Cohort 7's First Shabbaton

              On the 21^st of November, the seventh cohort of the Montreal Diller Teen Fellows had their first Shabbaton at the Quality Inn hotel in Montreal. The theme of the Shabbaton was Jewish Identity, so throughout the weekend we reflected on our own traditions and beliefs. We welcomed Shabbat by lighting and blessing the Shabbat candles and by singing Shabbat songs and cheers. Later, we prayed the evening prayer portion in wonderful tunes, followed by an insightful activity where we learned about the different Shabbat prayers and customs. Finally, we sat down and had a delicious Shabbat meal, which included some very yummy chicken soup. After dinner, our JCs rand an amazing program called "Minute to Win It" based on the TV game show. We split in to two teams and competed in mystery challenges. There was lots of cheering and fun competition. Finally, we concluded the night with a Ma’agal Layla, a night discussion circle, where we answered very deep and meaningful questions and got to know each other better.

On Friday night we also met our newest Montreal fellow -- an adorable goat that we decided to name Phil, inspired by our JC of the same name. You can even follow Phil on instagram!

After getting up early on Saturday, we ate breakfast and then started our first activity of the day. The activity was about the streams of Judaism. We were divided into 4 small groups and each group received a paper with information about one of the four streams; Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstructionist and Reform. We then presented what we learned to the rest of the group. This activity gave us an opportunity to better understand the different streams of Judaism.

Following the activity, we left the hotel (without Phil [the goat] L) and headed to the Montreal Torah Centre, an orthodox synagogue. When we got there, everyone was extremely welcoming and the atmosphere was festive for Shabbat. We went in for the end of the services and since this was an orthodox synagogue, the men and women sat separately. After the services, the rabbi made a speech about the brutality with which the four rabbis in Jerusalem were murdered. He told us that as Jews we need to stand up and not give up our land in Israel. It was touching to see the support that Canadians were showing towards Israel. Following the services and the speech, our group went upstairs to a big table set just for us and the rabbi, Rabbi New. As we ate lunch, Rabbi New discussed with us the purpose each person has and the meaning of their life. He also told us that in Judaism, the ultimate goal in life is to bring heaven onto earth while we're still living.

After lunch, we headed out to a reconstructionist synagogue just next door, Dorshei Emet. Rabbi Aigen came and spoke to us about reconstructionist Judaism. He told us how reconstructionist Judaism came about in the 1920s. He explained to us that in reconstructionist Judaism, each family has the liberty to choose what to practice according to what's important to them. He said that it's not as much about the Halacha as it is about the values and culture. It was very interesting to see this side of Judaism especially after seeing orthodox just before. We were able to see how the same religion can be interpreted and practiced in completely different ways.

At 4h30 we walked back to the hotel and had a Seuda shlishit (3rd meal). Afterwards, we all got into a circle and did a Havdala. It was a really unique experience and it brought us closer together. Once we finished the Havdala, we did an activity called agree/disagree. In this activity, a sign saying agree was on one side of the room and another saying disagree was on the complete opposite side. This created a spectrum of opinions between the two sides. We started off the activity on a light note with statements such as "Israel is the most important part of Judaism". We then had to choose a side of the room based on whether we agreed with the statement or not. If we agreed and disagreed simultaneously, we stood in the middle. The activity continued with statements that became more and more serious, up to the last one which was "do you believe in G-d". It was interesting to see how the group was split between those who agreed and those who disagreed. We all shared our personal opinions with the rest of the group and everyone was open and accepting of everyone else's opinions. After the activity we had some free time which gave us a chance to get to know each other better.

We then had pizza and fries for dinner and at 8h30 we headed towards our fun night activity, bowling! When we first walked in, the place looked dead. We got our bowling shoes and they told us to go upstairs. I have to say that the entrance was really misleading. There were more alleys upstairs, it was dark with lasers and there was music playing. We split up into our teams and I got to say, we played pretty well! The music playing was too good to resist so we all got up and showed off our beautiful dance moves. We even had a little dance off with the people bowling next to us.

At 11h we got back to the hotel to do another maagal laila. The maagal was led by our two JCs, Phil and Maya. They asked us to choose two of the following questions: someone new we met, someone we would like to get to know better, most embarrassing moment and proudest moment. Once again, it was really nice to share our stories and hear everyone else's. To end the night, some of us went up to our rooms while others stayed downstairs to watch a movie.

Sunday morning we gave a short feedback on the shabbaton and gave suggestions for improvement. All in all, the shabbaton was really awesome! I learned a lot about Judaism and I got to know others better. I think it was a really fun experience that brought us together as a group and helped us bond with each other.

By Maya Shahmoon and Elisheva Eisenberg