By COLlive reporter
Photos: Naftali Marasow
The fourteenth annual National Jewish Retreat, organized by the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, was held at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC, offering a broad array of options for personal growth and enjoyment.
Running for 5 days, from August 13 to 18, 2019, the retreat featured an outstanding program of learning and recreation to engage the mind and refresh the spirit, and first-class accommodations and exquisite kosher cuisine. It brought together Jewish people from around the United States and even the world.
Boasting the richest collection of Jewish learning experiences ever offered in one location, the retreat had over 180 programs, classes, and workshops on a wide variety of subjects, including medical ethics, law, history, kabbalah, music, art, and cooking.
Rabbi Eliezer Wolf, Rabbi of the Beit David Highland Lakes Synagogue in Aventura, Florida, called the retreat “an amazing experience,” saying that “I got to teach, meet internationally renowned scholars and leaders, and to learn so much from everyone there.”
Among the highlights of this year’s retreat were:
The journey of theoretical physicist Dovid Yehuda Imbo from the violent streets of the Near West Side of Chicago, to the halls of Harvard University, to the Orthodox synagogues of West Rogers Park.
A screening of the new film “The Time in Between” by filmmaker Rabbi Bentzi Avton about Eliot Lasky, a successful rock n’ roll promoter and a friend of The Rolling Stones. A burning question led him to the Rebbe and changed his life.
A joint appearance by the illustrious brothers Rabbi Simon Jacobson and Rabbi YY Jacobson, both popular teachers of Chassidus and international speakers. The two sat together for a wide-ranging conversation of “everything you always wanted to know about Judaism.”
There were lectures that discussed when pigs will be kosher by renowned lecturer Rabbi Manis Friedman), the Rebbe’s legacy, lab-grown meat, genetic testing in the Jewish community, the Religion Clause of the First Amendment, a discussion with Jerusalem Post Editor Yaakov Katz, and owning pets.
During the retreat, the Flame of Tzedek Award was presented to Kenneth Feinberg for his extraordinary career of public service. When judges, attorneys general, or others have needed to compensate victims or disasters such as 9/11, the BP oil spill or exposure to Agent Orange, they turned to Feinberg.
Debbie Colby wrote on the Friday following the retreat: “Tonight I am hosting Shabbat dinner for the first time in quite a while, inspired by the retreat. I would like to hear what the retreat inspired you to do.”
