Thanks to a generous gift from Nick and Alex Turik, as
well as support from the Genesis Philanthropy Group, the 10th Russian Shabbaton
was held in Hilton Chicago Indian Lake Resort (Bloomingdale, IL) the weekend of
March 7.
It attracted close to 130 participants, among them
first-time attendees, as well as alumni. Notably, distinguished alumni and
co-founders of Shabbaton Misha Zilbermint and Olga Abezgauz joined the annual
celebration for its anniversary. When asked to share the reason for coming to
this event, most participants stated (some in Russian, some in English) that
they were looking for a sense of community. They all added that they found this
community at Shabbaton.
Russian Jewish Division (RJD), the organizers of
this event, really did a wonderful job of creating a sense of togetherness for
the participants. By reshuffling everybody into various small groups (by
interest, city of origin, or randomly) they insured that all in attendance met
as many fellow participants as possible. The Shabbaton began with a beautiful
candle lighting ceremony followed by a big group session where Shabbat was
explained and everyone was encouraged to welcome it with songs and prayers. This
was followed by dinner and an intellectual game night (What? Where?When?).
Saturday was just as packed with activities starting with a discussion with
Dmitriy Shimelfarb from JAFI, NY on Russian Jewish identity, cleverly expressed
in a desire to create an acronymic alphabet for the community. The discussion
was followed by workshops, the focus of which varied from painting led by Ramona
Luka, JUF, and acting with famous Russian director Ilya Rudiak, to discussions
about the media led by Jane Charney, AJC Chicago, and the psychology of Exodus
with Rabbi Pinchus Zusis. Participants were encouraged to choose two workshop
sessions that they found most interesting. With a plethora of options, it was
hard to settle on just two, but no matter which workshops the participants
selected, all were very satisfied with the knowledge and skills they gained from
attending.
Bonding continued in small groups; as participants shared
their experience of being a Russian American Jew. Many have found that what they
thought to be a uniquely personal life-event was actually one that they share
with other Russian Jews. Among such experiences were attendance of Jewish summer
camps, realization of one's Jewish identity, and facing some form of
anti-Semitism throughout one's life.
Participants also created shared
experiences while at the conference: for most the Havdalah ceremony became the
most cherished memory from the trip. The prayers, dancing and singing made
participants feel like a part of something greater; it made them realize that
they have a community which welcomes them and into which they fit with ease.
The sharing of personal experiences and the creating of shared ones did not
stop with the scheduled programming. Despite days packed with ceremonies,
workshops and sessions, participants were given plenty of free time in which
most strove to continue to get to know each other. Some played card games,
others sang songs and played guitars, still others held intellectual discussions
over problems faced by the contemporary Jewish community. As the conference
closed on Sunday, participants, now sporting a grey RJD t-shirts, hugged their
new friends for a group picture. In the sea of grey, 130-something smiling faces
confirmed that the 10th Shabbaton was a huge success. Please take a look at this
short video and photos from the retreat.
To learn more about the Russian Jewish Division or Russian Shabbaton,
contact Evgenia Kovelman, RJD's director, at www.juf.org/RJD or
312-673-2351.
