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OCTOBER 3, 2017 | The Jewish Home
Around the Community
Madraigos 10th Annual Rosh Hashana Retreat Madraigos Family Unites in Spiritually Meaningful Experiences
T
he 10th Madraigos Annual Rosh Hashanah Retreat, held at the Hudson Valley Resort, was a unique experience – a catalyst for introspection and spiritual growth for more than 630 attendees. The Retreat is known for its openness and acceptance and this year was no exception. As one attendee remarked, “I was moved to see how people with jeans and tee shirts prayed next to chassidim wearing shtreimels and all were unified and non-judgmen-
tal.” In addition to incredibly moving and spiritual Rosh Hashana prayer services, Madraigos provided unique programming for the “Madraigos Family” which included young adults and families of all backgrounds and hashkafos. In a spirit of acceptance and unity, the service and programming uplifted every participant while the delicious food and amenities enhanced their holiday experience. Attendees Azriel and Sara Ganz remarked, “Rosh Hashanah was remarkable,
unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. They describe it as the ‘non-judgmental Judgment Day’ but it was so much more. So much courage, so much yearning, so much acceptance, friendship and love. You cannot have attended and not been affected forever.” The theme for the Retreat this year was “Explore Your Strengths - Experience Success,” focusing on educating and empowering participants to utilize their strengths to take their lives to the next level. Through a series of interactive workshops, participants learned how to nurture their key strengths while developing other less dominant strengths for greater personal success and fulfillment. The program, which attracted over 120 participants, was developed by Mr. Dov Perkal and Mr. Ben Rapaport, Gallup-certified strengths coach and mental health professional. Building on the overwhelming response to the strengths development workshops, Madraigos is generously sponsoring 50 people to par-
ticipate in a more intensive strengths-coaching workshop in the coming year. Additional strengths-based programs are planned for the greater community. Rena Kutner, MFT, also led a workshop titled “Finding Our Strengths In Parenting.” One parent commented, “I walked into the workshop wanting to learn how to get my teenager to do what I tell him. I gained practical tools to learn how to communicate and build a relationship instead of just trying to control him.”
Rabbi Shaul Chill Addresses Shevach High School
O
n September 18, the last day of school before the start of our new year, Shevach High School had the great zechus of hearing divrei chizuk from our exceptional teacher of halacha, Rabbi Shaul Chill, Rav of the Young Israel of Far Rockaway. As the students and faculty gathered in the newly-renovated multi-purpose room, the mood in the air was serious, yet positive. Rabbi Chill explored the issues of emunah and hishtadlus, as well as how to deal with the challenges and crises which mark our journeys in this world. Rabbi Chill explained how Sarah Imeinu persevered in her tefillos for
a child long after the physical possibility seemed to be gone, as well as how Avraham Avinu could have – but did not – regret the Akeidah, despite Sarah Imeinu’s resultant death (according to the Midrash). We should believe that Hashem can always do anything, that we do not comprehend His reasons, and that we should not regret anything except, as Rav Chaim Kanievsky said, the aveiros we have done or the mitzvos we could have done, but did not do. While we may not like the results of what were proper decisions and actions, we should harbor no regrets for those correct choices. For example, if someone writes a big check for tzedaka on Tuesday, and by Thurs-
day her car breaks down necessitating expensive repairs, she should not regret having written the check. The choices are ours; Hashem takes care of the rest. Life is filled with surprise quizzes and major exams in emunah; the key is to acknowledge the priority of having emunah and knowing that everyone has it in different degrees. We should also demonstrate extra respect for those who have emerged from a great challenge with strong emunah, such as many survivors of the Holocaust. As he recounted dramatic stories from the wars in Israel, places around the world, and even from his own life, Rabbi Chill reinforced our ability to grow in our own emunah.
In a clear tie-in to Rosh Hashana, Rabbi Chill quoted Rav Nebenzahl, who explained that the very order of tekias shofar connects to emunah. While the first tekiah in a set should remind us of the triumph and glory of Yetzias Mitzrayim, the broken, crying sound of shevarim and teruah recall the pain and suffering of the Jewish nation and individual Yidden throughout history and in our own days. However, we must believe that there will, b’ezras Hashem soon in our days, come another, even louder and longer blast of triumph and glory – that of the final Geulah, about which we continuously say, “Ani Ma’amin.”