Girls Uplifted at BRHS Shabbaton

Nearly 500 Bais Rivkah High School girls spent a fun, inspiring, and uplifting Shabbos together at the Raleigh Hotel in upstate New York.

One of the girls who attended the event described the experience:

It will just be a fun weekend away, I thought. It’ll be pretty standard – we’ll talk, eat, and have free time, I thought.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

What happened this past weekend was something so extraordinary, so remarkable, that I and 473 other Bais Rivkah girls walked out of the Raleigh Hotel on Sunday wishing we weren’t. But although we were headed home, we knew that Shabbaton wasn’t over. What we learned during those three days will stay with us for a long (and I mean long) time.

Maybe it was the workshops, the speeches, the fun times. Maybe it was the conversations, the new girls we met, the incredibly packed program. Or maybe it was all of those.

Let me tell you how each part of Shabbaton affected me – me and the rest of my school.

I’ll start with the theme: No Matter What. The eternity of the Neshama inside every Jew and its ability to come out higher than it had been before the many challenges were thrown in its way was brought out based on the Maamer of Mayim Rabim. This concept was explored during the many workshops and farbrengens, songs and decorations, and round-table discussions led by teachers and madrichos about the Chassidic approach to overcoming challenges.

After the Friday night meal, we stayed up through the early hours of the morning discussing Chassidic concepts, Moshiach, and more with Rabbi Greenberg, Rabbi Herman, Rabbi Paltiel, and Rabbi Wolf. I cannot even begin to describe the atmosphere that was so full of excitement for the Chassidus we were learning. At that point we all understood what’s real, what matters most.

Shabbos morning found many girls, girls who had barely slept, awake in a different kind of way: they had gotten up early to learn Chassidus before davening. After a beautiful meal with Divrei Torah, singing, and delicious food, we had a break with more optional but well-attended Shiurim. Stump the Rabbi sessions got us all thinking, a skit by the teachers had us all laughing, and Seder Niggunim allowed us to end our Shabbos uplifted.

After watching Living Torah, we had a candle-lighting ceremony: we each lit a candle, said what we learned on Shabbaton, and lit up the room and world by taking on hachlatos to make what we had learned practical. Next, we washed our hands and sat down to write Panim for our trip to the Ohel we would take on Sunday. And then… the fun began! Dancing, drum circle, Fear Factor, lazer tag, a carnival, a kumzitz and farbrengen… we stayed up yet again through the night having an absolutely fantastic time.

We got to know our friends so much better, and we took advantage of the opportunity to get to know other girls as well. It was incredible to be surrounded by so much positivity and so many friendly girls. All around, in every spot available, were girls talking, laughing, discussing, and enjoying each other’s company in a different setting with different perspectives.

There also was an unbelievable talent show – girls performed on stage with singing, ballet, magic, poetry, gymnastics, musical instruments, and more. We felt such school pride when we saw how talented our schoolmates are and the creativity expressed was unreal.

After a huge breakfast on Sunday morning, we boarded the busses to the Ohel, sad but happy at the same time. We were sad because we were leaving, but happy since we knew it wasn’t over – the friendships and growth will last for a long, long time.

THANK YOU Rabbi Stock for making Shabbaton happen – it would not have been possible without you. Thank you to Morah Teichtel, the force behind the school, and Sara Blau , Extra-curricular Director. Thank you Shabbaton heads, G.O., and the entire twelfth grade for spending countless hours working out every last detail. And thank you Bais Rivkah, for being the greatest school, the only school in the world that could make Shabbaton what it was.