Whistler Shabbaton in the eyes of an NCSYer

Letters

Editor: I would like the community to know about a fantastic weekend I just took part in. On Sept.12-14, Vancouver National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY) took a trip Whistler. After a long, two-hour bus ride, we were all given a few hours to walk around the hotel, socialize and relax.

We all gathered in the main hall, which was beautifully decorated, for a pre-Shabbat ruach session and, with music in the background, we began to feel the true spirit of Shabbat.

After the usual Friday night services, we all sat down and ate a delicious Shabbat meal cooked by the Yekutielis. We were then treated to skits performed by some of the advisers and had interesting debates on the environment and the economy.

After spending the rest of the night having fun with our friends, we all were glad we had a few short hours to sleep.

We were all woken up on Saturday morning by the stampede racing towards the main hall, which contained dozens of Crispy Creams that were devoured within a matter of minutes.

After breakfast, there was a synagogue service and a prayer workshop for others who wanted to learn the true meaning of prayer and religion. We were then allowed to walk around the village and just hang with our friends (a lot of whom were new people we had just met) until 6 p.m.

After that, we came back to the hotel for d'varai Torah and speeches, which were very touching.

We then carried out Shabbat with Havdalah, which must have been the most memorable moment of my life. As the lights were turned off and the room was lit only by candlelight, Rabbi Berman spoke to everyone about the unfortunate terror attack in Israel, which claimed the lives of Dr. Applebaum and his daughter. We all sang songs with tears in our eyes and the feeling of achdut (unity) was with us all.

We were then picked up by numerous large taxis and driven off to a local ice rink, where we spent the night skating, having fun and of course throwing snowballs at one another.

After an early wake up call on Sunday, we packed to be ready for white water rafting in Squamish at 11 a.m.

At the river rafting, we were given waterproof shoes and water resistant clothing, which, by the way, didn't work very well! We were divided into groups of about 10, seated in yellow rubber boats, accompanied by an advisor and river guide. There was a whiff of dead fish in the air while we paddled, as there was a pink salmon run just ending.

After a three-hour boat ride down rapids, dodging rocks and jumping up and down to dislodge our boats from shallow water, we finally made it back to the bus site where we ate lunch and got ready to leave for Vancouver.

Rabbi Berman and NCSY gave us all the most wonderful and exhilarating weekend of Jewish learning and outdoor fun, and I can only hope the next Shabbaton will come soon.

Written by a Grade 8 participant

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