Snorkel and Study Winter 2010: An Experience of A Lifetime
By: Elana Quiroga
Snorkel and Study was a great experience that really opened my eyes to what Judaism is all about. Going into the program I did not really know what to expect and was a little nervous because my knowledge of Judaism was limited, but I learned tons of new information, met lots of wonderful girls, and really had a well spent winter break.
Some of the topics we learned about in classes were about the Jewish soul, the neshamah, debunking Jewish myths, Jewish traditions, teachings from the book of Tanya, an open question and answer session on any topic, Jewish Medical ethics, and much more. On the day after we arrived, we had shabbos with services and a beautiful dinner. There was also a talent show on the weekend, which was a lot of fun and people’s talents ranged from doing cartwheels to comedy acts to double-jointed limb talents. We also had a few febrengens at night, which is a time when we all gathered together in a circle and shared stories, sang, ate tasty snacks, and danced. I learned lots of songs and nigguns, which were very soulful. The food was absolutely delicious; I never would have known it was kosher, but it was.
Rabbi Friedman taught a few classes, one was on the teachings of the Tanya; he was so wise and taught us many deep philosophies. There were also two Rebbetzins, Rivki Slonim and Miriam Lipskier. Both had great insight, but Rivki definitely stands out in my mind for being very open to any topic; she was very candid and insightful. We also got the chance to learn one on one in what were called chevrusa, where you could learn from an array of topics; I chose the Jewish calendar and holidays, but they had everything from traditions to bruchas over food to learning Hebrew and much more. Every morning we got the chance to daven and there were different level davening groups from beginner to advanced.
We also went on a snorkeling trip to see the reef right off the shore from the hotel; I saw a couple of fish and lots of coral. The housing situation was very satisfactory; we lived in an apartment with around 4 girls and the rooms were very spacious and gorgeous. There were two magnificent pools and hot tubs around the resort. We got the chance to do some extracurricular activities when not taking classes; I did parasailing, which was awesome and yes, a little scary, but some other options were kayaking, viewing the ocean from a glass bottom boat, swimming with the dolphins, or riding a wave runner.
Saying goodbye was difficult, but everyone got each other’s contact information, so as to keep in touch. Like I said, you would not want to miss out on this experience, whether you are just trying to find out more about Judaism or you want to spend your winter break in the sunny Florida Keys and make friends with some nice Jewish college girls; it is life-changing. I would just like to thank Shaindel for introducing me to this program.