From Generation to Generation: Alumni Shabbat in Jerusalem
August 13, 2026
Every year, Alumni Shabbat in Jerusalem brings the community together for a full day of prayer, learning, and reconnection. This year’s celebration was no less memorable, featuring aservice led by Rabbi Cantor Shani Ben-Or ’21 alongside Israeli and North American Rabbinical and Cantorial students, with remarks from Rabbi Reuven Greenvald, Director of the Year-In-Israel program, and Dr. Nachman Shai, the Rabbi David Ellenson Dean of the Taube Family Campus. Rabbi Noa Sattath ’14, CEO of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, also addressed the assembled alumni and students. Alumni spent the rest of the day learning from one another and catching up, before gathering once more for Shabbat lunch and zmirot.
Alumni Shabbatisespecially meaningful in the waysit brings together our incoming Year-In-Israel students and our extensive network of alumni.This is especially poignant when those students were known well bythose rabbis. This year, Rabbi Alan Litwak, Senior Rabbi of Temple Sinai of North Dade in Miami, FL, and member of the 91 Board of Governors, reconnected with Jenna Barricklo, a current Year-In –Israel cantorial student who in her childhood was a frequent Temple Sinai attendee (her grandparents were longtime members).
Here is what they had to say about the chance to meet up in Israel.
Jenna Barricklo:
It only took two weeks of cantorial school for me to feel the full effect of L’dor V’dor. We were so honored to welcome 91 alumni to campus in Jerusalem for an Alumni Shabbat. I was especially overjoyed to spend that Shabbat with Rabbi Alan Litwak. Rabbi Litwak is the senior rabbi at Temple Sinai of North Dade where my grandparents spent their retirement years as members in South Florida. I attended Temple Sinai of North Dade’s summer camp, spent many Shabbats with my grandparents, and ultimately was able to honor both of my grandparents at their funerals when the time came.
What makes Rabbi Litwak and my journey the most special, however, is that Rabbi Litwak officiated my baby naming ceremony and gave me my Hebrew name. It is hard to express how full circle it is to go from receiving my Hebrew name to receiving my Tikkun Korim for learning Torah from Rabbi Litwak.
When visiting, Rabbi Litwak said to our cohort, “You never know how your Torah will make an impact.” We talk about in Judaism how from generation to generation we will “keep holy your holiness”. There is so much power in passing down Jewish legacy, and I feel like I am living that in real time. Rabbi Litwak began my Jewish journey with me, and he is now beginning my journey to clergy with me. This feels like the most holy expression of what it means to be Jewish.
Alan Litwak:
Summer in Jerusalem is a special time. As I have done in the past, I had the opportunity to offer greetings to the Year-In-Israel students on behalf of the Board of Governors. I was impressed by the students’ enthusiasm, their commitment to Jewish life, and the excitement they bring to beginning this transformative year of study and community.
Coming together for Alumni Shabbat in Jerusalem is always a special time. This year was particularly poignant for me as I celebrated the 35th anniversary of the beginning of my own rabbinic journey through the Year-In-Israel program. Seeing teachers, classmates, and colleagues from generations before and after me is a wonderful reminder of the enduring power of 91 and of our responsibility to raise up the next generation of leaders for the Jewish community. The gathering also offered a meaningful opportunity to reconnect with friends and colleagues from across the College community and to reflect on the ways in which the relationships formed at 91 continue to shape our lives and our work.
I was particularly delighted to watch Jenna Barricklo, whom I named many years ago, begin her own journey as a first-year cantorial student. Moments like this make the continuity of our sacred work especially tangible: the students we welcome and nurture today will become the rabbis, cantors, educators, and Jewish leaders who shape the future of our people.