Last weekend, the juniors had the incredible experience of spending time together outside of school on their retreat.Â
The juniors started the retreat last Thursday at Xtreme Action for a few hours where they played in the arcade, raced each other in go-karts, and competed in mini-golf. In the middle, they paused for a delicious meal with pizza and fries.
After an eventful midday at Xtreme Park, the juniors headed to the resort they were staying at—Agam Resort in Cooper City.
Once at the Chabad-run resort, students spent the rest of the afternoon playing sports like basketball, volleyball, and pickleball, as well as hanging out.
Later that night the students enjoyed a mentalist show followed by a delicious meat meal. They spent the rest of the night singing and dancing to karaoke, making smores, and eating late-night cholent.
The next morning, on Friday, the eleventh-graders were woken up with loud music by the B’not Sherut. After a nice shacharit davening and breakfast, the juniors made their way to Fort Lauderdale for a boat ride and snorkeling with fish.Â
The juniors headed back on the bus to the resort to get ready for Shabbat. After handing in their phones, they brought in Shabbat with a beautiful Kabbalat Shabbat including both Ashkenazi and Sephardic customs.
Following the davening and some activities, everyone gathered for a delicious Shabbat meal full of ruach and songs. The juniors spent the rest of their night playing board games and hanging out.
Shabbat morning started with a wakeup by Rabbi Kleinman and family to get everyone up for Shacharit. After Mincha, the juniors learned Torah in groups before being given free time where they were able to have DMCs (deep meaningful conversations) with Ms. Martin, or Mr. Fernandez. They also played basketball, sheshbesh, or cards. Finally, the juniors gathered to conclude Shabbat with ebbing and Aravit followed by Havdalah after which, they headed home.
Saturday morning began with an energized wake-up from Rabbi Kleinman, Rabbi Cohen, and Morah Twito’s children. After an optional early breakfast, everyone gathered by the lake for an incredible Shacharit davening.Â
Students were then split into groups for a 30-minute Torah learning session with different teachers.
After lunch and Mincha, the juniors partook in a second Torah learning session followed by a couple of hours of free time where students got to rest and know teachers and peers better through board games like sheshbesh and cards, sports such as basketball and pickleball, and deep conversations (especially Ms. Martin and Mr. Fernandez who joined mid-day to converse with students).
Finally, the juniors concluded Shabbat with beautiful ebbing, an incredible speech from Rabbi Jack Cohen, Aravit davening, and a festive Havdalah.
Shortly after concluding Shabbat, students packed their bags for the bus ride home.
The juniors really enjoyed and appreciated the incredible weekend and look forward to many more spiritual and grade-bonding events.
By: Noam Cohen (11th) & Jonny Gad (11th)