Pre-IST Shabbaton 4/5 Nov - Lehava - Jonathan

We just had our pre-IST Shabbaton, and it was terrific.

Before the Shabbaton, like everyone else, I was super excited, but I honestly didn’t know why. Obviously, just the simple idea of going to Israel had me smiling, and being with my friends, mads and teachers for five weeks, touring the most beautiful country in the world - who wouldn’t be ecstatic? But I also knew it was more than that; I just couldn’t articulate exactly what “it” was.

Over the weekend, I slowly figured out some of the reasons why we were already so excited. Throughout our Shabbat together, our outstanding mads and teachers ran various programs and talks to enhance our idea of Jewish pride and love for the Holy Land.

Not long after we arrived at school, we sat down and got ready to meet our family groups. The mads and teachers set up a perfect activity for us kids to have a fun ‘treasure hunt’ to find our groups. The mixed feelings of excitement and fear were amongst everyone. When I found my group, there was nothing but happiness. All my friends were already sitting there laughing; it was such a great moment.

One specific program that really stood out to me was our talk about why we feel connected to Israel. Most of our group couldn’t answer the question. We all thought, “well, you know, we love Israel and the holy sites and all that”. But the true answer we couldn’t yet find was shared by our mads - the reason we all were so excited was that Israel is our home. We aren’t going on some random overseas trip; we are visiting our home of refuge, the one place in this world where we all feel a sense of belonging. So many of our ancestors have fought so hard for us to be able to step onto the land of Israel, and now we have the chance to spend five weeks there! It’s unbelievable.

All our boys decided to bring soccer jerseys for a massive game of soccer, and after our delicious Friday night dinner, it was game time, Lehava vs Netzach. There must have been 40+ 15-year-old energetic boys running around chasing a soccer ball on a pitch-black soccer pitch. The mighty Lehava came up well on top in a 9-1 win; we will see the results in round 2 in Israel.

To end off our amazing Shabbaton, we had a beautiful Havdalah service run by our madrichim. Everyone sang the brachot together in the dark - it was so special.

Overall, our Shabbaton was such a great intro to our IST adventure. I genuinely think everyone on the program now has a clearer idea of how lucky we are to be leaving for Israel in only 14 days, and I know the excitement is only going to grow and grow each day. I personally cannot wait for this experience of a lifetime and hope everyone has an amazing trip. We owe a huge thank you to, not only our fantastic parents who are making it possible for us to go (and whom we will so dearly miss 😉), but also to all our unbelievable staff and madrichim who are taking time out of their own lives and holidays to take care of us and more importantly organising this outstanding experience for us. Thank you so much Moriah ❤️

Jonathan