Community Shabbaton: January 10-11, Yud Shevat 
 With Scholar-in-Residence Rabbi Gershon Schusterman

In honor of Shabbat "Yud Shevat" (see here) we have planned a special Community Shabbaton weekend with guest Scholar-in-Residence Rabbi Gershon Schusterman ( see bio here).

We hope you'll take advantage of this unique opportunity and join us for any or all of the Shabbaton!

Here is the full weekend schedule:

  • Friday night, January 10: Community Shabbat Dinner at the Muchnik Home. Beginning at 4:45 pm with the Women's Candlighting, evening prayers and a children's program. A delicious buffet dinner will follow at about 5:30 pm. Rabbi Schusterman will address the crowd at about 7 pm on the topic: "The Pursuit of Happiness". 
  • Saturday Morning, January 11 at the Chabad Center: Rabbi Schusterman will teach a class in Chassidic Philosophy at 9:15 am. Coffee and cake will be served. Shabbat Services will begin at 10 am with the Torah reading at about 11. Rabbi Schusterman will give a sermon at about noon on the subject: "Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place".
  • Saturday Afternoon, Community Kiddush Luncheon: Following Services at about 12:45 pm all are invited to a delicious Kiddush lunch at Chabad. The Kiddush is sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Strum in honor of family Yahrtzeits. Rabbi Schusterman will lead a Chassidic "Farbrengen" at the Kiddush. Mincha to follow at about 2pm.
  • Saturday Night, End-of-Shabbat: Shabbat ends this week at 5:47 pm. All are invited to a short evening service at Chabad at 6 pm which will be followed with the special "Kiddush Levanah" - Sanctification of the moon prayer near the beach. Havdalah Ceremony will follow and a special video presentation will be shown.

Please note: There is NO CHARGE for the community dinner or the Shabbaton however we are looking for 10 sponsors at $100 each to help cover costs of the weekend. (Of course any amount is much appreciated!)Please click here to contribute>>>

We respectfully request you RSVP for the community dinner no later then Thursday 5 pm so that we can plan accordingly. Simply reply to this email with the names of those who will be attending or call us at 805-382-4770.

Looking forward to an inspiring and uplifting Community Shabbaton!

Shalom,

Rabbi Dov and Racheli Muchnik 
Chabad of Oxnard 

About Rabbi Gershon Schusterman

 
Gershon Schusterman.jpgRabbi Gershon Schusterman was born in Paris, France in 1947 while his parents were en route from the Soviet Union to the United States.  They arrived in March of 1948 and settled in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn.  His formal education began at the age of 5 when he entered first grade of the United Lubavitcher Yeshivah.  Besides a one-year period at the Rabbinical College of Canada in Montreal, Rabbi Schusterman studied in the Brooklyn based Lubavitcher school system through his ordination in 1969. Rabbi Schusterman’s Smicha is of the highest caliber ordaining him to address, not only in rabbinical matters, but also in matters of Jewish civil law – the Jewish religion’s equivalent of a judge.

During Rabbi Schusterman’s late teens he was recognized as a scholar and lecturer on various topics in Jewish law and lore.  He also taught Chassidic Philosophy for three years at Hadar Torah Seminary, a school for ba’alie tesheuvah – returnees to traditional observance – in Brooklyn.

Rabbi Schusterman married in 1970.  After years of postdoctoral rabbinical study he joined the staff of the fledging Long Beach Hebrew Academy in August of 1971 as co-director; in 1977 he assumed the position of director.  During this tenure the Hebrew Academy grew from 86 to 500 students, with classes from nursery to high school, and earned  the prestigious accreditation from Western Association of Schools and Colleges – the only Jewish day school in the state of California to earn accreditation at all the levels (K- 12).  After 18 years at its helm, Rabbi Schusterman left this position in 1989.

In addition to his prime responsibility at the Hebrew Academy, Rabbi Schusterman was responsible for Friends of Lubavitch of Orange County, Inc., which includes branches of Chabad Lubavitch in Long Beach, El Dorado Park, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Yorba Linda and South Laguna, California. Rabbi Schusterman taught Chassidic Philosophy at Yeshivah Ohr Elchanon Chabad, the Lubavitcher Rabbinical seminary in Los Angeles and is avidly sought out as inspiring and enlightening speaker.  Rabbi Schusterman is the proud father of eleven children.  He has written numerous articles on Jewish topics and is currently working on his first book.
 
About "Yud Shevat"
 

The 10th day of the Jewish month of Shevat (Yud Shevat in Hebrew) is a most significant date on the chassidic calendar.
 
It is the anniversary of passing (yahrtzeit) of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880–1950), of righteous memory.

It is also the day when, in 1951, the seventh Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, formally accepted the leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch with a historic discourse (maamar) and address at a gathering marking the first anniversary of his predecessor’s passing.