This past Shabbat was an incredible way to spend our last Shabbos together. We started off Shabbat with a beautiful Carlebach Kabbalat Shabbat with a lot of singing and dancing. The theme of the Shabbos was graduation. On Friday night we all received “diplomas” and were each assigned a friend to write a shabbat-o-gram to. It was a great way to connect to another person on the trip before we ended the summer. After a zemirot filled meal, we continued on to circle time where we played games such as telephone charades, sung some great songs, and tested our memories with the “1 hen, 2 ducks, 3 squawking geese” game. On Shabbos day, continuing our graduation theme, we had a beautiful davening followed by Kiddush and a great learning program led by the counselors. After learning, we had lunch together at our tables that were each themed with activities, which we did throughout the summer, like Disney land and the Vegas Strip. During lunch we played some inter-table challenges where we had to answer trivia, play the cucumber game, and the cookie challenge. From there we went to circle time where we sung some awesome songs- a bunch of memories (revamped bunch of grapes), and pizza man, etc. During Shabbos afternoon we had rest time, and the opportunity for great chaburas like Gemara, Halacha, Tefillah and Jewish thought. After we ate Seudat Shlishit, we all sat in a big (inclusive) circle on the floor and sang some songs and went around sharing and reflecting on the summer. It was amazing to hear what everyone had to say. After Shabbos, we continued to our last Havdalah together outside where we sang and danced. We finished off the night with a spectacular talent show. Everyone had the chance to shine and show off his or her talents, whether it was singing, dancing, or comedy. And then of course we ended the night with an ice cream party as usual (but this time with churros too!!)  🙂 What a beautiful way to spend our last Shabbos together.

 

By: Yoni Steinfeld