What’s Your Flavor? was the theme of a Shabbat weekend retreat attended by 21 Boulder Hebrew High 8th and 9th graders in Allenspark from Jan 29-31. The goal was to build Jewish teen community, new friendships and explore the many ways teens can live a Jewish life. The weekend included a lot of team building, celebrating Shabbat together, hiking, games, Havdallah, Tu B’Shevat Seder and so much more.

Students chose from a variety of options throughout the weekend, including Saturday morning Hiking Service or more traditional Torah discussion, eco-Judaism hikes, discussions on Jewish ethics and creating respect, “Shabbat — why or why not”, building Havdallah, low-ropes course, exploring staff’s Jewish journeys, sledding, ice cream social and of course s’mores by the fire.

It was an honor to spend the weekend with such amazing young people, they taught the staff as much as we taught them. My favorite quote was on the Saturday morning Service Hike when a student stated, ‘It’s easy to see nothing, it’s harder to see everything.’ “

This was the first retreat ever organized by Hebrew High. Based on the success, hopefully there will be more to come. This retreat was made possible by 18 Pomegranates.

Here is a link to pictures from the retreat.