Record crowd at Russian-Jewish Shabbaton

The 15th annual International Russian-Jewish Shabbaton, this year called “Am Yisrael Chai,” was held at the Parsippany Hilton last month. It included more than 1,200 ex-Soviet Jews and their families from across the United States, Canada, and Israel. It provided a platform for three generations of Russian Jews to celebrate their heritage, strengthen their Jewish identity, and foster a sense of communal solidarity.

“The Shabbaton brought together ex-Soviet Jews — Russian, Ukrainian, Bukharian, and Kavkazi — from over 40 communities for a weekend of unity, solidity and Jewish pride,” Rabbi Bentzion Laskin said; he’s the Chamah program director and Shabbaton organizer.

The speakers included counterterror expert/IDF reservist Yair Ansbacher, Touro University professor Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, and Itay Milner, spokesperson and consul for media affairs at the Consulate General of Israel in New York. For more information, go to www.russianshabbaton.com/

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