Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva’s eighth grade and Yachad of Middlesex joined together for a shabbaton at the school. Yachad, The National Jewish Council for Disabilities, is an organization dedicated to ensuring inclusion in Jewish life for Jewish individuals with disabilities, promoting understanding and acceptance. The students participated in all their Shabbat activities jointly, enjoying group bonding activities, and Shabbat onegs as well. Both Yachad members and RPRY students shared divrei Torah, encouraging an environment of reciprocal learning. On Motzei Shabbat, students gathered for a ruach-filled melava malka filled with music and dancing. The weekend concluded with a pre-Chanukah chagiga on Sunday at RPRY for Yachad and the RPRY community. The event included games, snacks, zumba and a soccer match. The shabbaton facilitated a warm kesher between the two groups, fostering friendship and understanding.

Other programming outside of school hours includes RPRY’s weekly parent-child mishmar learning every Motzei Shabbat. Last week, the festive learning environment, complete with food and raffle prizes, was further enhanced with a guest speaker. RPRY alumnus Rabbi Dov Silber, a Shoel U’Meishiv at Rabbi Jacob Joseph Yeshiva, where RPRY teams up for a Thursday night mishmar, and his brother Rabbi Shmuel Silber, Rav of Suburban Orthodox Congregation in Baltimore, joined RPRY’s mishmar. Rabbi Shmuel Silber shared a story from the Baal Shem Tov about the simcha of doing mitzvot. It was an apt topic for all the great events happening at RPRY.