For some, religious moments are observed with silence, bowed heads and thoughtful prayers.

For others, it is a community-based gathering, a chance to unite voices in praise.

For the more than 100 members of the MSU Jewish community who gather for Shabbat dinner at the Hillel Jewish Student Center, 360 Charles St., it is a combination of the two.

Shabbat dinner is a Friday night tradition in the Jewish faith - religious services and a gathering of friends and family for dinner afterward.

"It happens all over the world on Friday night at sundown," said pre-medical sophomore Steve Rives, who attends the dinner nearly every Friday, partly for a celebration of his faith and partly to gather with friends.

Two services split the attendees at Hillel. Upstairs, the more conservative services are spoken mostly in Hebrew and have more traditional rituals. Downstairs, the reformed service has more English and singing with guitars.

Rives attends the less conservative service, but still adheres to some of the older traditions.

On his head Rives wears a blue yarmulka with a yellow star he bought during a trip to Israel.

"It's a tradition for all men when you walk into a synagogue; it's polite to cover your head.

"I just feel it's comfortable to wear it out of respect to me and to my religion. It's special to me."

After services, the dozens of students gather for dinner and to talk with friends. The main entree was chicken, Rives said, but the free food isn't why he attends every week.

"It's better than dorm food," he said. "But it's more than that.

"It's a sense of community. We have a place here."