Preparations for Mass Shabbaton

By COLlive reporter

Registration has opened for what is recognized as the biggest event for Russian Jewry in North America, the Fifth Annual National Russian Shabbaton, February 14-16, 2014.

Taking place at the Stamford Plaza Hotel in Connecticut, the weekend-long retreat, dubbed the Weekend to Remember, draws about 1000 participants from all over the US, Canada, and abroad.

The event resonates very strongly with Jews of Russian heritage, largely because of generations-long suppression of Jewish culture and practice in Soviet Russian society. For many of those in attendance, the Shabbaton is their first formal introduction to Jewish heritage.

“This is a life-changing event for many people,” said Rabbi Benzion Laskin, program director. “People tell us that what they get at the Shabbaton keeps them inspired for the entire year.

“The Shabbaton has become vital tool for Shluchim all over the United States to reach out and strengthen their connection with Russian-speaking Jews in their area. For the Shluchim who brought their congregants, it was a unique opportunity to influence and transform their lives and to provide a genuine Jewish experience,” he says.

The Weekend to Remember offers more than 40 sessions of Russian and English language workshops led by rabbis, professors, journalists, doctors and other public figures with ties to Russian Jewry.

Among this year’s featured guests are Ronn Torossian, CEO of 5W Public Relations; actor and TV producer Mark Weiner; Russian-Israeli author and television host Ester Segal; Zlata Razdolina, internationally acclaimed Israeli composer and singer; Rabbi Baruch Gorin of the Jewish Museum in Moscow and Jewish Federation of Russia; Shimona Tzukernik, Kabbalah Coach, Creator and President of Corporate Soul, and Founder of the Method for Self Mastery and author Rabbi Tzvi Freeman.

Leading in song during shabbos and at a lavish Melave Malka meal and concert on Motzoei Shabbos will be renowned chassidic performer Lipa Schmeltzer.

There are special programs for children, teens, students and singles, as well as childcare services for infants and toddlers.

The National Russian Shabbaton, a joint project of Chamah International, headed by Rabbis Hillel Zaltzman, Moshiach Chudaitov and Binyomin Malachovsky and Lubavitch Youth Organization, directed by Rabbi Kasriel Kastel, is currently in its fifth year. Registration takes place online at russianshabbaton.com.

Chamah is one of the largest charitable institutions serving Russian Jewry. Chamah started as an illegal underground organization in the USSR in the 1950s. After decades of clandestine activity, mostly providing aid to the poor and teaching Judaism to children, its activists emigrated to Israel and the US. Today the organization is active in Russia, Israel and the US. Visit them at chamah.org.