a seat

Tishrei · The High Holidays

Apples, honey, and a full house.

Rosh Hashanah dinner under the string lights, the shofar in the backyard, and a break-fast that ends Yom Kippur the right way.

Students seated in the backyard for the Rosh Hashanah shofar service — The shofar, backyard edition

A boy in a kippah enjoying a bagel on the front steps — Break-fast, taken seriously

Pomegranates and honey set on a holiday table — A sweet new year

Students gathered close in the courtyard on Rosh Hashanah — Dancing optional. Inevitable.

One night in Durham

505 days. One unforgettable night.

Omer Shem Tov spent 505 days as a hostage in Gaza. He told his story to a packed Durham theater. Chabad at Duke brought him, and some friends came along.

The 505 Days event stage before a full house — 505 Days, live

Rabbi Nossen sounding the shofar on stage — The shofar, stage edition

Backstage guests at the 505 Days event — Backstage company

The audience on its feet at the 505 Days event — On their feet

February · The Formal

The Crazies, in candlelight.

One night a year, the house dresses up. Same family, better lighting.

A long candlelit dinner table at the Chabad formal — Dinner by candlelight

The formal table set with candles, seen from the head of the table — Set for the evening

Students dressed up and smiling at the formal — Shabbat best, upgraded

Rabbi Nossen in conversation with a guest at the formal — Table-side counsel

May · Graduation

Mazel tov, Class of 2026.

Four years of Friday nights, one long table to send them off. The door stays open, alumni included.

The graduating class gathered behind a Mazel Tov Chabad Crazies 2026 sign — The Chabad Crazies, 2026

Rabbi Nossen with his arm around a graduating student — Four years later

A long graduation dinner table stretching down the garden — One last long table

Two graduates embracing at the celebration — See you soon, not goodbye

The rest happens in real time.

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Photographs by Amy Rossi