By Yocheved T.
Tishrei started off with Rebbetzin Chana's Yartzheit and the many amazing programs and speakers we had commemorating her life as the Rebbe's mother, and how special she was as an individual.
Then came Kaparos which was an experience like no other, and then Yom Kippur where we went to all the amazing shuls in Melbourne and had a really inspirational Yom Tov, and davening throughout! We had an inspiring dorm program on Thursday night focusing on Lchatchila Ariber and how to make it real and practical in our lives.
So much has happened over Sukkos! Wow BH! Here is a breakdown-by-the-day of what happened in OC 😃
Days 1 and 2 - Ohel Chana girls happily ate out at all the sweet families who graciously hosted us for yom tov.
Motsei Yom Tov night we went over to Rabbi Tenenbaum’s Sukka to hear Mrs. Althaus from Sydney come speak and share inspiring stories with us and we all enjoyed a tasty milchig dessert generously made by Mrs. Tenenbaum.
Day 3- We happily volunteered for the amazing Chabad Youth program at Luna Park! We had a great time and loved participating at the booths and helping out with mivtzoim!
Day 4- Trip to Hanging Rock!
We all had an incredible time hiking up the beautiful rocks together, enjoyed a lovely picnic and had a little shiur lesson by Leah Groner once we reached the top!
But the busy, fun-filled day continued as OC girls had a bbq dinner at the Groner's and then we went to either the Simchas Bais Party of Primary or High School and felt true Simcha!
Day 6 -Motsei Shabbos we had a super fun and funny lip sync battle run by our dorm counselor Rechel. We all had a good laugh and enjoyed the evening.
Day 7- We were treated to a Daneli’s lunch that we loved, and had our own in - Yom tov seuda for Hoshana Raba .
Day 8- All the oc girls partnered up with different grades in high school and went on Talucha to many shules and chabad houses around Melbourne! It was so special seeing the simcha and chayus everyone brought to all the Shuls visited!
After the long walks, we met at a meal at Miri Lipsker’s home and heard a wonderful dvar Torah.
Day 9 Simchas Torah - Mrs. Groner hosted us for a delicious lunch and we all ate and sang songs, all in all having a great time.
Thank you again to all the nice families who opened up their homes for us and for our wonderful staff who made our Sukkos feel like home.
After Isru Chag on Thursday, we had an inspirational farbrengen with Rabbi Wolf where he spoke about how our "Eisav's Malach" is complacency and freedom, and that maybe times we wait for the feelings of change but the rebbe says don't wait for that feeling of wanting to change, change now!
Then in honor of Shabbos Bereishis, we learnt that the tone of this shabbos sets the the tone of the whole year, and that you should make every second of this shabbos count! Additionally, we had an in-shabbos for the day meal which was wonderful, thank you to everyone who made it happen!
Finishing off Tishrei we had a Sunday night program with Rechel where she spoke about Mazalos of Cheshvan, and all the significance it has, thank you Rechel for preparing the program which was of course enjoyable! And thank you for the program that we had earlier in Tishrei where we learnt about how each person contributes so much, and that you need each piece to complete the puzzle.
In conclusion, this Tishrei in Melbourne was a Tishrei we will never forget, can't wait to start Chodesh Cheshvan!
Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan started with a bang! We had a very special trip to a trampoline park called Bounce, thank you to everyone who organized it; it was so much fun! Lastly, this past in-Shabbos we had an amazing Farbrengen with Rabbi Winner who spoke to us on Friday night about making every second count, and how important it is to be writing in a journal about anything inspirational, so that you are able to look back at it later on.
