After a great night on
our first Shabbaton we awoke to a optional breakfast. Most of us chose to sleep
in. We began with (Shnayim Ochazin) the weekly Torah portion that Jessica had
planned for us. We acquired text sheets and were split into separate groups,
for which we fought over which person deserved the sale of the birthright. One
group was for Jacob and the other was for Esau. After that enjoyable game we
had an alternative morning service lead by Robby.
After lunch, we started our next activity. Jessica had set up an
activity to explore our Jewish identity. We were each given a pack of cards with different Jewish values. After picking the ones we thought were most important, we split into
small groups and had to choose as a group. Then after narrowing it down, we got back together as a whole group and
were suppose to decide on only five. After a long debate we ended up
compromising to six value cards.
We then had a long break which people chose to
spend swimming or to chat and rest. We came back and started Shabbat singing
that was led by the singing group. After, we did the Havdallah blessing using
candles, juice, spices, and matches. Then we took a short break to get ready
for dinner. We sang songs and talked about movies we all enjoyed. Lion King seemed to be a
fan favorite. After dinner we had a guest from Comedy Sportz come to talk about
improvisation and communication. We started off playing basic games to familiarize ourselves for
what we had in store. Once we figured out the key to the game, we were able to
master the games easily. The game we enjoyed the most was the car activity,
where Jared made the courageous move to face plant into the ground showing the
resemblance of an Angry Bird.
After the fun improv
workshop we had time as a group to eat snacks and hang out while waiting for
our final activity (Ma’agal Lailah) of the night led by Jessica. We were
instructed by Robby to bring blindfolds and warm clothing down to the lobby.
We were blindfolded and escorted in a single file line to what appeared to be out
of the hotel, into the parking lot, and back in. We were taken into our meeting
room and placed in a circle holding two glow sticks. Our next instruction was
to remove the blindfolds and answer the following questions--share something about yourself and what do you wish for the group. The summary of all
of the responses were very deep and gave us a better understanding of everyone.
We ended by choosing our group song (after a full day of debate) and sang it to end the great night.
By: Brian Schneiderman
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