Having met RabHaving met |Rabbi Klatzko personally, I highly recommend shabbat.com:

 

About Shabbat.com

You say "Shabbos", I say "Shabbat".....  How ever the Jewish people pronounce it, it remains a peaceful  oasis of holiness and tranquility in our tumultuous  times, that we wouldn't  miss  for the world!

Have you ever wanted to go away for a Shabbat, or perhaps experience one for the very first time, but did not have a Shabbat home to join?

Do you wish you had a special guest to share the beauty of your family's Shabbat experience, but do not know where to find them?

Shabbat.com was established to help you find your "perfect challah"!

Traveling for business or pleasure? Backpacking across the country or around the world? Find your perfect challah!

Studying abroad or in Israel? Or perhaps you just came back from Israel and want the taste to linger a while longer?
Find your perfect challah!

Want to network in your profession, meet cool people, make lifelong friends and expand your social horizons (and perhaps meet your Bashert)? Find your perfect challah!

Come from a limited Jewish background and would like to experience a traditional  Shabbos? Find your perfect challah!

Families who wish to host set up profile pages with basic information and up to four family pictures. (After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, and a warm family photo is worth a whole lot more than that!)  In addition, each page has a guest book, which allows the guest to offer feedback from the experience and gives the potential guest a better idea of what it’s like to spend a Shabbat with that family. This will also indicate to a potential guest where the "happening" Shabbat homes are and encourage them to seek an invite.

 Each guest also fills out a profile page so the host can acquaint themselves with the potential guest. Two references are requested so that the host will feel comfortable inviting his "future friend" into his home.

Guests can find a host by searching the pages by country, state and city. There are other search fields as well which will allow the guest to find the perfect host with whom they would feel comfortable spending the Shabbos.  They can then contact the family to make arrangements using the contact information provided.

Safety and Security

We at Shabbat.com are thrilled to be launching a service that will provide Shabbat placement to Jewish travelers around the world. We are very excited about all the site will accomplish, and we want you to know that your safety is our primary concern. The following precautions have been taken by our site for your protection:

• You are able to see your potential guests' photo before accepting them.
• Each person who registers as a guest must have 2 references. It is up to you to call these references and decide on the comfort level they inspire in you.
• You can review a guest's "guestbook" for feedback from their past Shabbos hosts on the site.
• You can see the person's friends and their history as a guest with other registered hosts, and can contact a previous host if necessary.
• Lastly, your contact information will not be released to your potential guest until you have viewed and approved the guest's profile, based on the measures listed above.

We hope that our policy will help create a secure and positive experience for all hosts and their guests. We welcome your feedback and any concerns you might have, so feel free to be in touch with us!

Features

Shabbat.com offers other helpful features.  The Shabbaton/Simcha mode allows Balei Simcha and Shabbaton organizers to search for many guests in a given area at once. 

Each week, a page is updated with relevant changes, such as  Divrei Torah (a speech or story incorporating words of Torah) for that week’s Parsha (weekly section of the Torah) and upcoming holidays.  For people with a limited Jewish background, they will find a page with explanations regarding laws, customs, and expectations of Shabbos so they can be better prepared and educated.

Shabbat.com is still a work in progress; our goal is to make Shabbat.com a global resource. We believe there is a challah with every person’s name on it out there and we welcome your feedback to help us in our mission.

The warmth of the Shabbat home, the smell of chicken soup with matzoh balls and freshly baked challah wafting through the air, the beautiful sounds of Zemirot (songs), all blend together in a harmonious experience that rejuvenates the spirit and re-energizes us for the week ahead. We can't wait to... See you on Shabbat!

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This site has been dedicated L’ezecher Nishmas Refael Chaim Simcha Binyamin ben Shlomo Mordechai– a sweet five year old boy who taught us all what Simcha truly is.

Copyright © 2010 Shabbat.com. All rights reserved.

 

The Shabbat.com Team

Rabbi Benzion Klatzko, Founder The conceptual founder of Shabbat.com, Rabbi Klatzko brings over two decades of visionary leadership, staunch support of Israel, and Jewish activism to the project. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Rabbi Klatzko received his rabbinic ordination from the prestigious Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York. At the Mir, he was known for his exceptional diligence in his studies and sterling character traits- both of which garnered him the respect and admiration of the famed Dean of the Yeshiva, the world-famous sage, Rabbi Shmuel Berenbaum, ZTL. After completing his studies, Rabbi Klatzko accepted an offer to serve as Rabbi of the historic Agudath Israel synagogue of Brooklyn, New York. After seven years of galvanizing the community towards greater levels of Jewish living and expression, he began a three year stint as the Rabbi of a distinguished congregation in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. In what at the time was perceived as a bold move, 1999 saw the Klatzko family move to California so that he could accept the position of Campus Rabbi at UCLA. As a hands-on and loveable ambassador for the Jewish faith, he reconnected literally thousands of young Jewish men and women to their heritage. He also made an impressive splash in the broader Jewish community, earning the moniker “The Hollywood Rabbi.” Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars and producers,including cast and staff from Friends,

Rabbi Yehudah Koblick, Co-Founder Rabbi Yehudah Koblick is a co-founder of Shabbat.com. As the lead developer, Rabbi Koblick oversees all technical operations and is responsible for the development of its core technology and infrastructure. He was formerly a software engineer and consultant to the Elfnet project and worked for Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories. Rabbi Koblick holds a bachelor’s degree in information systems from Pace University. He received his rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Bezalel Rudinsky and is a longstanding member of the Kollel at Yeshivas Ohr Reuven. He is also the director of Yeshiva Hockey, an ice hockey organization for kids. Currently he is the founder of Tribex Technology, a new software company.

Lavi Needleman Lavi Needleman, a Monsey, N.Y. businessman, heard of Rabbi Benzion Klatzko’s visionary dream and was inspired to assist him in getting this unique website off the ground and running! Lavi is a Tree Surgeon & Landscape Designer by day, and in his free time, he continues the innovative educational methods that he started implementing in Israel 20 years ago. After attending Yeshiva University, Lavi spent two years in Israel involved in forming an innovative pilot program at Ohr Someach Israel. This afternoon learning program paired up religious, but not motivated students with Baalei Teshuva who were weak in textual skills but brimming with enthusiasm, thus creating a win/win situation both for those being tutored and for those doing the tutoring. After returning to the U.S., Lavi learned in Yeshivas Mir in Brooklyn and developed a close relationship with Rav Avigdor Miller who lived right next door. In 1995, he and his wife Peshie were members of the kollel in Boca Raton which was the community's successful tryout of a fulltime Kollel. Always looking for unique ways to make a difference, Lavi joined the staff at Camp Moodis where he bonded with and influenced amazing personalities from NASA and other high visibility professionals who were looking for higher meaning in life.

Ahuva Shabtai, Business Systems Analyst As a Business Systems Analyst for Shabbat.com, Ahuva provided invaluable support to the team by detailing processes and requirements in keeping with the project’s objectives and scalability. She was formerly a business analyst for Donovan Data Systems & MediaOcean as well as several small start ups in Montreal, Quebec. Ahuva Shabtai holds a bachelor's degree in information systems from McGill University. Ahuva's love for Shabbos and appreciation for this revolutionary project is what made her jump right into the Shabbat.com team. In her free time you can find Ahuva curled up reading a non-fiction book, cooking healthy, practicing yoga, or with family and friends.

Reuven Koblick, Systems Architect As a Systems Architect for Shabbat.com, Reuven Koblick brings several years of technical experience to the table. Mr. Koblick worked for the prestigious Bell Laboratories where he was the Project manager for Unix System V. He also developed Unix to run on Intel and Motorola processors in addition to other innovations for Unix and networking. Reuven Koblick was an active participant in the commercialization of the World Wide Web. He has participated in several standards committees including the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) and WWW Consortium. At Mitsubishi Electric, Mr. Koblick was involved in several large scale commercial projects including the development of a network storage backup system which was sold to Veritas (now Symantec) and became their flagship product. He founded Formcentric, an infrastructure tool, and used it to develop several Web Apps. In addition to English, Reuven Koblick speaks fluent French, Spanish, German, Hebrew, Yiddish, and some Japanese. He is an accomplished flamenco guitarist, playing professionally in Spain. Also, a professional ski patrolman, accomplished pilot, and has fought several forest fires with the Crested Butte Hotshots fire team. He lived for several years in Spain and France and obtained a Masters degree in computer science at the University of Paris. Reuven Koblick was a student at Yeshivas Netzach Israel in Jerusalem and studied under the illustrious Torah giant, Harov Israel Gustman, as well as Rabbi Moshe Lipke.

Yakov Vershubsky, User Interface Architect Yakov Vershubsky brings his years of experience as a User Interface Architect to shabbat.com in order to ensure that the site is intuitive, easy to use, and attractive, so as to make it accessible and inviting to as many users as possible. As a User Interface Designer & User Experience Consultant for big firms such as Microsoft, LexisNexis, ESPN and other Fortune 500 companies, he gained extensive knowledge and hands-on experience in areas such as Internet marketing, search engine optimization, GUI planning & design, Web 2.0 design & development, landing page design & optimization, and branding and identity. Additionally, Yakov is highly regarded as the industry leader in an area called Design to Convert. Yakov was born in Russia and moved to the United States as a child. He has spent the last ten years of his life traveling to far flung countries, adding languages to his ever growing list while joining and contributing to various Jewish communities around the globe. As a teenager, he spent 2 years volunteering as a full time Big Brother at a Jewish orphanage in Russia. Now he gives back by volunteering for various worthy causes such as shabbat.com, working with youth-at-risk, and by visiting Jewish inmates at various prisons around New York. Currently Yakov works as a UI architect at HugeMedium and does freelance consulting on the side.Connect with Yakov on Linkedin

Back to Shabbat.com

 

This site has been dedicated L’ezecher Nishmas Refael Chaim Simcha Binyamin ben Shlomo Mordechai– a sweet five year old boy who taught us all what Simcha truly is.

Copyright © 2010 Shabbat.com. All rights reserved.