Shabbat Shalom!

Shabbat started and ended in singing.  On Friday night we went to the main synagogue that we visited earlier in the week.  When the men and women began to go to there sitting area, the women section being on the upper level, due the locals and the other groups that were at this synagogue, there was very few seats for the women from our group to sit.  Most of the women ended up sitting in the main floor where, magically, a machitzah arrived.  During the service, there was one group of men from Israel, and from a school in New York, that mixed in with the locals, that nights davening was so crazy energetic and spirited.  Many songs that aren't in the service were screamed and sung in between prayers, sometimes it felt that the building would explode with energy.  Throughout the night, the energy continued as we sang in the streets, when we spoke about our previous week, and screamed "Good Shabbos" like Moshe Good Shabbos out of the windows of the JCCs dinning room.  Before free time, we had "family time" where we discussed our previous week by having candy bowls set up in front of us and having to make a kabob of candies then answering the corresponding questions.  For the people that took the candy that asked what the favorite part of the week was, answered that the singing, and dancing at the synagogue was their favorite part.  Even though many people in my grade may not be as religious or go to services on a weekly basis, they still knew some songs that which they sang and danced.  This experience helped us feel proud and feel like empowered to continue the traditions that we were taught in school and by our families.  25 hours after singing in the synagogue, we sang havdalah in the hotel along with several other songs.  We gathered in a big circle, it did not matter if you were standing next to your friend or not, we were together and celebrating our journey and strength of our people.  We began by singing a slow Hebrew song that everyone knew the words, then began havdalah.  Right after we said amen to havdalah, people began to talk to their friends in the crowd, but some didn't. Some people gathered together and began singing Matisyahu's One Day loudly, and slowly our grade began catching on and singing a long. Being able to sing loudly, dance proudly and enjoy being together, we celebrated our Judaism and ensured that the Jewish life that was once so prominent in Krakow, still shines bright.