The National Jewish Retreat (NJR) is the largest Jewish retreat in the United States. The Retreat draws upwards of 1000 participants to an unusual five-day Jewish immersion experience. The program, led by renowned thinkers, scholars and personalities, advertises itself as offering meaningful Jewish enrichment. [1]
Started in 2006 as a project of the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, [2] the National Jewish Retreat has been held in Colorado, Utah, Connecticut, Virginia, Florida & Illinois. [3] [4] [5]
The 2010 retreat became the subject of media interest when it was reported that former senator George Allen would publicly discuss his mother's Jewish heritage for the first time since the rumors were substantiated. [6]
Other participants include Rabbis Yisroel Meir Lau, Yoel Kahn, Manis Friedman, Simon Jacobson, Yossi Jacobson and many others. [7] [8] [9]
Previous scholars in residence include:
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch, is a branch of Orthodox Judaism, originating from Eastern Europe and one of the largest Hasidic dynasties. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups as well as one of the largest Jewish religious organizations in the world. Unlike most Haredi groups, which are self-segregating, Chabad mainly operates in the wider world and it caters to secularized Jews.
The Rabbinical College of America is a Chabad Lubavitch Chasidic yeshiva in Morristown, New Jersey. The Yeshiva is under the direction of Rabbi Moshe Herson. The growth of the Yeshiva college has had a significant cultural effect on the community and has influenced many Jewish families to move into the area to be near the Yeshiva and the surrounding synagogues. It is supported by Jewish philanthropists such as David T. Chase and Ronald Lauder of Estée Lauder Inc.
Moshe Yehuda Kotlarsky was an American Orthodox Hasidic rabbi who served as Vice Chairman of Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement which in turn oversees over 5,000 religious and educational institutions worldwide. Kotlarsky was a key movement fundraiser, and a powerful figure in the outreach operation. He also headed the Chabad on Campus International Foundation which is active on over two hundred and thirty campuses worldwide, and served as chairman of the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute.
Chabad on Campus International is a division of Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Chabad Lubavitch movement. It is the umbrella organization for the Chabad on Campus network one of the largest Jewish organizations serving college campuses, with over 482 permanent branches on North American campuses, and an additional 468 globally.
Jewish Released Time, also known as Sheloh, is an organization promoting released time for the Jewish education of Jewish children learning in public schools.
Agudas Chassidei Chabad is the umbrella organization for the worldwide Chabad-Lubavitch movement. The chairman of the executive committee is Rabbi Abraham Shemtov.
Jonathan D. Sarna is the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History in the department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch is the central educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. It was founded in 1943 by the sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, who served as president, and appointed his son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who would later become the seventh Rebbe, as its chairman and director. After the passing of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson succeeded him as president. Today, Rabbi Chaim Yehuda Krinsky serves as chairman and [until his death in 2024] Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky A"H served as vice-chairman.
A Chabad house is a centre for disseminating Hasidic Judaism by the Chabad movement. Chabad houses are run by a Chabad shaliach (emissary) and shalucha ; the two are often married. They are located in cities and on or near college campuses.
Jewish medical ethics is a modern scholarly and clinical approach to medical ethics that draws upon Jewish thought and teachings. Pioneered by Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits in the 1950s, Jewish medical ethics centers mainly around an applied ethics drawing upon traditional rabbinic law (halakhah). In addition, scholars have begun examining theoretical and methodological questions, while the field itself has been broadened to encompass bioethics and non-halakhic approaches.
The history of Jews in South Florida dates back to the 19th century. Many South Florida Jews are Ashkenazi, and Latin American. Many are also French, Moroccan, Syrian, Bukharan, and Israeli. There is a significant Sephardic and Mizrachi population as well.
Simon Jacobson is the author of Toward a Meaningful Life and publisher of the weekly Algemeiner Journal. Jacobson is a member of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
Bais Chana Women International is a Chabad non-profit organization that works to provide an environment for Jewish girls and women, ages 15 and up and from all backgrounds, to explore Jewish teachings and traditions.
Jewish business ethics is a form of applied Jewish ethics that examines ethical issues that arise in a business environment. It is noted that in the Torah, there are over 100 Mitzvot concerning the kashrut (fitness) of one's money, many more, in fact, than concerning the kashrut of food. The subject thus receives an extensive treatment in Rabbinic literature, both from an ethical (Mussar) and a legal (Halakha) point of view.
Chabad affiliated organizations and institutions number in the thousands. Chabad is a Hasidic movement, a branch of Orthodox Judaism. The organizations and institutions associated with the movement provide social, educational and religious services to Jews around the globe.
The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) is a division of Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. It offers adult Jewish courses on Jewish history, law, ethics, philosophy and rabbinical literature worldwide. It also develops Jewish studies curricula specifically for women, college students, teenagers, and seniors.
Rabbi Zalman I. Posner was an American rabbi and writer associated with the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. Posner served as a congregational rabbi and community leader in the American Southeast for five decades, serving the Orthodox congregation Sherith Israel and founding an Orthodox Day School both in Nashville, Tennessee.
George Rohr is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and President of NCH Capital Inc, a private equity firm.
Rabbi David (Dovid) Eliezrie is a member of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement and the founder, director and spiritual leader of North County Chabad/Congregation Beth Meir HaCohen in Yorba Linda, California. He is an author, speaker, activist and Rohr Jewish Learning Institute advisory board member.
Yosef Yitzchak "Yossi" Jacobson, also known as YY Jacobson, is an American Chabad rabbi and speaker from Monsey, New York.