Building Our Community Together: South Florida Shabbaton
November 20 at 5:00 pm - November 21 at 9:00 pm
Join South Florida’s Eshel branch for a weekend of gathering, laughter, singing, celebrating shabbat together, and strengthening our community. We have a full weekend planned for LGBTQ+ individuals, parents of LGBTQ+ people, and their family members.
We will enjoy meals together from Shabbat dinner through seudah shlishit, with sessions to get to know each other and explore how we can strengthen our community and life as an Orthodox LGBTQ+ person or parent of an LGBTQ+ person. All our Friday and Saturday activities will be based out of a synagogue in Hollywood, Florida. There will be an optional outing on Sunday at the Miami Book Fair.
Join us to meet new people and deepen your connections to your local Eshel community.
Who is this weekend for?
The Shabbaton is for the following groups that Eshel serves: LGBTQ+ Orthodox adults, Orthodox parents of LGBTQ+ children, and family members (e.g., grandparents of trans kids).
Where will the Shabbaton be held?
Temple Sinai of Hollywood Hills, a Conservative synagogue that has hosted Eshel in the past, generously opens their doors to us giving us our own space to daven, meet, and eat. TSHH has an elegant and delicious Glatt Kosher catering hall (Eden Caterers).
When will it be held?
November 20–21, 2026 for Shabbat ending late Saturday evening, with an extra and optional day on Sunday, November 22 for an outing to the Miami Book Fair together!
What happens on Sunday?
There will be an optional outing to the Miami Book Fair on Sunday. If you register for this event in the form below you will receive free admission to the fair where we will hear LGBTQ+ and Jewish authors speak.
Where will people stay?
Lodging will not be provided but there are many Airbnbs close to TSHH. Look for Airbnbs near this address; 1400 N 46th Ave, Hollywood, FL 33021
Will this be confidential space?
Yes, participants are all required to keep confidential what goes on during this weekend as well as who is at the weekend.
When will it be held?
November 20–21, 2026 for Shabbat ending late Saturday evening, with an extra and optional day on Sunday, November 22 for an outing to the Miami Book Fair together!
Where will people stay?
Lodging will not be provided but there are many Airbnbs close to TSHH. Look for Airbnbs near this address; 1400 N 46th Ave, Hollywood, FL 33021
Will this be confidential space?
Yes, participants are all required to keep confidential what goes on during this weekend as well as who is at the weekend.
Featured presenters:
David Weitzman, Southeast Community Mobilization Manager for Keshet
David will discuss the political landscape and its impact on LGBTQ rights, covering current trends, and what is at stake for LGBTQ+ people in the election, and updates on pro-LGBTQ candidates. David will discuss current trends and specific ballot initiatives in five different states, including transgender participation in sports across 3-4 states and the defeat of anti-LGBTQ platforms at the school board level in Florida.
David Weitzman is a community builder, innovator, and social justice educator. David has worked in the Miami Jewish community since 2019, where he brings his passion for the Jewish Community and LGBTQ+ Justice and Equity together. In David’s role as Keshet’s Southeast Community Mobilization Manager, he focuses on advocacy efforts in Florida, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, empowering communities to take action for LGBTQ+ rights. David lives in Miami with his husband Victor and their cat Guava.
Rabbi Dvir Cahana, Base Miami
Rabbi Dvir Cahana from the Base Miami and Rappers + Rabbis (where Jewish soul meets hip hop flow), will join us Motzei Shabbat for a Kumsitz on the beach. With his many talents, Rabbi Dvir will lead us in song, do some rap, and share with us some of his wisdom in running Base Miami.
Rabbi Dvir Cahana has taught Torah, led tefillah, and built community in his hometown community of Montreal, then New York City, and now Miami. Dvir was a winner of the Jewish Week’s “36 Under 36” award for launching The Amen Institute, an international space where professional artists and rabbis unite to inspire each other in the creation of Torah-art. Himself a hip hop and rap artist, Dvir is the rabbinic educator for the Jewish rap collective Rappers and Rabbis. Under his guidance, the group has made a Hip Hop Haggadah and The MC-DUR, performed in front of thousands of teens nationwide. Dvir’s 15 studio albums show a love of Yiddishkeit and wordplay.
He received his rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in 2024 and holds a master’s in Jewish studies from McGill University.
Miryam Kabakov, Eshel
Miryam is the Executive Director and founder of Eshel, a national organization that supports LGBTQ+ Orthodox individuals and their families. Prior to being a leader at Eshel, Miryam was the New York and later the National Program Director of AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps.
Miryam received her MSW from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work and subsequently studied informal Jewish education from The Institute for Informal Jewish Education at Brandeis University. She is the editor of Keep Your Wives Away From Them: Orthodox Women, Unorthodox Desires (North Atlantic Books, May 2010), a collection of writings about the challenges and joys of LBT Orthodox Jews and winner of the Golden Crown Literary Award.
Steve Greenberg, Eshel
Steve Greenberg is an Orthodox rabbi, educator, writer and speaker who has led the call for LGBTQ inclusion in the Orthodox world. He is the author of the award winning book, Wrestling with God and Men: Homosexuality in the Jewish Tradition, (University of Wisconsin Press) for which he won the Koret Jewish Book Award for Philosophy and Thought in 2005. Rabbi Greenberg is the Director of Education at Eshel, an Orthodox LGBT community support, education and advocacy organization.