March 18–19 was the third annual sixth-grade girls Chai Lifeline Shabbaton. The event, held at Keter Torah in Teaneck, included sixth graders from local Bergen County schools including Moriah, Noam, Yavneh, YNJ and for the first time, the Chabad of Tenafly and Breuers. Twenty-eight Chai Lifeline Campers were invited from all over the New York/New Jersey area. Meals were eaten at the shul and Chai Lifeline campers, along with their Camp Simcha counselors, sat together with our local sixth-grade girls where they joined together in games, Shabbat zemirot and plenty of ruach activities. Each school prepared presentations of skits, dances and songs, and were treated to some special speeches given by the Chai Lifeline campers. During one speech given by a soft-spoken Chai Lifeline camper who is blind, all the girls sat around her feet and not a sound was made as everyone listened intently to the girl’s story.
“The speech we heard was so inspiring. It’s amazing how she learned to read and write in Braille,” said Rachel Rubinstein of Yavneh Academy.
The emunah and strength displayed by the Chai Lifeline girls who spoke were moving. The Shabbaton gave an amazing opportunity for all the girls to engage with each other and befriend girls from different backgrounds and life experiences. The fact that it is also the bat mitzvah year for these girls makes it all the more special.
“The goal of the Shabbaton is to establish a meaningful kinship between our community and Chai Lifeline’s campers,” said Faigy Ort, a former Chai Lifeline parent who introduced the Shabbaton to the community three years ago. “I targeted bat mitzvah–age girls so as to involve them in chesed. It started as a small idea and evolved into a much-anticipated annual event. This year was the first year that we had repeat families—sisters of girls that participated in prior Shabbatons. The energy and excitement seems to have been passed on from girls who attended previously to this year’s participants.”
The Shabbaton ended with a Melava Malka celebration Motzei Shabbat that was open to all women and girls in the community. Many mothers and family members of the sixth graders came to observe the wonderful interaction among the girls. Life-changing and lasting relationships were formed as observed by the many hugs of goodbye given at the end of the night.
By Keren Nussbaum
