This past Shabbat on Yad B’Yad is a Shabbat we will never forget. First, on Friday, we headed to Stamford, Connecticut, stopping at Mystic Seaport on the way, where we got to see all kinds of cool boats and stuff. Once we go to the hotel, the celebrations started off strong with the Bart Mitzvah (a Bar/Bat Mitzvah). Before Shabbat started, we took “family photos” all dressed up for the Bart Mitzvah. The evening continued with a joyous Mincha/Maariv and then we all sat down to eat. After the meal, the whole group sang together and played games at the tisch. On Shabbat day we had a delicious kiddush followed by learning time. The exercise during the learning groups this week was to, as a team, choose the top 10 most important values in your life. This exercise taught us that sometimes we need to take time to focus on our priorities. This was especially appropriate because even though we are not able to go to Israel we still can enjoy each other’s company and have an amazing time on the West Coast. During the day, we played games, relaxed and enjoyed time with our friends. Our new friends included some younger children from Brooklyn! After the meaningful Havdalah, we had a real Bart Mitzvah party filled with good food, music and tons of dancing. We even had a cake! We can’t wait to begin our journey to the West Coast!! Shavua tov!

Yocheved Sadek and Jacob Adler