Second Shabbaton- Cohort 17 Leading Social Justice and Tikkun Olam

Friday 2/21- Day 1

            

When arrived at Nature Bridge in Marin the sun was still shining bright. We unpacked and change into our white Shabbat clothes. After assembling, we walked down to the beach for a fellow-led program. We gathered together in song and prayer to welcome Shabbat. We then talked about our shabbaton theme, social justice, and wrote in the sand words that we thought were important to social justice and a brief discussion about why we chose them. It was a great way to primer for further social justice discussion on the Shabbaton.

           

After we watched the sunset, we headed ate a lovely dinner of Mexican food. Gabi then led a program where we talked about Shabbat’s purpose. We traveled to different stations where we were able to use each of our senses, and it served as a reminder of how lucky we are to be so healthy. Then Gabe, one of the fellows, led a program on our Jewish journeys. We each used different graphics to talk about how we have grown as Jews. We talked about the true value of traditional ceremonies and how we connect to Judaism.

            

Lastly, we closed out the night with a Ma’agal Layla, or night circle, a Diller tradition. We bonded deeply as we answered a wide array of questions about ourselves. We shared meaningful stories and silly anecdotes, and learned more about each other. All in all it was a lovely day, filled with intellect, laughter, and meaning.

-Oren Cohort 17 

Saturday 2/22- Day 2

Saturday was full of exciting programs and relaxing free time. After breakfast, Gabi lead optional yoga which was a great way to wake up. Then we all went to the beach for Shabbat morning service, singing songs and reading a passage from John Muir. Later, we had a program lead by Jack, one of the fellows. He used his knowledge about music and personal experiences to teach us about making the best out of situations.  

The Social Justice group organized and led a scavenger hunt all around the area. At each clue, we were asked a question pertaining to social justice, such as “What is a cause you care about and see yourself working with?” This scavenger hunt got us thinking about our personal interests when it comes to community service and Tikun Olam. This same theme came up again later when we read intriguing articles about various past and current movements regarding social justice. My group read about wheelchair accessible sidewalks which were first designed in Berkley. These articles brought up interesting topics which we don’t often hear about. With our new knowledge of social justice, we went about brainstorming what causes we may want to focus on for our own Tikun Olam projects. 

Our Junior Councilors, Philip and Rachel, taught us about various organizations around today and we used them as inspiration for our own ideas. Saturday night, we all made out own Havdalla candles and held a service outside. At our campfire, we played guitar and Gabi asked us all questions about ourselves. Overall, Saturday was full of thought provoking and calming fellow-lead activities.

Claire-Cohort 17

Sunday 2/23- Day 3

On Sunday, the last day of our self-management shabbaton, we were fortunate enough to have a guest speaker from the Keshet organization. Our speaker, Maya, works at a Jewish LGTBQUIA organization that works to bridge the gap between judaism and sexual orientation. Maya talked about the difference between orientation and gender, as well as the meaning of ally-ship and the different ways people choose to define themselves. She went on to tell us that Keshet translates to "rainbow" in hebrew, a beautiful name for a beautiful organization. Thank you so much for coming Maya, you're amazing!

After Maya left, our JCs Rachel and Phillip, slowly led our cohort into a feedback session. The goal of the feedback was to evaluate the overall success of our cohort-led shabbaton. We at first talked about the correct way to give and receive feedback before rating our success in different areas, such as leadership and the overall attainment of goals. After a lengthy analysis and discussion of the weekend, we decided together that though this retreat was lots of fun, we have a long ways to go the next time we self-manage a weekend.

We next did an individual feedback program, where cohort members could choose to be given feedback on their role in the retreat by two other members. This was a great way to look at our individual strengths and weaknesses over the weekend, and to learn what we need to work on in the future. Gabi then gave us reviews of our group-led programs, and the day came to a close. With some candy and a few closing words, the retreat was over. It was time to head home. 

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend. I learned a lot, and I know my other Dillers did as well. So thank you Gabi, Josh, Phillip, Rachel and all of my fellow members of Cohort 17. It was a blast!

-Sophia Cohort 17