Retreat Displays the “Big Picture”

By COLlive reporter
Photos: Bentzi Sasson, Mendy Moscowitz

Dr. James Simon, an anesthesiologist who has over 30 years of experience, is far from being desensitized to Judaism after spending 5 days at the incomparably inspiring National Jewish Retreat.

He was one of the 1000 participants at the 8th annual summer retreat which took place last week at the Hilton resort in Alexandria, Virginia, giving guests of all ages the opportunity to explore the entire spectrum of Yiddishkeit.

“It was kind of like pushing open the door to the attic of your family,” says Dr. Simon, who works at the Main Line Hospital Paoli in Pennsylvania.

“I never dreamed how large my family really was, in a spiritual sense. Everywhere I turned there was something new and exciting to learn.”

And there was a total of 250 lectures, workshops and seminars to choose from, presented by 44 scholars and experts.

In fact, organizers from the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI), the adult education arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, point out that 5 simultaneous workshops were being delivered every 90 minutes in academic, historic, spiritual, cultural and inspirational realms.

Topics included “How to Pray with Passion and Purpose,” “A Rabbi’s View on the BRCA Gene Mutation,” “Secrets from Kabbalah to Enrich Your Familial, Professional and Marital Bonds,” “Are you Living or Just Existing?,” “A Chossid in Camouflage: My Encounter with the Lubavitcher Rebbe” and “Helen Nash’s New Kosher Cuisine.”

“I think a lot of Jews grow up in this country and their Judaism is like a big jigsaw puzzle,” added Dr. Simon. “It’s very hard to see the big picture. I think JLI and the Retreat have done a terrific job, filling in a lot of the pieces of Jewish knowledge so I see the big picture a lot clearer now.”

But the learning does not stop there, as participants are encouraged to enroll or recommit to their studies with JLI, the largest network of adult education in the world serving 660 Jewish communities across the globe. Since 1998, more than 350,000 students have taken JLI’s classes.

The Retreat gives Jews from smaller communities the rare opportunity to learn directly from many elite Torah scholars. Luxurious accommodations as well as lavish meals and buffets provide the ultimate in physical comfort.

A Dudu Fisher concert, comedic entertainment, and Jewish historical films such as “Victory Entebbe” and “The Story of Felix Zandman” were also part of the Retreat experience.

Building on the feedback of the previous years, new features are added to the program to enhance participants’ experience.

This year’s Retreat included an accredited track for medical professionals focusing on Jewish medical ethics and a Jewish Women’s Day on Rosh Chodesh Elul. There was also a symposium on the historical, psychological and Halachic perspectives of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising on its 70th anniversary.

So if you’re hooked and planning ahead, next year’s retreat is planned for August 6 through 10, 2014, 10 Av through 14 Av, 5774.