This Shabbos was sadly the very last Shabbos of Yad B’Yad. However, it was not at all the last Yachad experience that we’ll have. The day started off with davening and a sweet double kiddish. Kyra then led a wonderful learning program about seeing the whole picture of a person. She had us vote people off an island based on a three sentence description, then after we made decisions, we learnt more about the people and learned how wrong some of our decisions were. All that learning worked up our appetites so we continued the day with an exquisite Shabbos seuda. We then had not only the last circle time of the summer, but also the longest. The day was so jam packed that we only had one hour of menucha where people hung out and had group Shabbos parties. After the quick menucha we had a Bracha party led by Leora which emphasized gratitude, the theme of our summer. Then group six led a game of human codenames which was super challenging and exciting for the code-givers. After mincha we had shalashudis and then got into a big circle to all share what Yad B’Yad meant to us and what we gained this summer. A lot of people got emotional and by the time havdala came, everyone was crying. But they were happy tears! After an emotional Shabbos, we all got into our best shtick to play “meme mystery” led by Leora. In doing so, all the YBY meme accounts were revealed! This obviously turned into a dance party until curfew. This last Shabbos was so meaningful and special and a great ending to our trip!

 

Ephraim Spinner, Rachel Gelb, CM Zylberminc & Hillel Taragin