Highlights of the Hadar Shabbaton 2022

We had a wonderful time last weekend at the Hadar National Shabbaton.  I'm just posting about it now because I wasn't awake enough until now--who sleeps at a Shabbaton?  😀  Shabbos nap?  What Shabbos nap?  😀

These were the highlights for me:

~People!

Our tiny synagogue gets only about 9-16 people on the average Shabbat (Sabbath) morning.  It was a pleasure to pray and sing with literally hundreds of people.  

~Children!

Our congregation consists almost exclusively of people over 50, so we rarely see any children in synagogue.  According to Rabbi Ethan Tucker, there were 600 people (from 26 states, plus Canada and Israel) at the Shabbaton, and 150 of them were children.  The kids ranged in age from tall teenagers to tiny tots.  "How old is your baby?"  "Three months."  "What a cutie!"  What a joy, to be surrounded by the next generation!

~Singing!

There was singing at Friday night services, at the Tisch, at Shabbat morning services, after Seudah Shlishit, and on Saturday night after Shabbat.  I had the most fun at the Tisch.  Officially, it was led by niggun (wordless song) enthusiast Rabbi Aviva Richman.  But the real stars were the young people.  Ranging in age from roughly 10 to twenty-something, they supplied the enthusiasm, the volume, and plenty of table-pounding.  😀  When we arrived, there were about 20 people in the room.  By the time we dragged ourselves away to try to get some sleep, the population had roughly tripled, with more and more chairs dragged in from the hall and the folding door to the adjoining room opened up to accommodate the growing crowd.  That was the most fun I had all weekend!

I'm looking forward to the next Hadar National Shabbaton.