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CLAL FACULTY TO CONDUCT SHABBATON AT UJC'S
GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN ATLANTA

By Andrew Silow-Carroll, Communications Director

Members of the CLAL faculty will conduct the Shabbaton at this year's United Jewish Communities General Assembly, November 17-20, in Atlanta, Ga.

The "G.A." is the largest and most important annual gathering of North American Jewish leaders and is described by the United Jewish Communities as a "coming out party" for the new national organization, formed by the recent merger of United Jewish Appeal, Council of Jewish Federations, and United Israel Appeal.

Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, CLAL's Director of Leadership and Communities, and Rabbi Steven Greenberg, CLAL Senior Teaching Fellow, will conduct Shabbat services and lead discussions with some of North America's and Israel's most important rabbis and teachers. Shabbat services will be available in a range of community voices, including services sponsored by the Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, and Reform communities, and a unique "service for non-shul-goers" conducted by Rabbi Greenberg.

The theme of the Shabbaton is "Celebrating Our World, Our Story, Our People." According to Rabbi Hirschfield, it will honor both the traditional rhythms of Shabbat, and the notion that the G.A. shares many of the attributes of the ingathering festivals of pre-exilic Judaism.

"This Shabbat is a kind of contemporary moed-a festival of coming together," says Rabbi Hirschfield. "At the G.A. we experience Shabbat as a celebration of all of who we are: so many different kinds of Jews from so many different places, in so many rooms, but all under one roof."

Scheduled to teach texts and lead discussions at the G.A. Shabbaton are Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, a CLAL Associate and author of Jewish Literacy; Dr. Alice Shalvi, Founder of the Israel Women's Network and head of the Scheckner Institute for Jewish Studies; Avraham Infeld, President of the Israel-based Melitz educational institute; Arna Poupko, a scholar, teacher and advisor for the Montreal Jewish Federation; and Erica Brown, scholar-in-residence for the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston.

Among the highlights of the G.A. will be addresses by President Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman.

Further information about the General Assembly may be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.ga99.org/.

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