Billed as "dedicated to the Sanctity of the Land of Israel," the Sabbath weekend will be held this week, January 27-29, at the Marriott Hotel in Somerset, New Jersey.
Speakers include Rabbi Meir Goldwicht, Rabbi Hershel Schachter, Rabbi Yehuda Shmuelevitz, Rabbi Eliyahu Soleveichik and other guests from Israel. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Arutz-7, Yom Kippur War hero Yaakov "Ketzaleh" Katz, will also be on hand. The Sunday program includes an Israel shuk (market), a children's concert, guest speakers and roundtable discussions. Hassidic musician Ohad Moskowitz will perform.
Rabbi Pesach Lerner, the executive vice-president of National Council of Young Israel, explained the purpose of the Shabbaton:
"It's very simple - to recharge our Land of Israel batteries! We have a problem: Both the hareidi world and the modern-Orthodox world have somehow forgotten about the Land of Israel - perhaps because of the politics there, leading us to forget the forest for the trees, or because of the disappointment over Gush Katif (although some people never paid attention to the whole Gush Katif problem in the first place), or whatever it may be - but the bottom line is that we have to bring the Land of Israel back into our consciousness."
"My idea," said Rabbi Lerner - who has backed many Israel-based initiatives, such as providing for the Gush Katif refugees, religious Zionist-hareidi trips to Israel, and more - "was to put together a Shabbat of Eretz Yisrael - music of Israel, food of Israel, Torah of Israel - and thus give ourselves a boost of Land of Israel consciousness. It shoud be in our minds. We should be thinking about going there, and if we're not going, then we should at least be thinking why not. That's the purpose of this Shabbat, and hopefully it will have an affect."
For information and reservations, call (U.S.) 718-755-9864. Cost of program is $139 each night d/o pp.