Freshmen Shabbaton at Woodbury Jewish Center

by Corey Flyer, SSLI ‘26

This past Shabbat, the freshmen spent their weekend at the Woodbury Jewish Center (WJC) for their Shabbaton. They spent time playing fun games and bonding as a class. The freshmen were accompanied by Ms. DuBow, Coach Jurysta, Ms. Hiltzik, and two of their peer connectors. Peer connectors are seniors who are grouped with ninth graders in order to guide them through their first year of high school.

Freshmen doing Havdalah at WJC. (SSLI SmugMug)

Freshman Yoni Pedram shared some of his highlights from the Shabbaton: “The highlight of the Shabbaton was playing hide and seek during Shabbat. We made cholent, prayed, and went bowling.” Pedram enjoyed spending time with his friends and looks forward to next year’s Shabbaton.

Sam Levenson also had a great time during the Shabbaton. He shared, “My favorite parts of the Shabbaton were the Shabbat services we had together, the games and activities we played with each other, and bowling on Saturday night.”

Students were also able to take part in WJC’s Shabbat services. Levenson explained, “The Shabbat services were really nice. Yoni and I read Torah, and everyone in the grade got to participate.” The freshmen had different roles in the service such as opening the ark and leading parts of the service.

Levenson continued, expressing the positive takeaway of the grade-bonding activities: “We played lots of fun games with each other that helped us bond and have lots of fun together. We had didactic encounters and late night hide-and-seek.” Overall, Levenson had a great time with his friends at the Shabbaton.

The grade Shabbatonim are a fantastic opportunity to bond with classmates and get to know classmates that you may not be so close to. With the help of grade representatives Sara Rosenthal and Yoni Pedram and the Schechter administration, the freshman class was able to enjoy a fun-filled weekend.

Corey Flyer is a writer for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since December 2022. Corey is currently a sophomore at Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: cflyer26@schechterli.org.