This year, the English Department (Dr. Master, Mrs. Milch, Mr. McGoldrick, Mrs. Goldberg and Mrs. Shavelson) continued the tradition begun last year of requiring all seniors to complete a Capstone project in any field of their interest.

Rabbis Einhorn's Y4 Shiur spent Shabbat at their Rebbe's home in Passaic.  The Einhorns graciously opened their home to the boys for sleeping as well as all Shabbat meals. Rav Yitz Rabovksy and Rabbi Jonathan Kessel joined the group for Seudah Shlishit. Rabbi Kessel addressed the crowd with a passionate talk about the parsha. The boys had a fabulous time and were spiritually uplifted by the event!

Talmidim of Y17C in Rabbi Fridman's gemara shiur joined the Jewish Center of Teaneck this past Shabbat, Behar, for the third annual Jewish Center of Teaneck-TABC Shabbaton.

In traditional TABC fashion, the Shabbaton opened on Erev Shabbat with a shiur basketball game.

On Friday night, with Nachum Krasnopolsky leading Kabbalat Shabbat, Avrumi Davis delivered a Dvar Torah addressing the emancipation of slaves during Yovel, noting, in the name of Pnei Yehoshua, that the fact that the Torah refers to this as a liberation for all of the inhabitants of the Land, Dror Ba'Aretz LiChol Yoshveha , and not merely the slaves alone, is a reflection of Chazal's dictum that anyone who owed an Eved Ivri indeed was enslaved himself.  Later on Shabbat, Eli Rifkind addressed the same question with an alternative solution, noting that the Torah generally abhorred slavery, and that the emancipation of even Hebrew slaves could be seen as a rejuvenation for the entire society.

Later on Friday night, the Talmidim went to the Fridman home for an oneg that lasted into the wee hours.  After many Divrei Torah on the parsha, the talmidim engaged in a spirited discussion concerning the future of Modern Orthodoxy, and the need to reinvigorate the Torah U'Madda community.  

Rabbi Fridman's regular Shabbat morning Rambam shiur was delivered by Akiva Sturm '19, who developed Rambam's point of view on the topic of Ribbit Devarim.  In the context of the shiur, Akiva developed Rambam's point of view, in contrast to Ramban's, and used this conceptual distinction to relate to a dispute between R. Moshe Feinstein and R. Shlomo Zalman Auerbach regarding expressions of gratitude in the context of Ribbit Devarim.  

Shabbat morning davening, led by Moshe Golubchik '19, Daniel Becker '20 and Yehoshua Kanarek '19, featured a Dvar Torah by Alexander Ostrin '19 which developed the motif of Divine mastery over the cosmos, Ki Li Ha'Aretz, through Parashat Behar.  

Shabbat lunch featured a discussion led by Akiva Prager '20,centering on the coda of Parashat Behar, Ki Li Bnei Yisrael Avadim, Avadai Hem, and the challenge of sensing avdut in the relative socioeconomic and material comfort of the United States.

Lunch was followed by an optional Bekiut Chaburah led by Rabbi Fridman for the talmidim who will, b'ezrat Hashem, be completing Masekhet Sanhedrin this week.

Shabbat afternoon featured a shiur by Rabbi Fridman for the talmidim on the subject of Sefirat Shemitin U'Yovlot, with a focus on the role of Beit Din HaGadol in the performance of this mitzvah, as well as the mitzvah of Tekiah during the Yovel year.  This shiur developed many of the motifs that Y17C studied over the course of the entire year in Masekhet Sanhedrin, with a heavy emphasis on the interaction between Beit Din HaGadol and society at large.

Following Rabbi Fridman's shiur, Avraham Yaakov Gelman '19 delivered Rabbi Fridman's Pirkei Avot shiur, with an emphasis on the role of gratitude in cultivating God's awareness, even to the point of achieving Rambam's famous description in Hilkhot De'ot (Chapter 3) of the individual capable of sensing the Divine in all of his interactions, B'Chol Derachecha Da'ehu .

Seudah Shlishit, sponsored by Dr. Ben and Michele Cooper, parents of TABC alumnus Avi Cooper ('17) in honor of their son Alexander's Bar Mitzvah, featured a stirring exhortation delivered by Yonasan Rutta '20 explicating the underlying concept of Gadol Metzvuveh V'Oseh (Kiddushin 30a), an apropos theme for the Bar Mitzvah celebration.

The Shabbaton was made possible by the exceptional hospitality of both the Breen and Helfgot families in hosting so many of our talmidim.