Self-management shabbaton 12-14th May 2017

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In preparation for our self-management shabbaton, we were all assigned groups and set times which we had to plan for, within the theme of “diversity of Judaism and how Judaism impacts our identity".

In the weeks leading up to the weekend, each group met and planned tochiot on a variety of topics. Mia Burman and Gabe Jenchel were chosen as our roshim and they had the very difficult job of overseeing the entire weekend. They could not have done a better job!! Go Mia and Gabe!


The self-management shabbaton was an opportunity for us each to put into practice our leadership skills. We as a cohort ran the entire weekend, start to finish. Creating a weekend ourselves, showed the immense amount of time and effort it takes to plan something amazing. The shabbaton was a success because we all put in effort and it really showed. Our group is made up of such diverse people but everyone contributed something and each let their strengths shine.

The shabbaton began Friday lunchtime, which meant for a lot of us, we were coming straight from school. Knowing the immense amount of fun and learning I was about to endure made it very difficult to sit through the mornings classes and contain my excitement.

After the very quick bus ride to Mount Morton, we kicked off the shabbaton with a fun game of parliament and then went to prepare for the white parade. Our previous white parades were both
extremely meaningful and special so we all got dressed and rushed out in excitement to begin our
journey.

After being blindfolded and led into a Rockwall room filled with UV paint and lights, we were
given an envelope. One by one everyone slowly opened theirs and the room became filled with mixed
emotions. Each member of the cohort had received a letter from their Israeli billet, some for which was emotional because of the strong connection they formed, whilst for others the experience left them with a large smile and the memories that they made together. The white parade made us all so excited for Israel!

Each group were given various parts of the shabbaton to be responsible for preparing, such as meals and peulot. Each peulah discussed topics including free-will, Zionism, several aspects of Judaism, different youth movements and the way in which people view Shabbat differently. Groups created peulot which included ice breakers and discussions. One icebreaker called ‘cat and mouse’ was a crowd favourite. We were all crying with laughter as the ‘mouse’ was blindfolded and had to crawl on the floor looking for a hidden object. Whilst looking for the object, they also had to watch out for a blindfolded ‘cat’ whose mission was to whack the mouse with a cushion. When I say whack, I mean really whack. Everyone who played as the cat went into full attack mode, resulting in an extremely hilarious game.


Throughout the shabbaton, the cohort grew and transformed. Through powerful discussions we each had our views and beliefs questioned, which helped to strengthen our opinions. Whilst we encountered several challenges, the way we overcame them as a group was so special to see. Coming out of this experience we are definitely much closer.

To finish off the shabbaton, the roshim and then the madrichim ran final activities. Both activities were very meaningful and got us to reflect on the whole experience. Overall it was a weekend filled with fun and meaning, and is something which none of us will ever forget.

Dahlia Paneth



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