Dear JCHS Families,
Even as the current school year has reached an intense level of learning and activity, we are also planning for next year. Several of you have asked about key dates for your own planning. The key dates are attached.
We want to call your attention to some difference for next year. In particular Shabbaton and Journeys for 11th and 12th grade.
Shabbaton: We are excited to announce that Shabbaton 2026: Early Edition will take place Wednesday, September 16 through mid-day Friday, September 18 at Camp Newman.
For those familiar with our legendary annual retreat, you’ll notice something different about next year’s timing. The JCHS Shabbaton has traditionally run Friday afternoon through Sunday morning, with Shabbat as its spiritual and communal centerpiece. We remain deeply committed to that model and look forward to returning to it in future years.
For next school year we found ourselves navigating an unusually challenging calendar. The 5787 Jewish year puts Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and both the beginning/end of Sukkot on weekends, significantly limiting available dates in the fall. When we combined these constraints with Camp Newman’s availability, JCHS discovered that no Shabbat weekend would work for our community in 2026.
Rather than compromise on our location or push the retreat into the spring, we made the decision to shift timing for this one year.
The Rabbis of the Talmud taught that one should begin preparing for Shabbat “from the first day of the week” (Beitzah 16a). We’re leaning into that wisdom for Shabbaton 2026: Early Edition. Our time together at Camp Newman will serve as an extended hachana (preparation) for Shabbat. That way students can return home ready to fully embrace Shabbat. Then back to school on Tuesday (after Yom Kippur) with no need for a Shabbaton Recovery Day in 2026 as is customary in other years.
While we won’t observe Shabbat together at camp in 2026, the centerpiece will still be Pluralism within the school’s remarkable Jewish community. The 2026 retreat will retain elements that make Shabbaton transformative: time in nature, community building across grade levels, meaningful programming, and the chance to step away from the routines of daily life with new and treasured friends.
The Jewish calendar doesn’t bend to our convenience—rather, it invites us to adapt ourselves to it. We’re looking forward to exploring what it means to build toward Shabbat together, and then release our students into it. Our plan is to restore the cadence of running that trip in 11th Grade. To do that, we will take two grades in 2027.
There is lots of time before the next school year to plan and dive into details. For now, we wanted to alert you to these changes.
L’Shalom – Toward Wholeness,
Rabbi Howard Jacoby Ruben
Head of School
