Shabbat Shalom and Shavua Tov!

Shabbat Shalom and Shavua Tov!! We just concluded the FIRST Shabbat of the FIRST session of the TENTH summer at Sci-Tech, and that deserves a WOW.

Every Shabbat at Sci-Tech is a joyous moment to celebrate. We welcome the sabbath, dressed in white, at our all-camp Kabbalat Shabbat circle on the Main Lawn. Our songleaders begin our procession to the Performing Arts Center for evening services, and before heading to dinner, our co-director Rabbi Dan Medwin prompts the community to share “moments that made you go wow” with the rest of camp.

For Sci-Tech, our moment of wow this week was commencing the 10th Summer. With great savlanut (patience) over the past decade, our sakranut (curiosity) and kavod (respect) have led us to taglit (discovery) and kesher (connection) of a special Kehillah Kadoshah (holy community) in Byfield. We are so grateful to all who have been part of our community, both since our Pioneer Summer and to those who will join us in future years.

After song session each Shabbat evening, we close with a right-before-bedtime campfire and s’mores. We begin each Shabbat morning with a Torah service, reading both the Torah and our Sci-Tech Torah. Today’s service featured three readers using a lightsaber yad, and the portion included the source of a central prayer to our time at camp – Mah Tovu, how good it is to be together on this day. We learn about these teachings through the lens of science and technology, and in the fashion of the Digital Film Production workshop, we watch the weekly “Let’s Talk Torah” production.

Numbers 24:5, which includes “Mah Tovu”

The Shabbat festival is a long-awaited activity for many campers, and this time, 10th graders led booths for all of the camp to indulge. We also had two blocks of “Shalectives” which are often spiritually-uplifting activities like discussing Judaism and Artificial Intelligence, learning American Sign Language, or Live Action Role Playing.

Tonight, we marked the end of Shabbat and the transition into a new week of workshops, chugim (electives), and community. At Sci-Tech, however, we can never remain ordinary. Our box for the b’samim (spices) was a 3D printed apple.

With a joyous week ahead, what do you hope Sci-Tech will create next?