On Friday, June 4, WDS “turned Friday into erev Shabbat.” There were five components designed to jump-start Shabbat. Students wore “shul” clothes. Middle school parents were invited to tefillah on the WDS campus, while ganon to fifth grade were invited to join via Zoom to the classrooms.

Over the course of the day, each class called a different community leader, educator or WDS lay leader to wish them a Shabbat Shalom as part of #operationshabbatshalom, a program conceived by Rabbi Lookstein to bring people together after a year of distancing. A particularly moving moment was when eighth graders called the Holocaust survivors they worked with on the “Names, Not Numbers©” program.

Before dismissal, there was a schoolwide Zoom assembly where students and parents heard a dvar Torah from Rabbi Nuriel Klinker, associate rabbi of the Young Israel of Scarsdale and incoming WDS rabbi in residence.

Finally, every student and educator was sent home with two of WDS’ famous chocolate chip cookies. Welcome back Chef Chris! What a way to supercharge Shabbat!