Nearly 100 people joined the four day "Grand Winter Resort" in Tolyatti, Russia, on the first weekend of February! The freezing weather didn't deter this excited crowd. The Shabbaton took place in the new hotel facilities in Tolyatti, based in the new Jewish Community Center of Tolyatti - headed by Rabbi Meir Fischer.
The theme of the Seminar was: "The Meaning of Life".
The Shabbaton began with ice breaker games to get everyone into the right mood. Once everyone was fully involved it was the perfect time for a long farbrengen with Rabbi Moishe Boruch Bainush, an educator at the Mesivta of Moscow. Rabbi Bainush really fired up the crowd and everyone, especially the youth, had a great time.
Waking up Friday morning, the participants were excited to begin their day with an amazing lecture on Kaballah and the meaning of life. This lecture was given by the Kabbalist and Rabbi, Rabbi Dovber Baitman, who flew in all the way from Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, just to speak at the Shabbaton! Rabbi Baitman then followed up with a second lecture on the meaning of keeping Shabbos.
To their great surprise, the organizers of the event found themselves with a huge problem: everyone was at the lectures and no one wanted to leave, despite the exciting and fun-filled schedule that they had planned! Eventually they were forced to announce that it was time to take a break from the learning and continue with the schedule. At first that didn't help either, but once they promised that the learning would continue in the afternoon, the participants finally gave in and went on to the rest of the schedule.
And what a fun schedule it was! Swimming, aerobics, gymnastics and much more!
Just before Shabbos, the women were welcomed into the dining hall by a Magen David made of Shabbos candles! The women all lit the candles and Shabbos began.
Shabbos began with another amazing lecture delivered by Rabbi Baitman, followed by a very inspiring Kaballat Shabbat. The high that everyone was on continued straight on into the meal and the farbrengen that followed. After the meal, everyone enjoyed a program called "Ask the Rabbi", where they had a chance to ask all the questions about Judaism that they had on their mind. This went on until well into the night and everyone went to sleep in great spirits.
The inspiration only continued to become stronger with the Shabbat morning davening, where everyone had a choice between "Prayer for Dummies" and "Prayer for the Wise". After another amazing Shabbat meal, the day continued with more classes on many different topics. Best of all, there was Beit Midrash style learning, where everyone had a chance to learn together as study partners using special selected text.
To their great surprise, the organizers of the event found themselves with a huge problem: everyone was at the lectures and no one wanted to leave, despite the exciting and fun-filled schedule that they had planned! Eventually they were forced to announce that it was time to take a break from the learning and continue with the schedule. At first that didn't help either, but once they promised that the learning would continue in the afternoon, the participants finally gave in and went on to the rest of the schedule.
And what a fun schedule it was! Swimming, aerobics, gymnastics and much more!
Just before Shabbos, the women were welcomed into the dining hall by a Magen David made of Shabbos candles! The women all lit the candles and Shabbos began.
Shabbos began with another amazing lecture delivered by Rabbi Baitman, followed by a very inspiring Kaballat Shabbat. The high that everyone was on continued straight on into the meal and the farbrengen that followed. After the meal, everyone enjoyed a program called "Ask the Rabbi", where they had a chance to ask all the questions about Judaism that they had on their mind. This went on until well into the night and everyone went to sleep in great spirits.
The inspiration only continued to become stronger with the Shabbat morning davening, where everyone had a choice between "Prayer for Dummies" and "Prayer for the Wise". After another amazing Shabbat meal, the day continued with more classes on many different topics. Best of all, there was Beit Midrash style learning, where everyone had a chance to learn together as study partners using special selected text.
At the conclusion of Shabbat, the fun continued with a grand banquet together with a concert with karaoke and a disco where everyone had a great time! Not to forget the spiritual side, this was followed by another very inspiring farbrengen which went very deep into the night.
After three straight really long and fun-filled days, you would think that everyone would be tired and not ready for another day too early. Well you would be wrong! Everyone woke up Sunday morning bright and early, ready for one last fun packed day. However, instead of keeping to the schedule and going skiing, there was a unanimous decision to use those last few hours to learn just a little more!
At the conclusion of the Shabbaton, everyone sadly prepared to leave, but they all felt an amazing inspiration from the entire weekend and already couldn't wait for when the next Shabbaton would roll around!
After three straight really long and fun-filled days, you would think that everyone would be tired and not ready for another day too early. Well you would be wrong! Everyone woke up Sunday morning bright and early, ready for one last fun packed day. However, instead of keeping to the schedule and going skiing, there was a unanimous decision to use those last few hours to learn just a little more!
At the conclusion of the Shabbaton, everyone sadly prepared to leave, but they all felt an amazing inspiration from the entire weekend and already couldn't wait for when the next Shabbaton would roll around!
Our special thanks go to all the organizers: planner Rebbetzin Suri Marozov, our youth leader Anna Zusmanovsky, our coordinator Olga Bikva and our host Rabbi Meir Fischer - Chief Rabbi of Tolyatti.
The "Great Winter Retreat" was made possible by a generous grant by the Joods Humanitarian fund and fund "Stmegi" and our local board of trustees.
The "Great Winter Retreat" was made possible by a generous grant by the Joods Humanitarian fund and fund "Stmegi" and our local board of trustees.
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