On Shabbat parshat Vayishlach, the SAR HS Class of 2018 came together for their final grade shabbaton of high school. They kicked off the weekend together by going out into the community to do acts of chesed—chatting with the elderly and playing with children—before coming back to the shabbaton location: SAR High School! By 4 p.m. on Friday, the third and fifth floors were filled with sleeping bags and air mattresses, deli roll and all kinds of snacks. Music played over the loudspeaker as students prepared to welcome in Shabbat. Shabbat was enhanced with beautiful, energetic and inspirational tefillot, with dancing, Divrei Torah, zemirot, Human Apples to Apples, sessions, delicious food and meaningful conversations…and of course a competitive and tasty cholent cook off!

The theme of the shabbaton focused on “Reflecting Back and Looking Forward—what does it mean to be an SAR graduate?” Seniors delved into thinking about SAR’s values and mission, how they fit into the Modern Orthodox world, how they want to contribute to the communities in which they will engage and how they can grow as committed Jews. On Shabbat morning they heard personal and thought provoking ideas from a panel of teachers who pushed them to think about how to define success. After singing Shabbat away with a beautiful Havdala, students gathered for pizza, french fries, popcorn and Ocean’s 11. In SAR style, everyone walked away with some fun swag (yellow SAR socks) and got ready to start the week. From beginning to end, the weekend was truly a special one and the class of 2018 really made it so. SAR looks forward to carrying the spirit and energy created over the shabbaton throughout the rest of the year. Go Seniors 2018!