by: Shimmy Mandelbaum (’16)
On Wednesday, the freshmen class went on an exhilarating hike in northern New Jersey through Norvin Green State Forest. During the hike, the grade played a game in which they would hand off a flag every five minutes to another student. But there was a catch: they were only allowed to hand to somebody that they did not know, so they could make new friends. Along with Rabbi Pearl, Rabbi Cohn, Rabbi Richter, Rabbi Danto and Rabbi Green the boys traveled through the woods, over (and even through) streams, with some help from Meir Barg (’16). They climbed and slid down rock walls landing in some mud, but still had a blast.
After the 3.5 hour hike the boys drove to a local park, where they played ball, ran around and engaged in recreational activity by the playground, all having a blast. After this, they settled down for a delicious barbeque, cooked by Chef Rabbi Green; they also all signed the flag that they carried. Delicious steaks were raffled off by seeing if kids knew other kids names. The grade benched and davened mincha led by the wonderful chazzan Avi Rothwachs (’16). When the 9th graders finally arrived back at school after an exhausting day, they thanked the bus drivers and went home. This will be a day that we as freshman will remember for many years to come.
