Noy comes from a secular family and grew up in the US without a Jewish education. Shanni comes from an observant family in Eretz Yisroel. They are both currently serving in the army in Hevron and they both enjoyed the Vav Tishrei event at the Hevron Chabad House.

 

For Noy, every new thing she learns about Judaism makes her feel part of a greater whole. She likes to feel she belongs to her nation and appreciates that her heritage belongs to her. For Shanni, it is a new perspective on topics she may have taken for granted. When asked separately, they both said they found Batsheva’s explanation of the stages of Tshuva as very meaningful to them.

 

“Batsheva makes them all so happy,” said Simcha Rochel Greenwald, eleven year old Shlucha from Duluth, Minnesota. She attended the event as a visitor and took lots of good pictures. (And she managed to get into a few as well.)

 

The evening began with a hands-on Dessert Making Workshop. Batsheva instructed the girls in the finer points of processing ingredients, melting chocolate and getting your hands coated with delicious batter. The Workshop was followed by a Yom Kippur quiz. The soldiers were designated into two teams. They grouped together to answer the questions. Unlike college exams… the room was filled with happy sounds and excitement as each girl made her contribution to her team’s quiz.

 

Then the girls sat around the table, passed around platters of the chocolate rum balls they had just made, while Batsheva discussed the answers and told them Chassidic insights into Yom Kippur.

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