On Friday November 6th, eleven students from Shapell’s / Darche Noam visited Seeach Sod, a prominent special education organization that caters to the needs of many children and adults with severe mental and physical challenges. The Shapell’s students sang, danced, learned, and schmoozed with the Seeach Sod residents. It was a fun and rewarding experience for everyone who participated.

When the Shapell’s students arrived, the Rabbis and administrators welcomed them to a big breakfast, where they sat around a long table and met some of the residents. Shapells’ Michael Gorshein shared a Dvar Torah (in Hebrew) followed by a Dvar Torah from one of the students at Seeach Sod. Even though the Seeach Sod student seemed a little nervous, he still managed to finish his speech. Everybody listening gave him a nice round of applause and many Yasher Koachs. The young man had a million dollar smile on his face. You could tell how much it meant to him that he got up and spoke words of Torah in front of a large audience.

After breakfast the Shapell’s guys went with the Seeach Sod guys into the party room. Everybody danced together to the loud music. There were smiles everywhere while everyone in the room held hands and danced in circles. At the end, one of the adults with special needs went up to a few of the Shapell’s guys and told them that he had a great time.

While the Shapell’s guys were walking up the stairs to the next activity, they met one of the teachers and her student. The teacher said that her student had trouble communicating and making eye contact, but that she was learning different independence skills. The way the teacher talked about her student was very special. She emphasized more on what she can do than what she can’t.

One of the last activities took place in a classroom for children with severe learning challenges. The teacher in the class told us that not too long ago, many of his students there weren’t even able to speak, but with hard work and dedication, the teacher taught them how to read by assigning a picture for each letter in the alphabet. By following the teacher's hand motions, one of the students explained in front of the whole class how the Torah was passed down from Moshe to the Anshei Kenesset haGedolah. It was amazing to see and hear what the students were learning and how much hard work it took for them to acquire what they learned.

The Shapell’s students learned a lot from their experience at Seeach Sod. They also had a great time dancing and enjoying the pre Shabbos ruach with new friends, regardless of their challenges. Every human being has his or her own unique characteristics and struggles, and we should love everybody as we love ourselves