Rikki Lewis was born and raised in Woodmere, NY. She attended SKA for her high school career, followed by a year of learning in MMY and a half a year in Michlalah. She is now a junior in Stern College.
The girls in Rikki’s chaburah are Atara Charnowitz (Woodmere, NY), Tehilla Ornstein (LA, CA), Orit Reiter (Staten Island, NY), and Matti Fuld (Teaneck, NJ).
In her chaburah titled “Around the year with Tehillim at hand,” Rikki focuses on the special and individual significance that Tehillim has on our lives. Tehillim is the ultimate praise from Dovid HaMelech to Hashem and he begins the Sefer by expressing that G-d’s ultimate praise is man. By being the best person that you can be, you are epitomizing the essence of Tehillim ie; praise to Hashem. In chaburah, the girls explore themes of various chapters of Tehillim and relate them to the different time periods and holidays throughout the year. The lessons that are embedded within the words of Tehillim are everlasting and applicable to each and every one of us. Tehillim is the “bulldozing tool” that can help guide us through our lives if we tap into its’ tremendous power.
Question: What do you miss most about Chispin and why?
Atara: “What I miss most about Chispin would be the atmosphere. Something really special I took out of Chispin was the connection I had with the land. Now I really understand how my ancestors lived. Just like they traveled day by day in the midbar, never knowing when and where their destination would arrive. What got them through those times was their Emunah in Hashem. So too, through our trust in Hashem, we made it to our destination, Reishit!”
Tehilla: “First of all obvz the schnitzel! I mean, now that we don’t have meat, Chispin’s schnitzel seems pretty yummy…but for real, I’m going to miss taking long walks by the water. Just watching the gorgeous sunset with my friends and talking and making memories, I’m going to remember forever. I miss Chispin!”
Orit: “I’ll miss the dining room in Chispin the most. Although the food was…memorable, the picture perfect sunset that you saw through the window was breathtaking every night.”
Matti: “I loved that we spent so much time in the Gamla Room. The Gamla Room is a room where the whole Michlelet joined for davening (even though everyone davened in the lobby actually) and we had all of our homerooms there and all of our night activities there. But, the best part of the Gamla Room is that it was a bomb shelter, meaning that there was no service in there. So, whether it was Shabbos or even a weekday, everybody put their phones away while in the Gamla Room and we actually talked to one another. It was a beautiful room and I will really miss spending time there.”