RKYHS kicked off its shabbaton weekend with a school-wide day of chesed. The high school students came together to package food for the needy at the Community Food Bank of New Jersey in Hillside. It was an amazing sight to see the entire student body working in unison to make a difference. What a perfect way to set the tone for the RKYHS shabbaton.
From the food bank, students headed out to start their amazing Shabbat. Friday night davening was filled with a musical and ruach-filled davening as the whole school welcomed in Shabbat together. Every meal was filled with zemirot, using zemirot cards prepared by the Jewish Life Committee. There was a special speaker program after dinner where faculty shared their personal stories of spiritual growth and development with the students. Students were also entertained Friday night with grade specific games and game shows that contributed to further bonding within the grade. The night concluded with the first ever school-wide tisch complete with singing, dancing and divrei Torah which gave an inspirational and uplifting end to the night.
After a meaningful Shabbat morning davening and a plentiful kiddush, students split up into different learning groups and learned about a variety of interesting and practical topics from their rebbeim and morot. The rest of the day was spent enjoying relaxation and bonding time with friends and classmates. At seudah shlishit, the entire school came together to sing and relish the last moments of Shabbat. They were addressed by Rabbi Eliezer Rubin, head of school and Klatt Family Rosh HaYeshiva, who provided inspirational stories and lessons about being a mensch, as he illuminated how the simple act of being a good person can lead to large scale change and make a great impact on the world.
As Shabbat drew to a close everyone joined together for an incredibly moving havdalah, where the energy and feeling in the room was palpable, as the room shook from the voices of the students singing fervently in unison. It was a true highlight to the weekend, and a powerful way to usher out Shabbat.
