Midreshet Shalhevet’s event of the year took place Shabbat Parashat Noach at Camp Seneca Lake. The student body, along with alumni and faculty, joined together for the annual Shabbaton. They kicked off Shabbaton with an amazing event run by the coach and G.O. which allowed the whole school to “travel” to eight different countries before becoming immersed in this year’s theme of “Around the World in 180 Days.” Everyone participated and had an amazing time.
Shabbat kicked off with a beautiful Minchah, Kabbalat Shabbat led by the madrichot, and Ma’ariv. Before dinner, Menahelet Mrs. Esther Eisenman welcomed everyone with a heartfelt, inspirational d’var Torah. Junior Eliana Hirsch gave a dvar Torah during dinner, followed by learning sessions with topics including “Going Against the Tide; What Makes Judaism So Special”; “Around the World [to Come]: How to Get In or Out of the World to Come”; and “Ticket for One: Leaving the Rest of the World Behind.”
At the open-forum tisch, the panel of Mrs. Eisenman, Rabbi Matt Schneeweiss, Rabbi Ariel Rosensweig, Mrs. Shira Glas, and Mrs. Hindy Feder answered a host of different Torah-based questions. Rabbi Shalom Glas even lent his opinion on some of the questions! Shabbat morning began with a beautiful rosh chodesh davening and d’var Torah from Rabbi Elie Feder. Following an outdoor Kiddush in the unbelievably pleasant weather, each grade participated in another learning session with a limudei kodesh teacher with topics including: “Was Destroying the World Really Necessary”; “Shabbos Around the World, People Around the World, and Where You Land; Navigating the World after Graduation.”
After the enlightening sessions, they sat down for lunch and a dvar Torah from senior Sarah Austin. As Shabbat came to a close, everyone joined together for seudah shlishit. After a dvar Torah from senior Hayley Tanzman, which led into an enjoyable kumzits, the girls were fortunate to hear a beautiful Havdallah rendition by Mr. Moshe Seewald and Mr. Robert Zeitz. It was the perfect ending to an amazing Shabbat.
Melaveh malkah at the MSH Shabbaton is probably one of the most exciting events on the school calendar! The ruach carried over from Shabbat, as everyone made their way to the gym and started the festivities with a G.O. activity that went wrong, turning into an enthusiastic silly-string war. After the games, the students changed into costumes from countries around the world such as Greece, Mexico, France, and Scotland. The entire weekend was filled with zemirot, ruach, and achdut among all the girls. MSH is incredibly grateful to everyone who was instrumental in making the Shabbaton successful: Coach Ilona Diamond; G.O. president Sarah Austin and G.O. members Aviva Marmer, Becky Haviv, Jackie Kramer, and Lital Davidov; alumni madrichot Malka Marmer (MSH ’14), Noa Eliach, Tamar Yastrab, and Bella Weiss (MSH ’16); and especially to the generous sponsors.Â
