A tight squeeze: All School Shabbaton 2018

February 22, 2018

Photo Courtesy of Dr. Nick Holton

Mira Berenbaum

Editor-in-Chief

Earlier this year, when the sophomore and junior class shabbatons were canceled due to fires, it was announced that Milken would be having its first All School Shabbaton in a number of years. Now, as the long-awaited shabbaton approaches, the details of the shabbaton are much more clear.

The housing will be a tight squeeze. Boys will be sleeping in bunks on the Camp Alonim side, while girls will be sleeping in rooms in the adult conference center. All rooming assignments will be made when each grade arrives at the camp to compensate for those who choose not to come on the Shabbaton. Mrs. Lauren Miller, Director of Experiential Learning, has arranged the schedule to accommodate the many different programs going on simultaneously.

One highlight of the Shabbaton will be the Friday night service. The entire school will join together for a 20 minute hike to the House of the Book, a large indoor space, where all classes will daven Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv as an entire community. Students are advised to bring hiking boots for this portion of the evening. This, along with 2.0neg, will be the only times the entire school will be together.

Freshmen should look forward to the Shabbat morning 45 minute hike, in addition to spending quality time with their vatikim. Underclassmen will have opportunities for mountain biking, archery, and horseback riding. The sophomore class dodgeball tournament should also be a highlight. Juniors will have the opportunity to do community service before heading to Alonim.

Seniors get to stay for an extra night in lieu of Senior Mystery Night for a Saturday night campfire. Additionally, the seniors are playing a larger leadership role than at previous shabbatonim: leading Saturday morning spiritual practices, reading torah at the service, facilitating discussions, and setting an overall enthusiastic tone for the weekend.

This weekend is expected to be a uniting and bonding experience for the Milken community. If all goes well, perhaps, it will lead to doing All School Shabbatonim again in the future.