Junior Shabbaton at Woodbury Jewish Center

 by Talia Herbst, SSLI '25

This past weekend, the eleventh grade had their Shabbaton at the Woodbury Jewish Center. The juniors spent the weekend bonding with each other and creating more memories that will last them beyond their Schechter years.

The juniors had a great time at the Shabbaton! (L. Staiman)

The chaperones that supervised the weekend were Ms. Dubow, Ofra, Meira Duftler (Schechter Class of '22), and Ms. Chaskes (a former faculty member of Schechter and a congregant of Woodbury Jewish Center).

Shay Ginzburg, a grade representative, said that she enjoyed the Shabbaton. Ginzburg said that, since it was Sarah Shlefstein’s birthday, the grade “got together and had some candy for Sarah’s birthday. [They] talked about what we love about her and sat in a circle.”  

Students had the opportunity to participate in the congregation's Shabbat service Saturday morning. Ginzburg was a Gabbai (a leader of the Torah service) and helped one of the members read from the Torah. Junior Eden Greenfeld did not participate in the service, though she “enjoyed the opportunity to be present during a real Shabbat service.”

Ginzburg shared that, “Corey [the other grade representative] and I planned a game of Sardingo [Sardines and Bingo]. We played five rounds of Bingo with the grade, and each winner got the opportunity to hide in a game of Sardines.” 

Staff writer and junior Shir Levenson said the Shabbaton was “so much fun.” She felt that “it was really meaningful that the grade was able to bond and spend time with each other.” 

After Shabbat was over, the juniors headed to Laser Bounce for their night activity. They got to play multiple rounds of laser tag as well and play the arcade games.

Junior Eden Greenfeld shared, “I had a great time at the laser tag place and bonding with my friends. It was a very fun weekend!”

Talia Herbst is a writer for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since December 2021. Talia is currently a senior at the Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: therbst25@schechterli.org