Kol Yakov Yehuda -The Rebbe’s Diamond Daveners  in Los Angeles headed to Tijuana, Mexico, for their annual Shabbaton.

A group of boys from Los Angeles, led by Rabbi Mendel Duchman, got to tour and impress the Jewish community in Tijuana, Mexico. 30 children who attend Kol Yakov Yehuda -The Rebbe’s Diamond Daveners in Los Angeles headed to Tijuana, Mexico, for their annual Shabbaton.
The minyan is a unique Shabbos davening program that gets local children involved in the davening, and in fact in the running of their entire congregation.
Within the adult shul of Congregation Levi Yitzchok, they have their own Sefer Torah, a president, a gabbai, a “rabbi,” social events, and other shul-type activities. And every year they take a trip to an exciting locale.
This year, they were hosted by Rabbi Mendel Polichenco and his wife Dini of Chabad Without Borders center in Tijuana, Mexico (they also serve the nearby community of Chula Vista, California).
The kids were picked up at Cheder Menachem after davening with their fellow students and headed to the U.S.- Mexico border just south of San Diego.
They kept busy during the two-hour bus trip with a Chassidishe version of “I Spy” and a Chanukah Trivia Game. Meeting them over the border was Rabbi Polichenco and his large Mitzvah tank.
Together they headed to the largest Tijuana tourist-oriented mall to do mivtzoim, followed by a bargaining shopping spree, which they really enjoyed.
Shabbos is taken in earlier in Mexico, so they traveled on to the Chabad campus and were assigned their accommodations. And then, the Shabbos that will remain with these kids for a lifetime has began.
The local community, over 125 people, greeted them, first for Kabbolas Shabbos and then for the meal in their large and spacious social hall. The entire Shabbos meal had a chassidishe atmosphere with a Mexican touch in food, divrei Torah, and in song – a new experience for the boys.
Then came the highlight of the evening, when the Shliach asked Efraim Schmukler, a Diamond Daveners and son of the Shluchim in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to address the community.
Eraim Schmukler, who attends Cheder in Los Angeles, eloquently held forth in a 12-minute speech, which included a Dvar Torah and a detailed explanation of what the Diamond Daveners is. He received a standing ovation.
Once the community depa