Optional Pre-Conference Shabbaton

How are YOU doing?

A weekend before the conference begins to relax, refresh, and rediscover — together with people who get it.

Dates
October 23–25, 2026
Location
Conference Hotel
Format
Optional & Open
Welcome

Pre-Conference Shabbaton:
Drop the pace, settle in, exhale.

A weekend to become more grounded — mind, body, and soul.

Arrive Friday and step into something that feels like the best parts of Jewish summer camp: warm, easy, familiar, and unhurried. Expect great conversations, good food, some Shabbat energy, thoughtful sessions, and plenty of time to just exhale.

Spend the weekend alongside colleagues who understand the weight of the work you carry the rest of the year. No agendas you have to drive. No clipboard. No fires to put out. Just space.

What This Is

This Shabbaton isn't about preparing for the conference. It's about you.

A chance to connect, to spend time with people who get it, and to be present without being in charge.

However You Need It

Come for the camaraderie or the quiet.

Three ways to be here. None of them required. All of them welcome.

01 / Connect
The people who get it.

Long table dinners, slow walks, unhurried conversations. Time with the colleagues who understand the work from the inside.

02 / Reflect
Soul, not clipboard.

Optional sessions and gentle programming designed for the whole person. Think, learn, pray, listen — or don't. The choice is yours.

03 / Rest
Permission to do nothing.

Sometimes the most radical thing is the nap, the book, the window seat. Show up to as much or as little as you want.

The Details

What you need to know.

The Shabbaton runs Friday through Sunday at the same hotel as the main conference. Settle in once and stay put. When you're ready for the work, the conference begins Monday morning.

Dates October 23–25, 2026
Arrival Friday afternoon
Departure Sunday morning
Location Conference Hotel
New Brunswick, NJ
Format Optional & Open
More details — pricing and registration — coming soon.
The Conference

And when you're ready for the work, we'll be ready too.

The 2026 NAASE & NATA Joint Conference begins Monday, October 26 — same hotel, no travel required.