Kennes Continues

Today we had our first day of congress. Congress consists of six North American cohorts plus all of our sister cohorts in Israel. We began our day with breakfast while simultaneously awaiting the arrival of the Israelis. Once the Israelis arrived, we broke into our color groups for our first program. The program focused in on "breaking the ice" (figuratively and literally) through various games and activities. One activity consisted of ordering the goals of congress in order of their significance. After, we realized all of the goals were equally important.

After lunch, we had our second program with the Israelis. This program focused on the notion of language. The Israelis and the North Americans studied texts together  from the Torah and discussed how the meanings of the texts can change because our languages are different. After exploring language within our color groups, we got ready for Shabbat.

We began Shabbat with a "white parade." Everyone dressed in white in honor of Shabbat and walked together to an outdoor Kabbalat Shabbat service. In addition to some songs and prayers, we all received a postcard with a randomly selected name of someone from another cohort. We wrote our Shabbat wishes for that person and had to find them in the crowd. It was just as gratifying to receive the card as it was to see the receiver's face when they got the card.

After, we broke into our separate services. We had the option to attend any service offered. From orthodox to conservative to camp to alternative (and even more), we had many choices. I personally attended the alternative service which turned out to be quite a moving experience. We studied text, we meditated, and of course, we discussed various topics.

This was immediately followed by a wonderful family-style Shabbat dinner. We had the opportunity to sit with our entire cohort, including our fellow Upper Galilee cohort. After dinner, we attended one last program with our color group to wrap up the day. The program focused on studying more texts and poetry and deciding which pieces resonated with us the most.

To complete a busy day, we ended with a classic San Francisco night circle. While it mostly just consisted of laughter and smiles, we had the opportunity to confide in one another and vent about our days. Night circles are always a beautiful and satisfying way to end such long days. Overall, I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we learned A LOT today.

Ps. Thank you to our amazing staff!!

-Lindsey Berger