Saturday:

Today was the first Shabbat I have ever observed, and to say the least it was many others first time as well. I Truly did not know what to expect; yes I knew what Shabbat was all about after learning about it long ago in her new school, yet I never actually celebrated the holiday to its full extent. The night began with prayer and dancing, and as the night quickly settled in so did the family closeness that soon became easily noticeable as it runs parallel to the Shabbat holiday. Even though the day was actually uneventful in regards to the fact it was an open day with not a packed itinerary, the day was actually a unique experience where everyone sort of took a step back collectively and after days of travel. The entire day consisted of time with our bus, which included games, instruction, and also just a long time to relax and chill with whoever you wanted for almost half the day. Being my first Shabbat, especially with TJJ, I can easily say that it was one of the coolest experiences as I celebrated such an occasion for the first time with some amazing people and awesome advisors that I have quickly became close with the past 3 days.

Sunday:

I’ll be honest. The rabbi at my synagogue, Rabbi Kalev, is one of the most hip and fun men we have at my conservative synagogue. With that said, today was the first day I have ever seen two rabbis compete in an epic rap battle on a bus, combining both lines of Hebrew and English into the best wrap possible to conquer their opponent. Today we had to travel from Phoenix, Arizona all the way to San Diego, which was far from a shot car ride to say the least. However, the energy and passion of the advisors which easily spreads to the kids on the bus, creates an environment that is so fun on the bus that the bus ride seems a lot less longer than it truly is. Before we knew it, we were landed in San Diego by 2 o’clock, where we started  the day with a jet boat activity. This was honestly one of the coolest experiences of my life. The boat was so fast, it nearly seemed as it we were flying over the water. In addition, the swift turns and “power stops” really kept the people on my boat screaming and begging for an even crazier ride. To conclude the day we went to a mall at sunset which truly showed the beauty of San Diego. Finally we had dinner then ended the day with a brief workshop which revolved around the Jewish passion for asking questions.