Thursday morning was our last morning of learning and in the afternoon we boarded busses once again, this time to end the year in the same place we started, the Kotel. After hearing an inspirational speech by Sepha about our year as a whole and davening mincha, we headed to Rav Eitan's house in Neve Daniel, which is where the banquet took place. This year’s banquet was different than most years. Although we said our heartfelt goodbyes, we then got to spend the entire Shavuot together which was very special. The night started with an amazing dinner and just talking to our friends who over this year have become more like our family. As the night went on, we got to hear a mix of speeches from the administration as well as personal thank you’s from 41 students! They represented us all as they expressed their appreciation to the entire staff and faculty for all they gave us throughout the year. Rebecca Finkelstein was the class representative and she gave a beautiful and inspirational dvar Torah. Shira Leifer and Elzie Winiarsky wrote a humorous poem reflecting on the highlights of the year. We laughed and cried as we said our goodbyes to all our incredible teachers for the last time. Our amazing Madrichot made a funny and heartwarming video. We will miss them so much!! Midreshet gave us a beautiful ‘kiriat shema’ as a present, while we showed our thanks by giving a present back to the school; laminated song sheets for Seudah Shlishit. A special thank you to Avital Listman and Rebecca Packer for producing them.  

Shavuot was definitely a bittersweet experience. Although it was an incredible experience, we knew it was our last few days together. We began Shavuot with a delicious dinner followed by a night filled with learning. We stayed up all night while 14 girls and two of our teachers gave incredible shiurim. Afterwards, at 3:45 am, we walked together to the kotel.  Walking as a united group through the streets of Jerusalem was such an empowering feeling and really enabled us to connect to Jerusalem, eretz Yisrael and Klal Yisrael.  After we davened at the kotel, we made our way back to Midreshet Moriah and spent the rest of the day taking in our last moments together--playing games and going to shiurim. Overall, Shavuot was truly an unbelievable experience, and a memorable way to end a great year. 

Riki Zahn, Caroline Zaslow and Raquel Zimmerman, Class of 5776