JEWISH HOME LA

Young Israel of Northridge Hosts YULA Girl’s Shabbaton 

On Shabbos Parshas Bo, the Young Israel of Northridge community welcomed YULA Girl’s 10th grade to their annual YULA Northridge Shabbaton. The girls look forward to the shabbaton throughout the year, as it has cultivated a reputation from previous years as one of the most exciting shabbatons.

Led by their 10th grade mechanechet, Rebbetzin Michelle Klein, this year the students welcomed Mrs. Klein’s co-mechanechet Mrs. Melissa Beck and her family. Carol and Mel Maller – tremendous baalei chessed and pillars of the Northridge community – hosted the Shabbos sleepover for nearly forty girls.

The YULA girls enjoyed a beautiful dinner at the Mallers, a combination of Lieder’s fantastic catering and Rebbetzin Klein’s delicious home-cooked recipes. Shabbos day lunch was hosted in the Klein home, with girls sitting from wall to wall, bonding and engaging in uplifting conversation. Shabbos lunch was focused on developing and recognizing deeper concepts of hakaras hatov, gratitude, which engaged the girls and challenged them to express their appreciation for their fellow classmates in a public forum. Rabbi Nachi Klein facilitated the discussion, which gave the girls an opportunity to look outside of themselves and see their classmates’ true abilities and, in turn, to recognize their own.

The Northridge shabbaton is often recalled as one of the favorite Shabbos experiences over the course of their four years at YULA. At the Maller home, the girls not only bonded with one another, but also experienced first-hand the beauty of a home devoted to pure chessed. The Young Israel of Northridge community looks forward to hosting the girls again in the future, for there is no greater sense of satisfaction than seeing our youth come away uplifted and inspired.