On June 1, 2023, the HANC Freshman and Sophomores excitedly loaded onto buses and adventured out to their annual whitewater rafting trip on the Delaware River, accompanied by their Rebeim and Morot. 

Over the course of the day, the students rafted more than seven miles on the quiet, pristine historic river, enjoying the fun of the excursion into nature as well as seizing the opportunity to bond with peers. As Rabbi Slomnicki described: “The raging Delaware was an ideal setting for the Freshman and sophomore trip. Over the raging river the surrounding pastoral scenes and riverbanks allowed for conversation and bonding on that very sunny day.” If the river was maybe not quite raging on a day that seemed to declare that it was the swoon of summertime, the rafting trip nevertheless offered a great deal of excitement, friendship, and learning. 

Sometimes nature itself has much to teach!  

After relaxing and enjoying the setting of the wilderness, the students and HANC faculty traveled to a nearby park to partake in a BBQ feast prepared by Rabbi Mezei and Rabbi Hulkour. Reluctantly, soon thereafter the students packed up, dried off, and queued up into their buses to return back to school, wrapping up an amazing, and very unifying, day on the water. “It was very relaxing and there was no arguing! Everyone enjoyed the bonding time on the river,” reported HANC freshman, Debra Gross. Other students offered similarly glowing sentiments. 

As freshmen representatives on the HANC Herald, we would like to offer our gratitude to Rabbi Mezei and Rabbi Hulkour for preparing dinner, to Rabbi Freidler and the school’s administrators for helping organize the trip, and to the chaperones who came to watch over the students and keep us safe.

Until next year!