This past weekend, the seventh grade girls had so much fun in West Orange at the annual Seventh Grade Girls Shabbaton. We arrived on Friday afternoon, and went right to our hosts’ houses. Once we got settled, we went to principal Mrs. Finkelstein’s house for the evening. We enjoyed eating a delicious shabbat dinner with our teachers, Morah Bluman and Morah Goldstein, along with Mrs. Finkelstein. After dinner we played games and had the opportunity to bond outside of the classroom. Whether it was Twister, Monopoly or just talking, we had a blast. We also heard a beautiful d’var Torah from our classmate Aviva Luxenberg, which really set the tone for s
habbat. Later that night, we returned to our hosts’ houses to get some sleep for the great day ahead of us.
On shabbat day, we went to AABJ&D for davening and a yummy lunch, where even more of our teachers joined us. It was so cool to get to bond with the teachers outside of school. We had the opportunity to hear more insights into the parsha from Rabbi Sharbat, the assistant rabbi at AABJ&D, and our very own Lilly Steiner. With more time to bond together during seudah shlishit, our shabbat was complete. The night got even better with our after-shabbat activity: painting pottery at Color Me Mine. Everyone’s creativity and individuality had a chance to shine. People came up with great ideas, and the final results were beautiful. This shabbaton was so much fun and an amazing bonding experience.
By Jessie Tuchman, JKHA Seventh Grade Student
