Our Shabbaton started on Friday, and we all met at the Federation at 3PM. We loaded all of our things onto the bus, and quickly left, mentally preparing ourselves for the most amazing weekend of the NAS, and most likely our lives. The bus ride was filled with songs, laughter, and excitement, as we got closer and closer to Fairview Lake. We had an activity by the Israeli Leader of the Day, Sefi, where we learned about current events in Israel, which was very informative, and set a good tone for the entire weekend. Once we arrived, we all unpacked and got prepared for Shabbat. Before we ate dinner,
we had a Kabbalat Shabbat service, that was prepared by the Shabbaton Committee. The service was filled with both Hebrew prayers and English texts, adding a spiritual element to our weekend. It was a great service and although there were a few tune disputes, we all sang together and had lots of fun. Then we sat together and enjoyed dinner, where the entire room was filled with laughter as the Americans and Israelis talked about their experiences throughout the week, and their lives at home. Afterwords, we split up and we had our first Ma'agal Laila - or night circle - of the trip. There, we reflected on the teachings from Pirkei Avot "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when?" After some conversation, we learned about selflessness and independence. We also learned about respect, and the actions that must be taken to give and to earn it. Then, we had our second section of the Ma'agal - the heartfelt confessions. Here, we connected one interpretation of the previous text to our own lives. The concept we reflected on was about being our true-selves, and that we have to truly express the entirety of our personality so people really can learn who we are. From that, each fellow was asked to say something about themselves that showed who
they really were. This was the most significant part of the weekend to me, because for the first time I got to know what all of my friends were thinking, and it undoubtedly made us all closer. Then, we rejoined our Israelis and we stayed up till 1AM playing card games and talking, and having an amazing time.
we had a Kabbalat Shabbat service, that was prepared by the Shabbaton Committee. The service was filled with both Hebrew prayers and English texts, adding a spiritual element to our weekend. It was a great service and although there were a few tune disputes, we all sang together and had lots of fun. Then we sat together and enjoyed dinner, where the entire room was filled with laughter as the Americans and Israelis talked about their experiences throughout the week, and their lives at home. Afterwords, we split up and we had our first Ma'agal Laila - or night circle - of the trip. There, we reflected on the teachings from Pirkei Avot "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when?" After some conversation, we learned about selflessness and independence. We also learned about respect, and the actions that must be taken to give and to earn it. Then, we had our second section of the Ma'agal - the heartfelt confessions. Here, we connected one interpretation of the previous text to our own lives. The concept we reflected on was about being our true-selves, and that we have to truly express the entirety of our personality so people really can learn who we are. From that, each fellow was asked to say something about themselves that showed who
- Josh Cohen
On Saturday we woke up at 8:45 to start our packed day. After breakfast, we headed to the CIT center for shabbat morning services, where Rachel and Meital led us in an interesting service that was more of a discussion about what the prayers were. Then Charlie came and took us on a hike. We walked a grand total of 3 miles! Our walk included hiking on part of the Appalachian trail. It was pretty cool to know that if we continued on the path for a while it would have gone straight to Georgia. The walk was beautiful, filled with streams and overlooks of the woods. The highlight was probably when we were at the top. We were sitting on one giant rock looking out over the lake and woods that stretched as far as we could see. Our walk down was easier than the way up, and there was food at the end. We sat down and had lunch. Following lunch we had our free time. Some went to the giant swing, others took the time to get some rest. After free time, we had a bead activity. We were posed with very controversial questions and given five different answers to them. We selected a color bead based off of that. At the end we were told that each color bead represented a different sect of Judaism. It was really interesting to see how you can identify as one sect of Judaism, but share similar beliefs with another. After that we did a short farewell activity and then dinner. Following dinner, we had a musical Havdallah, led by the Shabbaton Committee and yours truly, Max Kasler with guitar. Then we had a camp fire and made smores. We found out there was no curfew since we were waking up at 4:30 in the morning, so the rest of the night was spent eating, talking, playing games and just being Diller.
- Max Kasler
After what would be our last official North American Seminar activity together, the Dillers scurried back to Wickapeck for the night. With the "no curfew" law in order, we decided to spend our last hours together, awake in the common room. The contents of the night were blurred with a mix of cheeseballs and exhaustion, but notable events included playing glow frisbee outside in the dark, eating Lindsey's delicious cake-pops, intense games of Jungle Speed, and periodically passing out with our fellow Dillers as pillows. It is these fun filled moments that make a simple Diller hangout special and memorable. But then, at the leisurely time of 4 AM, we were awoken from our quasi-slumbers to clean the bunk. Cleaning so early in the morning felt like we were little Annie and the orphans, it's a hardknock life for us! After the bunk was scrubbed top to bottom (not with toothbrushes thank g-d), we piled onto the bus. It is not an exaggeration to say that every person on that bus was fast asleep in five minutes, except for the bus driver, I should hope. After what felt like a short bus ride, we arrived at the GMW Federation, only to find the building locked. After a good ten minutes of huddling together outside for supposed warmth, we ran back to the bus for shelter. As we waited on the bus, we realized this was really it. After what was too short of a time, we began the Jewish tradition of saying goodbye to each other ten times. After what would be our final goodbye, our Israeli counterparts were swallowed back onto the bus, waving goodbye with somber faces. As the bus crowned the horizon of our view, we felt a piece of us was gone, not to be seen again for a long four months. We then walked back to a thankfully unlocked room in the Federation, where we were provided a delicious breakfast by Leah. The downtime was much needed, as it gave us time to just breathe, even if only for a few minutes. We then dove into our final Ma'agal of the NAS, in which each person picked a card with a word on it that described how they felt . To describe how one feels about something like the NAS in one word, requires a huge amount of articulation and thought. This activity really allowed each Diller to evaluate themselves, and the experience they had with the seminar. After our heartfelt Maagal, it was finally time to retire back to our homes. At first there was a sense of emptiness, a sadness that our journey together was over, when in reality, it had really only just begun.
- Rebecca Copper
- Rebecca Copper
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