WINTER RETREAT SCHEDULE January 8-10 th, 2016 Stamford Plaza Hotel & Conference Center 2701 Summer Street Stamford, Connecticut
Friday, January 8 th 1:00pm 2:00pm 3:00pm HOTEL CHECK-IN, REGISTRATION, & WELCOME BUFFET LOBBY AND GAZEBO POOL & FITNESS OPTIONS Women 2:00pm-2:50pm Men 3:00pm-3:50pm How to Forgive & Love Difficult People Rabbi Yaakov Palatnik Shelo Asani Isha (Thanks for not making me a woman): What Were the Rabbis Thinking? Esther Wein KING DAVID 4:24pm CANDLE LIGHTING LOBBY 4:30pm MINCHA KABBALAT SHABBAT D var Torah Rabbi Eli Gewirtz 6:00pm SHABBAT DINNER INTERNATIONAL BALLROOM
8:00pm 9:00pm BREAK-OUT SESSIONS Prayer: Summoning the Genie in the Bottle Harry Rothenberg Shabbat: A Glimpse of the Invisible Esther Wein KING DAVID Breaking Through Life s Challenges Learning to Thrive, Not Just Survive Dr. Brachie Hoffman & Rabbi Mat Hoffmang STATE BALLROOM PLENARY SESSION A World in Turmoil: A Timeless Response Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau From Anti-Semite to Proud Jew Csanád Szegedi The Making of a Leader Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein 10:30pm ONEG SHABBAT GAZEBO 11:00pm Little Ol Me: What I Can Do to Change the World Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein Lori Palatnik Steven Savitsky STATE BALLROOM
Shabbat, January 9 th 7:00am 7:30am 8:00am 8:45am 10:25am 11:00am DAF YOMI BREAKFAST BUFFET (ends 9:30am) GAZEBO SHACHRIS (Morning Services) BEGINNERS SERVICE Rabbi Mat Hoffman FESTIVE KIDDUSH GAZEBO BREAK-OUT SESSIONS Navigating Life s Challenges While Maintaining our Faith Rabbi Simcha Lefkowitz Parenting: All You Need is Love... or Maybe There s More Liat Garelick Say Hello to Your Soulmate Esther Wein KING DAVID Ultimate Marriages (Or At Least Good Ones) - Tools and Tactics that Can Make Any Marriage Better Dr. Brachie Hoffman and Rabbi Mat Hoffman STATE BALLROOM
11:55am 1:40pm 2:40pm 4:00pm 4:20pm 5:40pm 6:00pm 6:30pm SHABBAT LUNCH INTERNATIONAL BALLROOM BREAK-OUT SESSIONS Our Mission in Life: What happens if We Fail Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein Testing 1-2-3 How to Pass Life s Tests with Flying Colors Lori Palatnik STATE BALLROOM AFTERNOON PLENARY G-d is Calling, Answer Your Phone Stephen Savitsky Harry the Jew: Confessions From the Courtroom Harry Rothenberg MINCHA (Afternoon Services) SEUDA SHLISHIT Third Meal Buffet GAZEBO MA ARIV (Evening Services) Shabbat Ends MUSICAL HAVDALAH GAZEBO Pool and Fitness Options Women 6:30pm-7:05pm Men 7:10pm-7:45pm
7:00pm 7:45pm 7:45pm The Gift of Life: Why I Donated my Kidney to a Stranger Lori Palatnik How To Be a Hero In Everyday Life Rabbi Yaakov Palatnik KING DAVID Live Performance for the Young at Heart David Blatt Chilren s Carnival (ends 10:30pm) STATE BALLROOM KEYNOTE SESSION INTERNATIONAL BALLROOM Are We Our Brother s Keeper Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau Europe Today: The DNA of Anti-Semitism Csanád Szegedi Stephen Savitsky, Chairman CONCERT (part 1) 9:45pm Melava Malka & Wine Tasting Sponsored by Kedem Wines LOBBY 10:30pm CONCERT (part 2) INTERNATIONAL BALLROOM 11:45pm LATE NIGHT SESSION How to be Jewish in a non-jewish World, How to Raise Children in a non-jewish World Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein
Sunday, January 10 th 6:45am 7:30am 7:30am DAF YOMI GOURMET BREAKFAST BUFFET (ends 9:45am) GAZEBO SHACHRIT (Morning Services) 9:00am Becoming the Real You part 1 Charlie Harary 10:00am PARTNERS IN CREATION An Interactive Session with Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein 11:00am Becoming the Real You part 2 Charlie Harary 12:00pm HOTEL CHECK-OUT
Meet Our Speakers Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau Rabbi Israel Meir Lau is the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv- Yaffo and former Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel. Originally from Poland, he was liberated in Buchenwald by American forces at the age of eight. As a survivor, Rabbi Lau deals with Holocaust memory and commemoration through appearances worldwide, and in his writings, including his best-selling autobiography Out of the Depths. He is the author of numerous works on Jewish law and tradition. In 2005 Rabbi Lau received the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement. Mr. David Blatt Illusionist David Blatt has been entertaining packed audiences of all ages for years. His signature show features detailed mind reading, a series of extraordinary sleight of hand tricks, as well as ongoing humor. Young or old, you will be enthralled by his magic. Rabbi Eli Gewirtz Rabbi Eli Gewirtz is the founder and National Director of Partners in Torah. Rabbi Gewirtz previously served as Rabbi of the Twin Rivers Community Synagogue in East Windsor, NJ, and as the Dean of Students at Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem. He is a licensed marriage and family therapist, and lectures on parenting and issues of Jewish unity. Mr. Charlie Harary Mr. Charlie Harary, Esq. a prolific and popular speaker is the CEO of H3 Capital LLC, a private equity company. Mr. Harary is also an Associate Professor at the Syms School of Business in Yeshiva University, a member of the Executive Board of the OU, the Founding Chairman of its Young Leadership Cabinet and a member of the Conference of Young Jewish Presidents.
Dr. Brachie Hoffman Dr. Brachie Hoffman has a PhD in Psychology. Her published research papers on Alzheimers in Neurology are some of the most cited articles in the field. She has taught Psychology in high school and college. Rabbi Mat Hoffman Rabbi Mat Hoffman is a trained relationship coach and is a SuperLawyer (rated in the top 5% of the lawyers in NYC). He is Rabbi of the Flame, and runs High Holiday services for beginners in New Rochelle. He and his wife counsel couples, and would be delighted to make themselves available to any during the weekend who would like to speak with them. Lori Palatnik Lori Palatnik is the Founding Director of the Jewish Women s Renaissance Project, a program that has revolutionized adult Jewish education in America for hundreds of communities and thousands of individuals. She is an author, educator, singularly inspiring speaker, and has been named as one of the ten Women to Watch by Jewish Women International. She lives in the Washington D.C. area with her husband, Rabbi Yaakov Palatnik, and is the busy mother of five children. Mr. Harry Rothenberg Harry is a 1988 graduate of Columbia College and a 1993 graduate of Harvard Law School, magna cum laude. As an attorney, Harry advocates on behalf of victims of catastrophic injury, and his firm is one of the leading personal injury firms in the United States. Harry lectures on Jewish topics across the world. His newest project, Harry s Video Blog, can be viewed at http:// www.partnersintorah.org/media/video-blog/archive..
Stephen Savitsky Mr. Savitsky has been active with the OU for over 20 years, and has served as its President and Chairman of its Board. A dedicated Partners in Torah mentor since 2003, he is spearheading a joint OU-Partners in Torah initiative pairing NCSY Birthright Alumni with some of the over 400 mentors he has personally recruited. Mr. Savitsky is the Founder and President of ATC Healthcare.. Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein Rabbi Zechariah Wallerstein, celebrating a threedecades career in education, has touched the hearts and souls of thousands of students from across the Jewish spectrum with his passion, clarity, warmth, and breathtaking, innovative vision. His signature project, Ohr Nava has in only a few short years become an icon in the New York area, filling a void in Jewish education for a generation of Jewish women. Mrs. Esther Wein Esther Wein lectures widely, on an intellectually advanced level, and yet in a way geared for students of all levels. Drawing on great masters, she excites her audience with the ingenuity and profundity of the text. Her classes can be found on Torahanytime.com and OU radio.org. She lives in Lawrence, NY with her husband Hershel, a Senior Tax Attorney at KPMG, and children. Csanád Szegedi Czanad Szegedi co-founded the Hungarian Guard, a far right political party with a notoriously anti-semitic platform. He held a seat in the European Parliament as the Deputy leader of the radical nationalist Jobbick party. Upon discovering that both his maternal grand-parents were Jewish survivors of Auschwitz, he overturned his life, adopted the name Dovid, and became Shomer Torah u Mitzvos.
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