Sivan Rahav-Meir finds common ground wherever she lands
There are times when you can grasp the intensity of a Shabbos by the Havdalah that comes at its close. That’s how many of us felt at the GO JEWISH Shabbaton in Antwerp, Belgium, earlier this year.
After making Havdalah, singer Avi Miller, who had flown in from Israel for the occasion, sang one last song and began packing up. The crowd, however, was in no hurry to leave. Avi sang another song and another, yet the participants, reluctant to part ways, urged him to continue. We stayed for over an hour, singing fast-paced numbers interwoven with slower, moving songs, in what became an impromptu kumzitz.
I first received an invitation to Europe’s biggest shabbaton four years ago, in 2020, from the organizer, a Jewish native of Amsterdam by the name of Eldan Santcroos. But then COVID-19 hit, shelving all plans for this annual chizuk event for young Jews from across the continent.
Over the years, Eldan stayed in touch, optimistic that the Shabbaton would take place at some point, and he was right. Despite the war raging in Gaza and the accompanying global surge in anti-Semitism, the event was revived with even greater energy than before.
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