Chabad hosts women's Shabbaton next weekend

Chabad of the Conejo will host its ninth annual Women's Weekend Shabbaton from Fri. to Sun., Jan 19 through 21, at the Courtyard by Marriot in Oxnard.

According to event organizers, a Shabbaton "is a weekend getaway where the sanctity and beauty of the Sabbath are upheld in an atmosphere of learning and fellowship."

Participants will enjoy catered meals, lectures, singing and storytelling. Prayer sessions will reflect on the relationship with the Creator and the power of prayer.

The weekend will include lectures on the theme "Heavenly Pursuits," a closer look at inner spirtuality and the feminine soul.

The guest speaker will be Sara Esther Crispe, the editor-in-chief of www.TheJewishWoman.org, a website on women and spirituality. Crispe recently moved back to the States after living in Jerusalem for eight years, where she and her husband were the directors of the Institute for Advanced Learning for Jewish Women. She is working on a book celebrating gender difference according to Kabbalah.

The fee for the weekend is $140 plus $89 double occupancy for the hotel accommodations.

For more information and a brochure, call Chabad at (818) 991-0991 or visit www. jewishacademy.com.