Hey Parents!

On Friday, we visited an old age home where we sang and connected with many of the residents. We performed our flash mob dance from Yom Yachad and the people there loved it! After reluctantly leaving the old age home, we ate lunch in a park, followed by a trip to Ben Yehuda. At Ben Yehuda, participants had the chance to shop for Shabbat and for their families. Upon completion of our shopping endeavors, we came back to the hotel to prepare for our last Shabbat in Israel. After getting ready, we boarded the buses and drove to the old city to daven while overlooking the Kotel. After eating dinner we had a long walk through the beautiful Jerusalem (just under two hours) where we solidified relationships and forged new friendships.

The following day, we had a spiritual and uplifting last Shabbat tefilla together. Afterwards, we had a learning program led by Liam Eliach about animals and vegetarianism in the Torah. It led to some heated and hilarious debates between Sarah “Meat Lover” Reiss and Danielle “Vegetarian” Harris. After lunch, we had a brief menucha filled with many attendance group shabbat parties! We then enjoyed playing the completely random “newlyweds game” led by attendance group six (IS HONEST!) which led into seudah shlishit.

After seudat shlishit, we all sat in one large reflection circle where each participant was able to reflect about their experiences on Yad B’Yad. Havdala was so uplifting and emotional that there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. For the night activity, we had a talent show where many participants revealed their hidden talents to the group.

The strength of the friendships we have formed on this trip made our last Shabbos infinitely more meaningful, but even harder to say goodbye to.

-Ariel Schneider, Sophie Goldman, Maya Wind, and Tali Miller.