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Welcome to the 2011 ALEPH <strong>Kallah</strong>!<br />
About the <strong>Kallah</strong> Page 2<br />
Morning Classes Page 4<br />
Afternoon Classes Page 10<br />
Important Information Page 16<br />
Registration form<br />
TABLE OF CONTENTS<br />
Inside back cover<br />
About This <strong>Kallah</strong> —<br />
Or Chadash: Enrich, Inspire, and Brighten<br />
Your Jewish Path<br />
Every ALEPH <strong>Kallah</strong> aspires to this year’s vision of lighting<br />
your spiritual life afire and energizing your relationship with<br />
Judaism and with G!d. This year, as the urgency around<br />
healing the planet, finding new paths to peace, and being a<br />
beacon of joy and justice feels especially poignant, join us for a<br />
glorious week whose nourishment, insight and power we know<br />
you will draw upon for years to come.<br />
Who Comes to the <strong>Kallah</strong><br />
Religious background and current practice run from a to z<br />
(assimilated to zealous!); singles, couples and families with and<br />
without children; GLBT and straight; healers, teachers, artists,<br />
authors, information technologists, mothers, judges, students,<br />
religious leaders, consultants, accountants, business owners,<br />
designers, fundraisers, and mediators and more.<br />
Everyone comes to the <strong>Kallah</strong> for a different reason:<br />
community; rediscovering Judaism; experiencing Jewish<br />
Renewal; a specific teacher; spirituality;<br />
learning in general; davvening<br />
(prayer); meeting a lifemate/<br />
soulmate…the list goes on.<br />
Whatever YOUR reason, we hope<br />
that you join us at the <strong>Kallah</strong>.<br />
Davvenen (Prayer) Diverse<br />
morning and evening davvenen<br />
experiences are highlights of the<br />
week. Check out a creative and<br />
traditional minyan or choose a<br />
chant, meditation, yoga or other<br />
offering. If you are a rabbi or lay leader interested<br />
in leading davvenen, please contact Mark Novak by April 1<br />
(see box, page 15).<br />
University of Redlands<br />
<strong>Kallah</strong> Dining: Lechem HaNefesh—<br />
Bread for the Soul, Food for Life<br />
We will be treated to three daily meals from Redlands’s awardwinning<br />
dining services. They offer a delicious local, organic<br />
and kosher parve fish/dairy/vegetarian/ vegan menu. They are<br />
willing to accommodate most food allergies or other special<br />
dietary needs. (Please be sure to mark it in the space indicated<br />
on the registration form.)<br />
2<br />
Classes Morning and afternoon classes feature master<br />
teachers offering beginning, advanced and professional level<br />
courses. Select one morning course and one afternoon course<br />
for the week plus two alternates (in case the first choice is full)<br />
for each. Courses fill on a first-come, first-served basis. Some fill<br />
very quickly, so the earlier you register, the more likely you are<br />
to receive your first choice.<br />
Al Regel Achat: The Rebbe Is In Every afternoon after<br />
lunch and before the afternoon session we offer programming<br />
to provide information, advice or ideas about some aspect of<br />
ALEPH and Jewish Renewal.<br />
Choirs The musical sparks will be flying at the 2011 ALEPH<br />
<strong>Kallah</strong>! This year we have many and varied opportunities for<br />
music and song. We are fortunate to again welcome Chazzanit<br />
Linda Hirschhorn, and, our “Jospel”/Jewish Gospel Choir, led<br />
by Sharon Alexander. Please indicate your interest in any of<br />
these groups on the registration form.<br />
Cabaret & Evening Showcase The Cabaret and Evening<br />
Showcase always amaze us with the depth and breadth of<br />
creativity and brilliant talent at the <strong>Kallah</strong>. If you are in that<br />
number, look for the application on our website at<br />
www.aleph.org/kallah.htm. Please send your completed<br />
application in by April 15. Please contact Deb Barsel at<br />
dbarsel@gmail.com with any questions.<br />
Tikkun Olam Every year we pay more attention to how to<br />
give back to the community. When you arrive on campus look<br />
for information about our special project this year.<br />
Artist Shuk/Bookstore The <strong>Kallah</strong><br />
Artist Shuk/Bookstore will be selling<br />
beautiful Judaic art as well as books,<br />
CDs, and DVDs all week. Artists,<br />
musicians, authors, and filmmakers<br />
contact Gayle Gale at kfpeace@aol.com.<br />
More information and application<br />
materials can be found on our website<br />
www.aleph.org/kallah.htm. Deadline is<br />
May 15.<br />
Healing Center Treat yourself to a massage therapist,<br />
acupuncturist, spiritual director and more!<br />
Healers can “earn and learn” while attending <strong>Kallah</strong>. For<br />
more information contact Lynda Danzig at<br />
lbdanzig@hotmail.com before May 1 (see box, page 15).<br />
Special Group Advocacy We work hard to make sure that<br />
everybody feels included and visible at the <strong>Kallah</strong>. We have<br />
identified four groups that warrant special attention and will<br />
have special advocates for: people in their 20s and early<br />
30s (Kesher), elders, the GLBT community, and those with a<br />
disability. Feel free to contact the advocates listed in the<br />
contact box on page 15).
Kids’ <strong>Kallah</strong> This year’s Kids’ <strong>Kallah</strong> will be directed again<br />
by Joanie Levine and Yehudah Winter of P’nai Or, Portland,<br />
along with returning and new talented staff. Multi-age groups<br />
from 5 to 12 will enjoy art, theater, singing,<br />
swimming and more. Kids will have their own<br />
opportunity to create community and to focus<br />
on the <strong>Kallah</strong> theme, and will culminate in an<br />
All-Ages Shabbat Davvenen and special theatrical<br />
performance, written and directed again by<br />
playwright Ezra LeBank.<br />
A toddler daycare program, (ages 1- 5) as<br />
well as evening babysitting will also be available.<br />
Please be sure to contact us if you have a<br />
child with special needs. We will do our best to<br />
plan so that everyone is a part of the group.<br />
We still have a few staff positions available.<br />
If you are experienced in working with children<br />
and are interested, please contact Joanie Levine<br />
(503-287-8737; jlevinehummingbird@yahoo.com).<br />
Please note: All children ages<br />
1-12 MUST be pre-registered for Kids’ <strong>Kallah</strong> by<br />
June 1.<br />
<strong>Kallah</strong>’s Bechira Teen Program After an incredibly<br />
successful first year in 2009, The Bechira Teen Program returns<br />
for ages 13 though 16. Teens will be guided through the<br />
wilderness to gain insight into their own life journeys through<br />
self-awareness and group building activities, Jewish teachings,<br />
and earth connection. We will spend four days on a camping<br />
trip, learning wild plant identification and usage, basketry,<br />
hiking, and campfire cooking. There will be together and<br />
separate male/female time as well as space for quietude and<br />
personal connection to nature. Teens will return to their<br />
families for Shabbat at <strong>Kallah</strong>. Bechira (choice) represents the<br />
conscious choices that each of us must make. As the outer<br />
natural world reveals our inner natures, teens will return with a<br />
renewed perspective on Judaism, the earth, and themselves.<br />
The Bechira Teen Leadership Development Program<br />
Bechira also offers a Leadership Development Program for<br />
older teens. Older teens and young adults, ages 17-21, will<br />
have the opportunity to develop their leadership skills, and<br />
provide role modeling for the younger teens. This program has<br />
slots for Leaders-in-Training (LITs) who are excited about being<br />
part of a team and are comfortable with camping and the<br />
outdoors. Please email Sarai Shapiro (sarai510@gmail.com) by<br />
March 15 if you are interested in applying.<br />
The Kesher (Connection) Program<br />
Building Community, Empowering Young Leaders<br />
Young Adults are invited to participate in the Kesher program<br />
and attend a pre-<strong>Kallah</strong> Sunday intensive focused on this year's<br />
theme, Or Chadash — Enrich, Inspire, and Brighten Your<br />
Jewish Path. You will also have the opportunity to lead and<br />
participate in special peer designed programming in addition<br />
to regular activities throughout the <strong>Kallah</strong>.<br />
If you are between the ages of 20 and 34 and would like<br />
more information about Kesher, please contact Stacey<br />
Bhaerman at sbhaerman@gmail.com or at 917-553-1136.<br />
3<br />
Kesherites in their 20’s are also eligible to receive scholarship<br />
money. Applications for Kesher can be found on our website<br />
and are due May 1.<br />
Attention everyone! Our goal is to raise<br />
scholarship money (tuition and travel) for<br />
approximately 20 Kesherites. To make a<br />
donation to this program, you can include it<br />
directly on your registration form (see inside<br />
back page). Thank you!<br />
Auction ALEPH will be holding our fourth live<br />
and silent AUCTION at this <strong>Kallah</strong>! If you have<br />
an item you would like to donate, THANK<br />
YOU! Please contact Rivkah Walton at alephinfo@aleph.org<br />
to fill her in on the details. New<br />
books, CDs, DVDs, jewelry, Judaica, art,<br />
clothing, spiritual tools (amulets, incense,<br />
essential oils, candles, etc.) are all welcome!<br />
ABOUT ALEPH www.aleph.org<br />
ALEPH and Jewish Renewal are trans-denominational and<br />
inclusive, welcoming everyone with a Jewish soul. Our practice<br />
combines ancient and modern Jewish wisdom, integrating our<br />
devotional and mystical traditions with a progressive,<br />
egalitarian consciousness.<br />
ALEPH serves our growing spiritual community by<br />
• Supporting ALEPH-affiliated communities around the world<br />
• Providing a retreats through this Caravans, this <strong>Kallah</strong>,<br />
Ruach Ha Aretz (www.ruachhaaretz.com) and other special<br />
events<br />
• Initiating and participating in tikkun olam ventures in areas<br />
of concern to our members<br />
ALEPH serves spiritual seekers through<br />
• Hosting email announcement and discussion lists<br />
• The ALEPH Sage-ing Project<br />
• The Kesher program<br />
• The ALEPH Bet Midrash’s on line resources and conference<br />
call classes<br />
• C-DEEP, the Center for Devotional Energy and Ecstatic<br />
Practices (www.rabbishefagold.com)<br />
• Birthright/Taglit trips to Israel for 18-26 year olds<br />
• Adult Israel trips<br />
ALEPH serves spiritual leadership through<br />
• The ALEPH Rabbinic, Cantorial, Rabbinic Pastor and<br />
Hashpa’ah Programs (www.aleph.org/ordination.html)<br />
• OHALAH: The Association of Rabbis for Jewish Renewal<br />
(http://www.ohalah.org)
Special Pre-<strong>Kallah</strong> Conference:<br />
Enhance the Life of Your Community!<br />
(Exclusively for ALEPH Community Affiliates)<br />
TUITION: $100 (includes Sunday night dinner and lodging)<br />
If you are on the board or otherwise in the leadership<br />
cadre of an ALEPH Affiliated Community you won’t want<br />
to miss this opportunity to network, study, pray, celebrate<br />
and hone your skills and knowledge in areas like: building<br />
financial sustainability, activating and inspiring<br />
volunteers, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of<br />
your board, building a stronger youth presence in your<br />
community, building Jewish Renewal’s presence in your<br />
locale as you strengthen your congregation/havurah,<br />
working with the media and grappling with delicate<br />
issues. Those who register by May 1 will be surveyed and<br />
the agenda will reflect what YOU want it to be!!<br />
We'll meet in three sessions: Sunday afternoon from 2<br />
until 5 pm, Sunday evening from 7-9 pm and Monday<br />
morning, June 28 from 9 until 12 noon. There will be a<br />
mix of training led by ALEPH’s Executive Director (and 20<br />
year community organizing veteran) on topics of YOUR<br />
choice plus peer facilitated sessions where you can: lead a<br />
deep discussion on a hot topic, lead folks through an<br />
experience that has proven successful for your board or<br />
volunteers in building your community or train your<br />
colleagues on a technique that has transformed the life of<br />
your community. Prayer, chant, movement, blessing and<br />
silence will be woven throughout the conference.<br />
Please be sure to register by June 1 because<br />
the event will be cancelled if we get fewer than 8<br />
participants.<br />
M O R N I N G C L A S S E S<br />
A10 The Power of Intention<br />
Rabbi Shefa Gold<br />
(Sponsored by C-DEEP, Center for Devotional, Energy and Ecstatic<br />
Practice, an ALEPH Project)<br />
In this class, we’ll explore the Power of Intention through<br />
practices of chant, imagination, self-awareness and an<br />
examination of how thought influences the powers of<br />
presence, perception and creativity. We’ll unlock the treasures<br />
of Torah and liturgy, and learn how to use the sacred phrase to<br />
cultivate receptivity, generosity, compassion and courage as we<br />
walk the path of Service and Self-Realization. Along the way<br />
we’ll open up a dialogue with resistance, and develop strategies<br />
to evolve our spiritual practice.<br />
Rabbi Shefa Gold received her ordination both from the<br />
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and from Rabbi Zalman<br />
Schachter-Shalomi. She is the director of C-DEEP, The Center for<br />
Devotional, Energy and Ecstatic Practice and author of Torah<br />
Journeys: The Inner Path to the Promised Land and In the<br />
Fever of Love: An Illumination of the Song of Songs.<br />
www.RabbiShefaGold.com<br />
A11 Or Penimi – The Light Within: Enriching and<br />
Enhancing the Use of Personal Narrative in Our<br />
Teaching<br />
Rabbi Dan Goldblatt and Charlie Varon<br />
(Sponsored by OHALAH, Association of Rabbis for Jewish Renewal,<br />
an ALEPH Project)<br />
As rabbis and teachers, we will tell a<br />
ADVANCED CLASS<br />
thousand stories in the course of our<br />
careers. These stories have the power to<br />
open hearts, deepen thought, shape community. There<br />
is an art to “receiving” the stories one tells, and a craft<br />
to shaping and presenting those personal stories.<br />
This workshop is a practicum in the art and craft<br />
of storytelling, led jointly by a rabbi and a playwright.<br />
Participants will develop three teachings that include<br />
personal stories. We will use a theatrical model of<br />
developing work in a creative, supportive setting to<br />
help each participant discover their unique storytelling<br />
artistry. Note: This class is intended to be 3 hours<br />
a day.<br />
Rabbi Dan Goldblatt has served Beth Chaim<br />
Congregation in Danville, California for the past 18 years.<br />
He was Artistic Director of Tzavta Jerusalem and was a<br />
director of film and theater in the Bay Area for more than a<br />
decade. www.bethchaim.com<br />
Award-winning playwright, performer and director<br />
Charlie Varon has also coached rabbis on their sermons<br />
and given divrei torah for his congregation. His play Rabbi Sam was<br />
named one of the 10 best plays of 2009 by the San Francisco<br />
Chronicle. www.charlievaron.com<br />
4 M O R N I N G C L A S S E S
A12 L’Shem Yichud: The Path of Relationship…<br />
One and One Makes Three<br />
Rabbi Nadya Gross & Rabbi Victor Gross<br />
(Sponsored by Ruach Ha Aretz, an ALEPH Project)<br />
Relationship is a metaphor for letting God in. According to our<br />
received wisdom tradition, God’s ultimate objective in creating<br />
the world was to be in relationship with Other, thus<br />
completing God’s Self; and for that to be possible, God had to<br />
contract Her Light to make room for the heavens and the earth<br />
and all its inhabitants. Thus, we learn that only in relationship<br />
can we achieve wholeness/oneness, and our task is to make<br />
room for the other to show up. Through sacred story, process<br />
and practical exercises, we will learn the how-to’s of Relationship<br />
as Spiritual Practice.<br />
Rabbis Nadya and Victor Gross have been sharing their<br />
life’s path for more than 37 years, working together to bring<br />
awareness and shine a new light on right relationship with God and<br />
God’s creation. Their unique partnership was recognized by Reb<br />
Zalman with a joint Rabbinic Ordination. www.ruachhaaretz.com<br />
A13 A New Light: Spiritual Ripening in All Our Years<br />
Rabbi Shaya Isenberg & Bahira Sugarman ALEPH Sage-ing ®<br />
Mentorship<br />
(Co-sponsored by the ALEPH Sage-ing ® Mentorship Program)<br />
The Sage-ing journey empowers us to<br />
discover the special kedushah/holiness of our<br />
life cycle. The class offers powerful contemplative<br />
tools for gathering and giving<br />
expression to the wisdom of our ripening<br />
lives. We teach specific skills and knowledge,<br />
which empower us to harvest the wisdom of<br />
our life experience to enrich the present<br />
moment; face our mortality and learn from<br />
it; mature in our relationships and in our<br />
communities; develop a regenerative spirit;<br />
and take active leadership roles in society.<br />
This intergenerational class entwines journal<br />
writing exercises, text study, interactive and<br />
individual meditations, and group sharing.<br />
This course serves as Part One of the<br />
ALEPH Sage-ing ® Mentorship Training<br />
Program. Also, course credit for<br />
ALEPH smicha students is available.<br />
Rabbi Shaya Isenberg, past chair of the Department of<br />
Religion at the University of Florida, teaches Jewish mysticism and<br />
comparative spirituality. He is co-founder and co-director of UF’s<br />
Center for Spirituality and Health. He serves as Rabbi for P’nai Or<br />
Gainesville and is faculty of the ALEPH Rabbinical and Spiritual<br />
Direction programs.<br />
Bahira Sugarman, a traditional Reiki Master, is ordained<br />
as a spiritual guide and has been celebrated as an Eyshet Hazon.<br />
Licensed as a clinical social worker, marriage and family therapist,<br />
and a massage therapist, she teaches T’ai Chi Chuan and Reiki and<br />
has a private practice.<br />
Rabbi Shaya and Bahira are senior faculty emeritus of the<br />
Spiritual Eldering Institute and co-founders directing the ALEPH<br />
Sage-ing ® Project. www.ruachhaaretz.com<br />
M O R N I N G C L A S S E S 5<br />
A14 DEVEKUT: Mystical Union in the Teachings<br />
of the Ba’al Shem Tov<br />
Rabbi Burt Jacobson<br />
(Sponsored by the ALEPH Rabbinic Program;<br />
for smicha credit)<br />
INTERMEDIATE/<br />
ADVANCED CLASS<br />
Devekut was the source and center of<br />
the Ba’al Shem’s spiritual power. His<br />
vision of the world filled with Divine glory flowed out of<br />
his experience of ecstatic union with the Divine. In this<br />
class a master teacher of the Besht will guide you through<br />
the methods of textual inquiry that will enable you to<br />
uncover the historic and the contemporary meaning of key<br />
Hasidic texts in Hebrew. You will discover new ways to<br />
connect the Besht’s teachings to your life and develop your<br />
skills at teaching Hasidic sources to adults. The course will<br />
blend niggun, meditation, lecture, hevruta study, lively<br />
discussion, and creative writing. Note: This class will meet<br />
for for an extra hour each day (3 hours/class). All<br />
students should be willing to work with original<br />
Hasidic texts without vowels in Hebrew. All<br />
students will receive materials to study in advance<br />
of the <strong>Kallah</strong>, and there will be followup requirements<br />
for receiving credit.<br />
Rabbi Burt Jacobson was a student of Abraham<br />
Joshua Heschel and Arthur Green. He is a student<br />
of the Ba’al Shem Tov and is completing a book<br />
that focuses on the identity, mission and message<br />
of the founder of Hasidism.<br />
A15 B’Chol Nafshecha B’Chol M’odecha –<br />
With All Your Breath, With All You Have In<br />
You: A Master Class in The Art of the<br />
Hazzan<br />
Hazzan Jack Kessler<br />
(Sponsored by the ALEPH Cantorial Program)<br />
Come join a voyage into the song of davennen: the<br />
blend of voice and modal melody that combine in<br />
the art of Jewish prayer. Use your voice and<br />
musical creativity to tap your inner sources of<br />
power and validation. Employing traditional<br />
nusach, the musical language of prayer, you will<br />
explore how the human voice becomes a channel for the<br />
Divine.<br />
This ‘master-class’ style course blends fun group vocal<br />
exercises and singing with individualized vocal coaching.<br />
Whether you are an advanced singer or a beginner who hopes<br />
to lead song and prayer with greater vocal clarity, this course<br />
can give you the kind of coaching you need.<br />
Hazzan Jack was ordained as a Cantor at JTS, and had a<br />
twenty-year congregational career. He earned a Master’s degree in<br />
voice from Boston Conservatory studied composition at Brandeis U.<br />
He directs the ALEPH Cantorial Program, and two touring<br />
ensembles: ATZILUT– CONCERTS FOR PEACE, and KLINGON<br />
KLEZMER.
A16 Reflecting the Holy: Enneagram,<br />
Kabbalah and the Higher Ideas<br />
Rabbi Howard Avruhm Addison and<br />
Hannah Nathans<br />
Tomer Devorah summons us to align ourselves<br />
with the Divine attributes. Yet how can we<br />
identify our disfiguring passions, then<br />
transform them into radiant manifestations of<br />
the Holy<br />
The Enneagram is a system of psychospiritual<br />
transformation which shares common<br />
roots with Kabbalah. It offers a profound<br />
understanding of ourselves and others, the<br />
passions underlying our motives and the corresponding<br />
Higher Ideas which our mystical<br />
tradition calls us to embody. Through classical<br />
textual study and group exercises, combined<br />
with contemplative and behavioral practice,<br />
we will explore how we can transform<br />
ourselves, deepen our relationships and reflect<br />
the Holy One.<br />
Rabbi Howard Avruhm Addison teaches Humanities<br />
and is a founding teacher of the Lev Shomea Institute for training<br />
Jewish Spiritual Directors. Certified as an Enneagram teacher, he is<br />
the author of The Enneagram and Kabbala and Cast in God’s<br />
Image as well as a co-editor of Jewish Spiritual Direction.<br />
www.Jewishspiritualdirection.com<br />
Hannah Nathans is an ALEPH rabbinic student currently<br />
completing a Masters in Hebrew and Jewish Studies. Founder of<br />
HaMakor, Centre for Jewish Spirituality and Tikkun: Psychospiritual<br />
and Transpersonal Development, she teaches Enneagram Professional<br />
Training Program and is the author of several books including<br />
The Enneagram at Work. www.hannahnathans.nl<br />
A17 Forming Light, Creating Darkness<br />
Karen Barad and Rabbi Fern Feldman<br />
Our tradition teaches that creation arose out of nothingness,<br />
and does so at every moment. Through our passions,<br />
intentions and actions, and through the very particles of our<br />
being, we participate in the ongoing conceiving and birthing<br />
of the universe. With texts from Torah, kabbalah, chassidut,<br />
and quantum physics, and with experiential practices, we will<br />
consider nondual, gender fluid paradigms for engaging in<br />
creation — in the integrating of immanent and transcendent,<br />
dark and light, giving and receiving. We will explore the ways<br />
in which all existence is alive. Led by a rabbi and a master<br />
teacher of quantum physics.<br />
Karen Barad, author of Meeting the Universe Halfway:<br />
Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and<br />
Meaning, is Professor of Feminist Studies, Philosophy, and History<br />
of Consciousness at University of California, Santa Cruz. She has a<br />
PhD in particle physics.<br />
Rabbi Fern Feldman has been exploring the sacred dark in<br />
Jewish tradition for many years. She works as a nurse practitioner, in<br />
addition to teaching, writing, making rituals and life cycle events,<br />
and providing spiritual counseling.<br />
A18 En~Light~ening the Body<br />
Rabbi Diane Elliot<br />
The ancient and<br />
BEGINNING/<br />
INTERMEDIATE<br />
evocative Yotzer<br />
CLASS<br />
prayer from the<br />
shakharit (morning) liturgy<br />
will serve as our mystical map on a soulstretching<br />
journey into embodied prayer.<br />
Through guided movement and breath,<br />
dance and chant, we’ll encounter the<br />
text with our whole selves, inviting our<br />
bodies to become open channels and<br />
vessels for drawing down and spreading<br />
or chadash, the “new light,” of which<br />
the prayer so eloquently speaks. Weather<br />
permitting, we’ll spend part of each class<br />
moving outdoors. Re-inspire your prayer<br />
life, as you gain embodied prayer<br />
leadership skills! Adventurous, enspirited<br />
movers of all levels of experience are<br />
welcome.<br />
Rabbi Diane Elliot is a spiritual leader in the San Francisco<br />
Bay Area and the founder of Wholly Present, a center devoted to the<br />
development of embodied Judaism. Before her ordination she was an<br />
internationally-known dancer, choreographer, and teacher of Body-<br />
Mind Centering ® . www.whollypresent.org<br />
A19 TorahTrek Wilderness Torah Experience<br />
Zelig Golden and Toby Zelt<br />
Many of us experience a spiritual connection in wilderness,<br />
where Torah was given, where Elijah heard the “still, small<br />
voice.” B’eretz breisheit (the land of God’s pristine creation), we<br />
explore the connection between inner and outer geography,<br />
renewing the organic union between Jewish spirituality and<br />
wilderness. Daily program includes prayer, walking meditation,<br />
chant, study and other spiritual exercises while hiking in the<br />
beautiful mountains above (the heat of) Redlands. When the<br />
terrain and weather are suitable, each day’s practice culminates<br />
in safe and supervised hitbodedut—alone time for spiritual<br />
purpose—in the heart of the natural world. (Please note:<br />
enrollment limited to 20. An additional fee of $60 to<br />
cover 4 days of transportation must be paid at registration.<br />
Participants must be able to hike 5 miles,<br />
generally easy to moderate but occasional steep trails,<br />
at altitude.)<br />
Toby Zelt is Associate Director of TorahTrek: The Center for<br />
Jewish Wilderness Spirituality. An experiential Jewish educator,<br />
ropes course facilitator, and adventurer, she completed an M.A. in<br />
Jewish Education and M.A. in Jewish Studies at Towson University.<br />
www.TorahTrek.com<br />
Zelig Golden fosters earth-based Jewish community and spirituality<br />
as founding co-director of Wilderness Torah<br />
(www.wildernesstorah.org). Zelig is a leader of the Jewish Food<br />
Movement as a Hazon board member. He received Maggidic smicha<br />
in 2010 and teaches at Chochmat HaLev.<br />
6 M O R N I N G C L A S S E S
A20 Sacred Storytelling:<br />
Letting the Sparks Lead the Way<br />
Devorah Gordon-Zaslow<br />
A22 “Rabbinic Id”: Unmasking the<br />
Hidden Beauty of Talmud<br />
Rabbi David Ingber<br />
Stories contain light, sending sparks into all four worlds with<br />
each telling. When a story calls to us, it can be a spirit guide to<br />
our next phase of personal growth. This class focuses on the<br />
Maggidic art of Jewish storytelling where the teller becomes a<br />
vessel for the story from the inside out. Participants will choose<br />
a story and explore its spiritual<br />
healing with visualization, drama,<br />
and movement. The combination<br />
of group, partner and individual<br />
activities will culminate in storytelling<br />
on the last day of class. Bring<br />
a short story to work on (or choose<br />
one at the class).<br />
Devorah Gordon-Zaslow has<br />
taught storytelling at Southern Oregon<br />
University for twenty years. Her performances<br />
as a storyteller and workshop<br />
presenter include the CAJE Conference<br />
and the National Storytelling Festival.<br />
Her CD, Return Again, features Jewish stories of healing and transformation.<br />
A21 Breaking Into and Out of Prison:<br />
Mattir Asurim, Freeing The Imprisoned<br />
Rabbi Moshe Raphael Halfon and Rev. Shayna Lester<br />
Why do some people live in Mitzrayim (“Constriction”) in the<br />
free world, while others find freedom even behind bars For<br />
four years, Reb Moshe and Rev. Shayna have guided Jewish<br />
inmates at the California Institution for Women to become<br />
“Women of Light” — “B’not Or.” We will share tools for<br />
teshuvah, tikkun and community-building in prisons, hospitals,<br />
hospice, recovery groups, and other “soul-prisons.” Through<br />
classical texts, stories, Mussar, films, memoirs of inmates, your<br />
sharing, and a field trip to our prison community, we will<br />
explore how helping others “get free on the inside” can free<br />
our own souls. Thursday’s session will be a half-day<br />
tour and meeting with inmates at the California<br />
Institution for Women, a minimum-security state<br />
prison. Please include an additional $20.00 fee for<br />
transportation to and from the prison. Also, you must<br />
be registered for this class at least 10 days before<br />
<strong>Kallah</strong> so you can be cleared to enter.<br />
Rev. Shayna Lester, MS, MFT is a Jewish Interfaith<br />
minister, Psychotherapist and Spiritual Director who serves as<br />
Volunteer Chaplain and Mussar teacher at the California Institution<br />
for Women. Shayna received s’micha from Reb Zalman in 2010 as<br />
a Gabbai ‘serving communal needs.’<br />
Rabbi Moshe Raphael Halfon, M. Ed. Psy. is the Jewish<br />
chaplain at the California Institution for Women, where he leads<br />
“B’not Or” (Women of Light). He has played almost every position<br />
on the rabbi and cantor baseball team. www.moshehalfon.com<br />
M O R N I N G C L A S S E S 7<br />
This course will explore Talmudic stories as literary constructions,<br />
the obvious meanings of which often hide deeper<br />
subversive messages. We will learn to identify literary patterns,<br />
motifs, symbols, language, and structure, the presence of<br />
which point to an artful process of creative editing.<br />
Unmasking this hidden beauty will reveal<br />
the Divine face of the Shekhina embedded<br />
within these narratives.<br />
The stories include: The Ugly Sage,<br />
Tuesday the Rabbi Escaped, Let’s Face It:<br />
Your Original Face, Gettin’ Booted, Aher:<br />
the Demonized Other, Star Gazing, With<br />
All Your Heart, drawing from the Bavli<br />
Ta’anit, Bavli Gittin, Bavli Eiruvin, Bavli<br />
Avodah Zarah, Bavli Shabbat and Bavli<br />
B’rakhot.<br />
Rabbi David Ingber,<br />
Founder/Spiritual Director of Romemu<br />
(www.romemu.org), a center that offers<br />
Shabbat and holiday services infused with meditation and yoga, as<br />
well as a myriad of community groups, teachings, and events,<br />
designed to integrate body, mind and soul.<br />
A23 The Spirit of the Matter:<br />
Jewish Musical Shamanism<br />
Hazzan Richard Kaplan<br />
Throughout the millennia, visionaries, prophets and healers<br />
worldwide have used music as a pathway to heightened states<br />
of awareness. For many forward-looking philosophers,<br />
scientists and spiritual teachers, the attainment of and the<br />
wisdom drawn from these depths of consciousness are<br />
mandatory for the next, utterly critical evolutionary stages of<br />
both our species and the planet’s wounded eco-system.<br />
Riding on ancient “power words” and exquisite newparadigm<br />
teachings, we will lift our voices as we set out upon<br />
several inner journeys, with music from Eastern Europe,<br />
Turkey, Bukhara, Mongolia, and more. Sheet music provided.<br />
Hazzan Richard Kaplan serves Temple Beth Abraham in<br />
Oakland, CA and the Shir Hashirim Minyan in Berkeley. He travels<br />
widely offering concerts, workshops, and leading services. His CDs<br />
include The Hidden One, Life of the Worlds and Tuning The<br />
Soul. www.kaplanmusic.com<br />
A24 Talking with My Children and My Parents<br />
about Death: 18 Jewish Texts and Teachings<br />
I Study with My Family<br />
Arthur Kurzweil<br />
Despite the inevitability of death, discussions on the topic of<br />
death and dying remain a taboo for so many of us. In this class<br />
we will study eighteen Jewish texts (in English) that express the<br />
wisdom of the Sages on death and dying, and we will also<br />
discuss possible methods and strategies for getting these texts
and ideas on the table with our family members. Many of us<br />
are committed to making deliberate efforts to address<br />
important spiritual issues with our children and with our<br />
parents. In this class we will study our topic in an upbeat,<br />
joyful, open-minded way.<br />
Arthur Kurzweil is a teacher, writer, publisher and a<br />
member of The Society of American Magicians. His books include<br />
On the Road with Rabbi Steinsaltz, Pebbles of Wisdom,<br />
Kabbalah for Dummies, The Torah for Dummies, and From<br />
Generation to Generation. www.arthurkurzweil.com<br />
A25 Liturgical Song and Chant Writing:<br />
Sing unto HaShem a New Song<br />
Rev. Gabbai Eli Shirim Lester<br />
Become a Holy Song Writer. From “orphaned” phrases and<br />
passages in the Siddur, we will create new songs and chants.<br />
Come learn the process of bringing out the deeper meaning in<br />
the liturgy as we shine a creative light on overlooked parts of<br />
prayers and praises we recite all the time, but never give full<br />
attention to. Use your desire to create to bring life to the Sidur<br />
by opening your heart and allowing the Holy Spirit within you<br />
to manifest as a new song unto HaShem. Come learn this<br />
process and take it home to share with your own community.<br />
Ordained by Rabbi Zalman Schacter Shalomi as Reverend<br />
Gabbai Eli Shirim Lester in 2010, Eli returns to <strong>Kallah</strong>, a<br />
seasoned teacher and performer of Holy music. Eli is an accomplished<br />
musician, song writer, singer, arranger, choir director and a<br />
producer.<br />
A26 InterPlay the Mitzvah-Centered Way<br />
Rabbi Goldie Milgram and Cassandra Sagan<br />
Yearning for some deep fun<br />
Seeking more of the meaning and<br />
relevance of Judaism for every day<br />
living Reb Goldie’s research into<br />
the moving nuances of living a<br />
mitzvah-centered life in cahoots<br />
with Cassandra and InterPlay, a<br />
system of simple, improvisational<br />
forms, will help you to experience<br />
and express God — Within,<br />
Between and Beyond. Learning<br />
through the improv of holy goofing<br />
will include voice, movement,<br />
story, song, stillness, reflection, ukulele midrash and and more.<br />
For cultural creatives, kinesthetic learners, class clowns,<br />
introverts, talmidei chachamim, and Recovering Serious People.<br />
Rabbi Goldie Milgram, author of numerous works<br />
including Meaning & Mitzvah: Daily Practices for Reclaiming<br />
Judaism, travels internationally as a shaliach for Reb Zalman's<br />
principles and practices of renewing Judaism. She directs ReclaimingJudaism.org<br />
and also teaches for the ALEPH Ordination<br />
Programs.<br />
Cassandra Sagan is an InterPlay leader, Maggidah-intraining,<br />
poet/teacher, singer/songwriter, mosaic artist, and<br />
designated Leitz Kadosh who specializes in helping people of all ages<br />
tap into their creative brilliance.<br />
A27 The Kabbalah of Food, Love,<br />
Abundance and Healing<br />
Rabbi Leah Novick<br />
What does Jewish mystical tradition teach us about the issues<br />
in our lives that arise from modern lifestyles and concerns<br />
Although the Zohar (central text of Kabbalah) was transmitted<br />
at the end of the 13th century, and reflects its medieval<br />
context, it can be surprisingly futuristic in its approach to our<br />
life on this planet. In these classes we will explore the ways in<br />
which the wisdom of the mystics can continue to expand and<br />
deepen our search for balance, harmony, justice and higher<br />
consciousness while we are embodied. Music, Movement and<br />
Meditation will be part of our practice.<br />
Rabbi Leah Novick is a seasoned student and teacher of<br />
Zohar. Her workshops on The Tree of Life include guided imagery<br />
work which supports absorption of the mystical wisdom.<br />
She is the author of On the Wings of Shekhinah: Rediscovering<br />
Judaism’s Divine Feminine.<br />
A28 Heal Your Pain, Renew Your Spirit<br />
Jackie & Leon Olenick<br />
This team-led course will teach you to acquire skills to cope<br />
with grief, loss, and pain, plus a hands-on mixed-media “renew<br />
your spirit” art project. We will examine our day-to-day lives,<br />
our relationship to family, friends and the Holy One, find tools<br />
for self-spiritual care and learn to help others in distress. We<br />
will blend Jewish text, storytelling, art, meditation and<br />
Kabalistic insights within a four-worlds mode to enhance our<br />
connection to the sacred, and we will explore and express our<br />
feelings as we create art. Those “artistically challenged” and<br />
anyone facing illness/end of life<br />
challenges are welcome.<br />
Leon Olenick is a Board Certified<br />
Chaplain working in a hospice setting. He<br />
provides spiritual and end of life care for<br />
patients, families, and caregivers. He<br />
facilitates “Bikkur Cholim” (visiting the ill)<br />
training programs, bereavement groups and<br />
offers personal counseling.<br />
Jackie Olenick is an award-winning<br />
internationally known Judaic artist and teacher<br />
whose work has been inspired by the Jewish<br />
Renewal movement for the past 25 years. Her<br />
website is: www.jackieolenickart.com<br />
A29 Davvenen’ through the Worlds:<br />
A Master Class in Making Prayer Come Alive<br />
Rabbi Marcia Prager and Rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit<br />
Rabbis Prager and Zevit have guided over 250 rabbis, cantors,<br />
rabbinic pastors, students, and lay leaders through The Davvenen<br />
Leader’s Training Institute.<br />
Our class becomes a living laboratory for you to discover<br />
the deep inner structure of prayer and a range of leadership<br />
styles that use the best of who you are. Learn to tap the<br />
potential of your own personal presence; to use voice, body<br />
8 M O R N I N G C L A S S E S
and gesture with comfort; to let melody create mood; and to<br />
shape phrasing so that your teaching also becomes prayer.<br />
Come explore how the practice of Jewish communal prayer<br />
can activate the body, touch the heart, engage the mind and<br />
nourish genuine spiritual growth.<br />
Rabbi Marcia Prager is Director and Dean of Ordination<br />
Programs for ALEPH and rabbi of P’nai Or, the Jewish Renewal<br />
Congregation of Philadelphia, PA. She is the author of The Path of<br />
Blessing and creator of the unique P’nai Or Siddurim for Shabbat<br />
and other innovative approaches to prayer and liturgy.<br />
www.marciaprager.com<br />
Rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit, (www.rabbizevit.com) is a<br />
spiritual and organizational leader, consultant, theater artist,<br />
author, recording artist of five CDs, teacher and performer. He works<br />
nationally for the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation and is a<br />
mashpiah for the ALEPH Hashpa’ah Program.<br />
A30 Introduction to Jewish Meditation<br />
Rabbi Jeff Roth<br />
Jewish meditation greatly enhances clarity and<br />
balance in facing each moment of life. It fosters<br />
purification of the heart allowing deeper<br />
connections to oneself, to others, to the world<br />
and to the Divine Presence manifesting in each<br />
moment of Being. Through silent meditation and<br />
didactic presentations this course will familiarize<br />
and deepen one’s practice through a series of<br />
techniques that correspond to the fourfold way of<br />
Divine manifestation, deeply experiencing our<br />
own bodies and feelings. A blessing/prayer<br />
practice will cultivate an open heart. Every<br />
student will be offered individual sessions with<br />
the instructor outside normal class time.<br />
Rabbi Jeff Roth is the founder and director of The Awakened<br />
Heart Project for contemplative Judaism (awakenedheartproject.org)<br />
and past director of P’nai Or (now <strong>Aleph</strong>) and Elat Chayyim, the<br />
Jewish Retreat Center. He has led over 90 Jewish meditation retreats.<br />
A31 Getting into Holy Shape: Yoga and The <strong>Aleph</strong>-Bet<br />
Ida Unger<br />
Celebrate and elevate your physical self to more fully<br />
embody your divine nature. Stretch, strengthen and relax<br />
as we practice authentic yoga inspired by our ancient holy<br />
letters. The yoga poses and the holy Hebrew letters offer<br />
insight on all planes: physical, emotional, intellectual and<br />
spiritual. The Talmud teaches “letzareph et haotiot” — to<br />
reorder the holy letters, to refine our relationship to them,<br />
in order to access meditative states. The <strong>Aleph</strong> Bet are more<br />
than letters. The Hebrew word ot also means sign. Sign of<br />
what Come find out. Class is appropriate for all and<br />
includes Kabbalistic insights, yoga practice, breathing<br />
exercises, and deep relaxation. Bring a yoga mat.<br />
Ida Unger, M.Ed., Certified Iyengar Yoga Instructor and<br />
student of Torah, has a lifelong passion for Torah and spiritual<br />
pursuits. A full time yoga teacher and practitioner of Iyengar<br />
Yoga, Ida connects her Jewish roots to her yogic wings, resulting<br />
in a deepening of both. www.kosheryoga.net<br />
A32 Freedom Journeys: The Tale of Exodus, Sinai,<br />
and Wilderness Across Millennia<br />
Rabbi Arthur Waskow<br />
Do these biblical stories speak to us today Does the rabbinic<br />
transformation of them enrich our understanding, not only in<br />
content but in process How do the stories speak if we bring<br />
our own generation’s consciousness shaped in part by the<br />
global ecological crisis, by feminism, by the experiments in<br />
nonviolent civil disobedience of the last 100 years, by seeing<br />
the festivals themselves as frameworks for social action We<br />
will use the midrashic essays in the new book by Waskow and<br />
Rabbi Phyllis Berman, Freedom Journeys (Jewish Lights), to spark<br />
discussion and new forms of celebration.<br />
Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Founder (1983) and Director, The<br />
Shalom Center, www.theshalomcenter.org; co-founder (1993) of<br />
ALEPH; author, The Freedom Seder (1969),<br />
Interfaith Seder of the Earth (1969), Godwrestling<br />
— Round 2, Down-to-Earth<br />
Judaism; co-author, Freedom Journeys and<br />
The Tent of Abraham.<br />
A33 Roots and Branches: Shedding<br />
New Light on the Jewish Roots of<br />
Christianity<br />
Rabbi David Zaslow<br />
Time magazine cited the Re-Judaizing of<br />
Jesus as one of the “10 Ideas that are<br />
Changing the World.” This course will<br />
examine how this is so. Participants will<br />
learn the difference between the<br />
theological Jesus of the Church and the<br />
historical Jesus — a rabbi named Joshua who lived and was<br />
crucified because he was as a religious Jew. We’ll study the<br />
Jewish roots of the gospels, the Lord’s Prayer, and the<br />
Beatitudes in Misha and Jewish Bible. We’ll examine the roots<br />
of anti-Semitism, Replacement Theology, and the prophesies<br />
that Christians and Jews share about the future.<br />
Rabbi David Zaslow is leader of Havurah Shir Hadash in<br />
Ashland, Oregon and interim rabbi for P’nai Or Portland. He is the<br />
author of Renewal siddur Ivdu et Hashem B’simcha and Roots<br />
and Branches. He and his wife<br />
Devorah are the directors of a maggidic<br />
training program.<br />
www.havurahshirhadash.org<br />
M O R N I N G C L A S S E S 9
A F T E R N O O N C L A S S E S<br />
P10 Losing God, Finding God:<br />
Jewish Responses to Suffering<br />
Rabbi Laura Duhan Kaplan<br />
(Sponsored by the ALEPH Rabbinic Program;<br />
for smicha credit)<br />
In times of suffering, when God seems<br />
absent, how do we hold onto faith and find spiritual comfort<br />
A rich Jewish tradition explores this challenging spiritual<br />
question. Each time our people has experienced catastrophe,<br />
we have raised the question collectively. Our quest for answers<br />
has reshaped our theology and spirituality in radical ways<br />
across the centuries, and left a legacy of moving texts, from the<br />
biblical books of Job and Eicha to contemporary Torah from<br />
the Warsaw Ghetto. Explore traditional and personal answers<br />
to the problems of suffering and Divine justice through<br />
chevruta, drama, personal writing, text study, lecture, and<br />
discussion. NOTE: This class will meet for for an extra<br />
hour each day (3 hours/class).<br />
Rabbi Laura Duhan Kaplan is spiritual leader of Or<br />
Shalom Synagogue in Vancouver, a member of the Va’ad of the<br />
<strong>Aleph</strong> Rabbinic Program, and Professor Emerita of Philosophy at<br />
UNC Charlotte. http://tiny.cc/reblaura<br />
P11 Finding G!d in Illness<br />
Shulamit Kate Fagan<br />
(Sponsored by the ALEPH Hashpa’ah Program)<br />
INTERMEDIATE CLASS<br />
Yah! Hear my prayer! Let my pleading reach You!<br />
(psalm 102)<br />
Having a serious illness, whether chronic or acute, can<br />
lead us through places of light and darkness. Together, with<br />
my experience as a chaplain and cancer survivor, we will<br />
engage the seven most remarkable tools for moving through<br />
illness to enrichment. Practicing these most effective spiritual<br />
tools will help to bring support, peace, ease, and liberation to<br />
the difficult journey of illness. Whether you or someone you<br />
love is ill, you can empower yourself to face illness with skills<br />
that bring spiritual transformation to even this most difficult<br />
facet of life.<br />
Shulamit Kate<br />
Fagan, Rabbinic<br />
Chaplain, is the director of<br />
ALEPH’s Rabbinic Pastor<br />
program, a spiritual<br />
director, a hospital<br />
chaplain with over a<br />
decade of experience, a<br />
maggid (storyteller), a<br />
mother, a grandmother<br />
and a cancer survivor.<br />
Spiritualwell.com<br />
P12 Jewish Ritual Theater Revived:<br />
The Storahtelling Maven Method<br />
Caryn Aviv & Eli Herb<br />
Storahtelling bridges the gap between modern Jews and<br />
ancient Judaism by focusing on the essential building blocks of<br />
Jewish identity: the sacred stories we tell ourselves about who<br />
we are. Storahtelling methods restore the ancient tradition of<br />
the “Maven,” an all but forgotten Jewish professional.<br />
For over 1,500 years, the Maven functioned as a central<br />
feature of the Torah Service, serving as local storyteller and<br />
translator. Storahtelling reintroduces the Maven, incorporating<br />
translations, commentary, and contemporary relevance into<br />
Jewish ritual and Torah services. This course teaches the basics<br />
of the Maven method: innovative Torah translation, radical<br />
interpretation, and creative dramatization.<br />
Professor Caryn Aviv is a sociologist in the Program in<br />
Jewish Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She teaches<br />
and writes about modern Jewish culture, Israel Studies, and<br />
gender/sexuality in Judaism. She also directs Storahtelling Colorado.<br />
Maggid Eli Herb received smichah from Maggid Yitzhak<br />
Buxbaum, who received smichah from Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach and<br />
Reb Zalman Shachter-Shalomi. He holds a Masters of Theological<br />
Studies from the Iliff School of Theology. Eli is a Storahtelling<br />
“Maven-In-Training.”<br />
P13 God Only Loves What’s Real!:<br />
The Fiery Teachings of the Kotzker Rebbe<br />
Yitzhak Buxbaum<br />
Rabbi Menahem Mendel of Kotzk was one of the most fiery of<br />
the early hasidic rebbes. His radical devotion to truth and his<br />
opposition to everything phony made him sharp but not dull!<br />
His short and penetrating sayings, such as “God only loves<br />
what’s real!” and “If you have a soul you don’t need a watch”<br />
appeal to our generation by showing the stark beauty of holy<br />
gevurah (severity). Tart can be as delicious as sweet. We study<br />
from Hebrew texts (which will be translated) and discuss his<br />
piercing sayings and the stories told about him.<br />
Yitzhak Buxbaum is a mystic, a maggid, and an author of<br />
ten books, including Jewish Spiritual Practices and The Light and<br />
Fire of the Baal Shem Tov. He founded and directs the first ever<br />
program to train and ordain maggidim.<br />
P14 Making Prayer Real: Cultivating Your<br />
Personal Prayer Voice<br />
Rabbi Mike Comins<br />
This course concentrates on the spiritual dynamics of<br />
prayer: uncovering the holy desires and yearnings of<br />
the heart, putting heart into our words, putting heart<br />
into other people's words (the liturgy), and listening<br />
for a response. Based on the book and on-line course<br />
Making Prayer Real, the class includes video interviews<br />
with leading spiritual teachers on the challenges of<br />
Jewish prayer. Modalities include simple movement<br />
meditation, deep listening, chant, walking, writing,<br />
blessings practice, chevruta study and group<br />
10 A F T E R N O O N C L A S S E S
discussion. After cultivating our personal prayer voices, we<br />
then bring the sensitivity and skills of spontaneous prayer to<br />
traditional liturgy and the Siddur.<br />
Author, rabbi and Israeli desert guide Mike Comins is the<br />
founder of the TorahTrek Center for Jewish Wilderness Spirituality.<br />
He spiritual journey includes extensive training in mindfulness<br />
meditation, Chi Quong, solo wilderness retreats (Vision Quest), and<br />
Jewish sacred chant (www.MakingPrayerReal.com).<br />
P15 Sippur Nafshi: The Story of My Soul<br />
Judith Dack<br />
This art-making class will use Hebrew chant, meditation and<br />
journaling to cultivate The Creative Force within each of us as<br />
we unfold our own unique Soul Story Books, an art piece that<br />
tells our inner story. Join us in creating an enlivened intimate<br />
community of artists working on our individual projects as<br />
expressions of our souls’ wisdom and longings. You may also<br />
bring copies of your own personal photos, favorite texts and<br />
any other materials you may want to incorporate into your<br />
Soul Story Book. Everyone is welcome, no prior experience<br />
needed. Books, artist materials and embellishments<br />
will be provided for an additional $20.00 fee.<br />
At the age of 40, Judith Dack experienced a profound<br />
awakening through Jewish Renewal retreat. She taught yoga at Elat<br />
Chayyim for many summers, is Retreat Manager/Art Teacher for Kol<br />
Zimra, and serves on <strong>Aleph</strong>’s Board. Judith is an Artist/Designer<br />
residing in Woodstock, NY and Washington, DC.<br />
P16 Stories From Before Time:<br />
The Herstories of The Shechinah<br />
Ellen Kaufman Dosick<br />
We know our history. But where is our herstory Ancient<br />
Shechinah mythologies are<br />
incredibly powerful interwoven<br />
Jewish and Middle Eastern<br />
midrashim that tell of the<br />
complex relationships between<br />
Shechinah, Source, and<br />
Humankind. Each myth carries<br />
a woundedness, that expresses<br />
itself in our unbalanced relationships<br />
with God and each<br />
other. Each requires healing, so<br />
that we may continue to<br />
evolve. Immerse yourself in<br />
these epic tales that shape our<br />
world and our lives, and learn<br />
powerful processes that change<br />
these stories and enable a New World of Gan Eden. To change<br />
the story is to change the world!<br />
Ellen Kaufman Dosick, LCSW is a psychotherapist for 35<br />
years, the master practitioner/teacher of the spiritual psychotherapy,<br />
Soul Memory Discover; co-author of 20 Minute Kabbalah, and<br />
channels a bi-monthly Internet publication, The Cosmic Times:<br />
Spiritual News You Can Use. www.soulmemorydiscovery.com<br />
P17 The Mystical Meanings of the Mitzvot<br />
Mark Elber<br />
Judaism has traditionally been structured<br />
around the Mitzvot. Since ancient times,<br />
understanding their meanings and purposes<br />
has been central to living a conscious and embodied spiritual<br />
life. We will study kabbalistic and Chassidic texts on the inner<br />
meanings of the Mitzvot with an eye to clarifying and<br />
exploring our own relationship to them in the context of the<br />
new paradigm theologies of the 21st century.<br />
Mark Elber is the author of The Everything Kabbalah Book,<br />
a teacher of Jewish meditation, and a published poet, songwriter, and<br />
translator. He has studied Jewish mysticism in Yeshiva and Graduate<br />
level university settings in both Israel and the U.S.<br />
P18 Earth Based Torah: Developing a<br />
Jewish Shamanic Practice<br />
Rabbi Sarah Etz Alon<br />
The aboriginal, shamanic Hebrew mind is<br />
central to the Jewish experience. However, after 2,000 years of<br />
exile in other people's lands, this Hebrew way of being has<br />
been nearly destroyed within our culture. Like other<br />
indigenous peoples around the world, the Jewish people are<br />
beginning to recover our primary earth-centered ways of being<br />
— renewing and reviving our rich shamanic tradition. This<br />
course will delve into the ancient shamanic foundations of the<br />
Jewish wisdom tradition with a specific focus on helping participants<br />
develop a meaningful Jewish shamanic practice in<br />
their lives and their communities.<br />
Rabbi Sarah Etz Alon is the director of Eber-Lat Living<br />
Laboratory, dedicated to the re-integration of the Indigenous Hebrew<br />
Mind. Having lived several years in the wilderness, she is now<br />
Rabbi-in-residence at Havurah. www.eberlatlivinglab.org<br />
P19 Uri, Ori!/Awaken, My Light!<br />
Nur ala nur: Light upon Light!<br />
Ibrahim Farajajé and Rabbi Debra Kolodny<br />
INTERMEDIATE/<br />
ADVANCED CLASS<br />
BEGINNING/<br />
INTERMEDIATE<br />
CLASS<br />
Join us in a journey that pierces the heart and<br />
drinks from the radiant well of mystical Islam and<br />
Judaism. Read Qur’an and Torah texts on Avraham<br />
avinu/Ibrahim khalilullah (intimate Friend of<br />
HaShem) and explore Sufi, Zoharic and Hassidic<br />
commentaries. Soar on the wings of dhikr and<br />
Hebrew chant to embody our shared story/reality.<br />
Lift your soul, ascending to dvekut/merging/sufiyyat<br />
with the Divine Beloved through merkava and mi’raj<br />
meditations. Sample medieval teachings reflecting<br />
profound spiritual exploration across our traditions. Leave<br />
inspired to activate the Or Chadash/Nur ala nur we’ve tasted<br />
for inner and global peace, reconciliation and celebration.<br />
Rabbi Debra Kolodny is the Executive Director of ALEPH<br />
and spiritual leader of Pnei HaSadeh. She leads ritual, workshops,<br />
prayer services, meditations and retreats for individuals and hundreds.<br />
Daily prayer, meditation and tai ji make life a glorious adventure!<br />
Ibrahim Farajajé is a professor at the GTU in Berkeley,<br />
A F T E R N O O N C L A S S E S 11
California. He is also a Pir (shaykh) in the Chishti Sufi Order<br />
(Ajmer, India). Dreams: yoga, wilderness Torah/Qur’an, dancing<br />
with Reb Yisrael Odesser, Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, kirtan!<br />
Joining us will be Nessim-Isa Enver, a 15-year-old visiting<br />
musician at Chochmat HaLev in Berkeley, CA. He studies and<br />
performs Turkish Classical Music/Turkish Sufi Music/Turkish and<br />
Mizrahi Jewish music.<br />
P20 Jewish Remedies for Your<br />
Most Stressful Moments<br />
Leonard Felder<br />
On a day when time<br />
pressures, difficult people,<br />
or constant interruptions<br />
are testing your patience,<br />
there are some extremely<br />
effective Jewish<br />
mindfulness methods that<br />
can quickly help you recenter,<br />
re-energize, and refocus<br />
so that you can stay<br />
healthy and compassionate<br />
even when things get intense or frazzled.<br />
In this interactive and highly practical class, you will<br />
explore 8 specific Jewish remedies that can improve the way<br />
you, your loved ones, or your students deal with complex<br />
stressful situations and highly-challenging individuals.<br />
Whether you are new or experienced in Jewish meditation and<br />
mindfulness, you will enjoy learning and practicing these<br />
remarkable methods which come from sacred Jewish teachings.<br />
Len Felder, PhD is the award-winning author of 11 books,<br />
including When Difficult Relatives Happen to Good People, The<br />
Ten Challenges, Seven Prayers That Can Change Your Life, and<br />
Here I Am: Using Jewish Spiritual Wisdom to Become More<br />
Present, Centered, and Available for Life. www.HereIAmRemedies.com<br />
P21 The Origins of Jewish Time<br />
Ron Feldman<br />
The Jewish calendar is a map to the sacred times of the earth<br />
and cosmos. But the “Hebrew calendar” in use today is only<br />
about 1,000 years old. By studying texts from the Bible, Dead<br />
Sea Scrolls, Mishnah, Talmud and Kabbalah we will learn about<br />
the history and concepts of Jewish time, and different views<br />
concerning the relationship between natural and sacred time.<br />
Topics will include: the invention of the seventh-day Sabbath;<br />
the mystical doctrines of the Second Temple priesthood’s<br />
Sabbatarian 364-day calendar; ancient conflicts between<br />
Essenes, Sadducees and Pharisees over observational and<br />
calculated calendars.<br />
Ron H. Feldman, PhD. has taught Jewish Studies at universities<br />
in the San Francisco Bay area and has published on Jewish<br />
politics, mysticism and time. His current research and writing<br />
focuses on the environmental perspectives of ancient Jewish<br />
calendars.<br />
P22 The Art and Passion of Hebrew Kirtan: Opening<br />
Your Heart through Music, Meditation and Study<br />
Rabbi Andrew Hahn (The Kirtan Rabbi)<br />
Hebrew Kirtan — inspired by a form of devotional prayer<br />
developed in India — is call-and-response, participatory chant<br />
where short, sacred phrases from the Jewish tradition are<br />
treated as powerful, universal meditations. It is at once contemplative,<br />
ecstatic and plain old fun.<br />
Join the ‘Kirtan Rabbi,’ Rabbi Andrew Hahn, for a deep<br />
immersion in this cutting-edge<br />
practice. We will chant a lot. And<br />
we'll discuss creating and leading<br />
chants, do easy meditation and voice<br />
exercises, and study related Jewish<br />
texts. You do not need to know any<br />
Hebrew or be a singer to enjoy this<br />
workshop. Culminates in a<br />
community-wide evening event.<br />
Andrew Hahn, the Kirtan Rabbi, is<br />
an artist-rabbi whose music unites<br />
celebration of Torah and song to inspire<br />
a renewed spiritual energy. A martial arts<br />
instructor with a Ph.D. in Jewish thought, he weaves meditation and<br />
learning into his chant playshops. http://KirtanRabbi.com<br />
P23 Bless and Dress My Soul in a Garment<br />
of Light: Creating a Tallit<br />
Elizheva Hurvich & Nishima Kaplan<br />
This workshop will combine prayer, discussion and meditation<br />
with hands-on creation of a prayer shawl. You will be guided<br />
to envision your own sacred, personal tallit — with colors,<br />
symbols, and/or words creating a garment for your spiritual<br />
connection. With fabric, paint, thread, and other materials,<br />
each student will design and create a tallit shaped by soul<br />
questions discovered on the journey, Hebrew chanting, and<br />
hevruta-style in-depth study of the Jewish prayers, symbols, and<br />
rituals of the tallit. This workshop culminates with the<br />
prayerful act of tying tzitzit. NOTE: Please include a<br />
materials fee of $50 with your registration.<br />
Artist/educator Elizheva Hurvich works in various media<br />
and modalities. A bright sprite, she chants, sings, and creates<br />
material objects (tallitot, huppot, books, dolls, and sculptures)<br />
drawing on Jewish wisdom. Her teaching and practice weave<br />
material culture with Torah, Talmud, prayer. www.elizheva.com<br />
Art-making is a spiritual path for Nishima Kaplan. Mother<br />
of three, she trained as a painter and focused on creating personalized<br />
Ketubot. She works with torn paper, sculpture, and fabric. Her<br />
teaching and practice include art-making, journaling, meditation,<br />
yoga, dance. www.nishima.com<br />
12 A F T E R N O O N C L A S S E S
P24 How the Hindu and Buddhist Traditions Can<br />
Clarify Our Understanding of Jewish Practice:<br />
Revisiting Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed<br />
Jared Kass<br />
Jewish resilience includes the assimilation<br />
of scientific insights and spiritual<br />
understanding from “cultural<br />
collisions” with other philosophical<br />
and religious traditions. We will<br />
explore a classic text on spiritual<br />
maturation, Maimonides’ Guide of the<br />
Perplexed, utilizing Hindu and<br />
Buddhist perspectives to explicate this<br />
dense material. Four themes will be<br />
discussed:<br />
Class 1: Spiritual Maturation: Transformation<br />
of Awareness and Behavior;<br />
Class 2: Knowing God: The Architecture<br />
of the Human Mind; Class 3:<br />
Building Healthy, Just Community:<br />
On the Nature of Evil; Class 4: Transformational<br />
Leadership: Moral and Contemplative<br />
Dimensions.<br />
Sessions will include Jewish meditative chanting informed<br />
by Hindu and Buddhist practice.<br />
Jared Kass is a Professor in the Division of Counseling and<br />
Psychology at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, specializing<br />
in the Psychology of Religion. He has conducted research for<br />
over 30 years on spiritual maturation, well-being, and social justice.<br />
P25 Growing a Heart of Blessing: Authentic<br />
Movement as a Form of Jewish Spiritual Direction<br />
Julie Leavitt<br />
After many years practicing and teaching Authentic Movement<br />
(movement meditation done with eyes closed in the presence<br />
of a compassionate witness) and Jewish Spiritual Direction, I<br />
am struck by the parallel processes of these two healing art<br />
forms. They each have gifts to give each other and share a<br />
profound practice sensing the movement (literal and<br />
metaphorical) of Divine Presence through our lives. This will<br />
be the work and play of our week together. We will embody<br />
the mystery, grounded practices, and deep listening of the<br />
Divine moving us in playful and prayerful ways. Prayer, song,<br />
silence, and sharing will be included.<br />
Julie Leavitt is an innovator in combining Authentic<br />
Movement and Jewish Spiritual Direction. A psychotherapist and<br />
mashpia, Julie also teaches dance therapy and creative movement at<br />
Lesley University. She is a contributing author to Jewish Spiritual<br />
Direction, and she wrote and choreographed “A Midrash for Dina.”<br />
P 26 The Direct Experience of Joy:<br />
18 Proven Ways in Judaism to Come to Simcha, Joy<br />
Hana Matt<br />
We will directly experience joy using<br />
these methods from Judaism, which have<br />
now been proven by modern scientific<br />
studies. These result in a pervasive, lasting<br />
joy which doesn’t depend on outer<br />
conditions. These also include methods<br />
for eliminating anxiety. These practices<br />
are from the Jewish mystical tradition,<br />
the Zohar, the major book of Kabbalah,<br />
Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav, the Baal Shem<br />
Tov, and Maimonides. Some of the<br />
modalities: music, niggunim, movement,<br />
texts, spiritual process, meditation, 4<br />
worlds. You’ll come out of this course<br />
with a rich tool-bag of effective, proven<br />
methods to use daily. An extensive packet<br />
will be given.<br />
Hana Matt is a teacher of Jewish<br />
Spirituality, World Religions and Spiritual Direction and a graduate<br />
of Theological Union and The Interfaith Chaplaincy Institute. She is<br />
a Jewish Spiritual Director, and Co-Director of The Spiritual<br />
Direction Training Program. She teaches Kabbalah and Zohar<br />
courses with her husband, Daniel Matt.<br />
P27 Initiation into Kabbalistic Meditation<br />
and Jewish Spiritual Healing<br />
Melinda (Mindy) Ribner<br />
A person can learn much with his head, but meditation allows<br />
for a person to receive so much more as well as internalize,<br />
integrate and embody this wisdom. This is a unique<br />
opportunity to be guided in a variety of kabbalistic meditative<br />
practices along with breathing and visualization techniques to<br />
receive and contain a higher spiritual vibration, learn to heal<br />
oneself and others, and receive direct insight into the answers<br />
to the deeper questions of life. Experience all the benefits of<br />
meditation and more within our own tradition!<br />
Melinda (Mindy) Ribner is director of Kabbalah of the<br />
Heart (www.kabbalahoftheheart.com) and Beit Miriam<br />
(www.Beitmiriam.org). Internationally known for her work in Jewish<br />
meditation and spiritual healing, she is the author of New Age<br />
Judaism, Kabbalah Month by Month, and Everyday Kabbalah.<br />
She is also a psychotherapist, spiritual guide and storyteller.<br />
A F T E R N O O N C L A S S E S 13
P28 Body of Light Practice:<br />
Ten S’ferot and Sh’ma in Six Directions<br />
Brian Yosef Schachter-Brooks<br />
Daily practice leads to the awakening of profound depth, inner<br />
liberation and connection to each moment. Based on the<br />
Kabbalistic classic Sefer Yetzirah, this powerful morning practice<br />
opens the body’s channels of energy, using traditional prayer<br />
to “enwrap” the body and “send blessing” to the six directions.<br />
Each session includes a niggun (transformative Hassidic chant),<br />
guided practice, silent meditation, a teaching and dialogue. By<br />
the end of the week, participants will have learned the<br />
complete practice, including chanting, visualizations and<br />
kavanot (intentions), and have a solid foundation upon which<br />
to build (or enhance) a daily practice.<br />
Inspired by Martin Buber, Brian Yosef sought the inner Truth<br />
of Judaism that lies beyond tradition. Finding that Truth ironically<br />
led him back to tradition. He is the<br />
Director of Music and Meditation at<br />
Chochmat HaLev in Berkeley, CA.<br />
www.captainzohar.com<br />
P29 Finding the Words: A<br />
Course in Spiritual Writing<br />
Joel Segel<br />
The act of writing gives shape to<br />
spiritual experience. It helps<br />
make sense of our deepest<br />
moments. It records our story for<br />
a future time. Spiritual writing<br />
can be plainspoken or mysterious, earthy or transcendent —<br />
and anyone can do it.<br />
This course, by a noted spiritual writer and editor, will<br />
help you give life to the spiritual in your own writing. Each<br />
day we’ll read some brief gem together and talk about it, to get<br />
our juices flowing. Then we’ll write. I’ll suggest directions to<br />
explore, or bring your own topic. You don’t have to be “good.”<br />
Just be open to surprising yourself!<br />
Joel Segel is co-author, with Rabbi Zalman Schachter-<br />
Shalomi, of Jewish with Feeling: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish<br />
Practice (Best Religion Books 20<strong>05</strong>, Publishers Weekly) and of an<br />
upcoming book on Jewish prayer. He is a former editor at<br />
Shambhala Publications.<br />
P30 Our Feet Are Praying:<br />
The Theurgy of Dance in Rebbe Nachman<br />
Rabbi David Seidenberg<br />
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov believed that we can dance to<br />
change our destinies, to reach out to God, and to heal the<br />
Cosmos. The act of dancing, praying with our feet, could lift<br />
up what is lowest to unite with the highest, and could align us<br />
with the Cosmic dance of the Sefirot so intimately that reality<br />
would change. We will study the Kabbalah, spirituality and<br />
mechanics of holy dancing and movement in Rebbe<br />
Nachman’s teachings. We will also use exercises from modern<br />
dance, contact improvisation, and Hasidic traditional dance to<br />
explore the meaning of Rebbe Nachman’s teachings.<br />
Rabbi David Seidenberg has smicha from both JTS and<br />
Reb Zalman, and is one of the foremost scholars on ecology and<br />
Judaism today. He teaches Jewish text and thought across North<br />
America with a focus on embodied practice, and is an avid student<br />
of dance. neohasid.org<br />
P31 Holy Drumming<br />
Akiva The Believer<br />
Drumming in Holy Space: How do you play your drum How<br />
do you play your drum during services Learn from Akiva The<br />
Believer, a popular, joyful Master Drummer. He will first show<br />
you the basics of getting sounds from whatever drum you<br />
bring (or you can borrow one of Akiva's.) What rhythms work<br />
with which prayers Deepening your own kavannah. When<br />
NOT to play. Listening. Chanting and drumming together.<br />
Soloing. Middle Eastern rhythms.<br />
Reggae. Drumming as a spiritual<br />
practice. Other instruments: shakers,<br />
tambourine, electronic drums for<br />
ecstatic dancing, hip hop etc.<br />
Drumming with other drummers.<br />
Finding your own authentic beat.<br />
Akiva The Believer is a Master<br />
Drummer helping bring drumming back<br />
into Jewish prayer. Akiva accompanies<br />
a who’s who of Jewish singers and<br />
prayer leaders. Akiva received smicha<br />
as Drummer from Reb Zalman. His<br />
first cd and book are in production. AkivaTheBeliever.com<br />
P32 Fresh Sparks — Kabbalah-Inspired Practices<br />
for Enriching Your Davennen<br />
Carl Woolf<br />
Come play with some neo-Kabbalistic approaches to the<br />
traditional morning service (Shacharit). We will learn some<br />
ways to frame the service as mystical process(es), and will<br />
incorporate movement (in the style of Taoist Chi-gung),<br />
guided meditation, drama and creative text-study, geared<br />
toward enlivening our prayer (davennen), and infusing it with<br />
imagery and intention (kavannah) drawn from Four-Worlds,<br />
Sefirot and related realms. Have some inspiring fun trying out<br />
these techniques in our course. You can later enjoy these<br />
techniques as separate, small pieces in your prayer life, or<br />
combine them to enjoy a full neo-Kabbalistic Shacharit.<br />
Carl Woolf, an ALEPH rabbinical student, enjoys music,<br />
yoga, prayer, puzzles, paronomasia and meditation. Professionally,<br />
he has taught Philosophy, led prayer, developed software, and<br />
performed music. Carl holds a PhD in Philosophy and an MSc in<br />
Computer Science.<br />
14 A F T E R N O O N C L A S S E S
P32 Workshop Track<br />
Varied Teachers<br />
Here is the opportunity to “pick and choose” among<br />
some of ALEPH’s best teachers! Take your choice from<br />
amongst 4-6 different workshops each day (some may<br />
be in two parts). This year’s selection of workshops is<br />
wide and deep, and features wonderful offerings such as:<br />
“Finding & Fulfilling Your Soul’s Purpose” with Nina<br />
Amir; “New Light on the Hebrew Letters” with Gilla<br />
Nissan; “Transitions And The Weekday Amidah” with<br />
Yonina Foster; “Gay & Jewish: Finding Your Own Road<br />
to Spiritual Discovery” and much, much more! (You will<br />
get the full list of workshops when you arrive at <strong>Kallah</strong>.)<br />
Also, part of this track: Participate in a <strong>Kallah</strong> first!<br />
The <strong>Kallah</strong> Beit Midrash. Join other<br />
advanced learners for the highest and<br />
deepest text study. Bring your<br />
favorite Hebrew text (with translation<br />
for those whose text skills might be a<br />
bit rusty) on the theme of Or Chadash<br />
(texts will also be offered). This<br />
workshop take place every day during<br />
afternoon classes and be facilitated<br />
by Rabbi T’mimah Ickovits.<br />
FOR MORE INFORMATION<br />
As we get closer to the <strong>Kallah</strong>, the volume of inquiries received by the planners is often very high. For the quickest response,<br />
use e-mail. If you do not have/use e-mail, then feel free to use the phone numbers listed below. When leaving messages,<br />
please leave enough information so we we know to whom to direct your inquiry. Thank you in advance for your patience.<br />
<strong>Kallah</strong> Office<br />
47 Charles St.<br />
Newton, MA 02466<br />
Sally Plone, <strong>Kallah</strong> Coordinator<br />
<strong>Kallah</strong>ajr@rcn.com<br />
Sheri Levson, Office Manager<br />
kallahadmin@rcn.com<br />
781-708-6040 phone<br />
866-826-3011 fax<br />
Cabaret/Showcase Coordinator<br />
Deb Barsel<br />
dbarsel@gmail.com<br />
978-263-7834<br />
Davvenen Coordinator<br />
Mark Novak<br />
<strong>Kallah</strong>davvenen@verizon.net<br />
202-362-3270<br />
Elders & Disability Advocate<br />
Melissa Kahn<br />
melissakahn@verizon.net<br />
301-565-9278<br />
Giftshop/Manager<br />
Eliezer Froehlich<br />
defro@proaxis.com<br />
541-757-2316<br />
Giftshop/Artist Liaison<br />
Gayle Gale<br />
kfpeace@aol.com<br />
323 874-3887<br />
GLBT Advocate<br />
Jonathan Baron<br />
jonathan@jonathanbaron.com<br />
212.242.6567<br />
Healing Center Coordinator<br />
Lynda Danzig<br />
lbdanzig@hotmail.com<br />
781-771-4068<br />
Kesher Coordinator<br />
Stacey Bhaerman<br />
sbhaerman@gmail.com<br />
917-553-1136<br />
Kids <strong>Kallah</strong> Director<br />
Joanie Levine<br />
jlevinehummingbird@yahoo.com<br />
503-287-8737<br />
Teacher Liaison<br />
Renee Brachfeld<br />
Renee<strong>Kallah</strong>@me.com<br />
202-362-3270<br />
Teen Program Coordinator<br />
Sarai Shapiro<br />
sarai510@gmail.com<br />
845-626-2108<br />
267-847-4399<br />
Toddler Program<br />
Coordinator<br />
Jessica Jobanek<br />
jessicajobanek@gmail.com<br />
503-702-6890<br />
Workstudy Coordinator<br />
Annie Klein<br />
annie.klein7@gmail.com<br />
250-384-7817<br />
A F T E R N O O N C L A S S E S 15
IMPORTANT INFORMATION<br />
Start and End Times Registration will be open<br />
Sunday, June 26, from 2 pm to 7 pm, and again on<br />
Monday, June 27, from 10 am to 1:30 pm. The program<br />
begins shortly after 2 pm on Monday. Please be sure to<br />
arrive on campus no later than 1 pm on Monday, June<br />
27. If you are traveling from LAX, it is approximately an<br />
80-90 minute trip to Redlands, but will vary depending<br />
on traffic. Other airports may be closer (see “Getting to<br />
Campus” below.) The <strong>Kallah</strong> program will end by 11 am<br />
on Sunday, July 3.<br />
Pre-Registration Once you are paid in full, you will receive<br />
a pre-registration packet at the end of June when you are PAID<br />
IN FULL with your classes, recommended readings, driving<br />
instructions, and other important information.<br />
Fees and Deposits Starting at $998 all-inclusive, we<br />
continue to keep our prices affordable. All payments must be<br />
made in full and postmarked by May 15. A $35 discount will<br />
be applied to each registration paid in full and postmarked by<br />
April 15. A $50 per person late fee will be charged if registration<br />
or final payment is postmarked after May 15. Fees for<br />
residents and commuters are found on the registration form.<br />
A deposit of $100 per person (including children) must<br />
accompany each registration if sent in before May 15.<br />
All balances must be paid by May 15.<br />
Cancellations If you must cancel your reservation, please<br />
call the <strong>Kallah</strong> office immediately. Cancellations<br />
are subject to the following fees:<br />
$100 if received before May 15; one half of<br />
the total fee if received between May 15<br />
and June 15; forfeit total fees if received<br />
after June 15. All refunds will be processed<br />
at the end of August.<br />
Work-Study Work-study is a serious<br />
commitment. Positions are available,<br />
ranging from a few hours to half days.<br />
Applications for assistance must be<br />
postmarked by May 1 and will be awarded<br />
on a first-come, first-served basis.<br />
Applicants will be informed of their grants<br />
not later than June 15. All requests are<br />
confidential. If you are interested in<br />
further reducing your <strong>Kallah</strong> costs, ask<br />
about working more than one position.<br />
The Site We are excited to be at the University of Redlands, a<br />
gorgeous campus in a breathtaking setting. Located at the foot<br />
of Southern California’s 11,000-foot mountains and an hour’s<br />
drive from Hollywood, Redlands puts the best of Southern<br />
California within reach. Redlands offers a range of lodging<br />
options from economical dormitory rooms to some of the best<br />
lodging we’ve ever had at the <strong>Kallah</strong> including new apartments<br />
complete with kitchens. All rooms will be air conditioned.<br />
Getting to Redlands<br />
University of Redlands is located in the City of<br />
Redlands off the I-10 freeway, 80 miles east of Los<br />
Angeles International Airport (LAX). If you are flying<br />
in, LAX will likely have the lowest fares and most<br />
flights. However, the closest airport is Ontario International<br />
Airport (ONT), which is 25 miles from<br />
campus and served by most major airlines. Other<br />
airports nearby include John Wayne (56 miles) in<br />
Orange County and Palm Springs International (50<br />
miles).<br />
If you would like help finding the best airfare,<br />
contact Steve Dahlgren at Ticket to Ride. You can call<br />
or email him: 202-898-0700, steved@tkttoride.com.<br />
Or, if you prefer to make your own arrangements,<br />
United/Continental is our preferred airline and will<br />
give you a 5-10% discounted fare. Call United<br />
Meetings at 800 521-4041 or go online at united.com.<br />
You MUST reference meeting ID 590DT.<br />
If renting a car, you can get special rates with<br />
Avis using our AWD#U303447. Tell them you are with<br />
the ALEPH <strong>Kallah</strong>. There is no<br />
charge for parking on campus.<br />
The <strong>Kallah</strong> will be employing a shuttle<br />
service from LAX on Sunday from 1pm –<br />
6pm, and again on Monday from 9am –<br />
1pm. The cost is $35 per person, each<br />
way. You must pay at the time you<br />
register. You can also make your own<br />
arrangements with the following<br />
companies:<br />
Super Shuttle (800) 700-1983,<br />
www.supershuttle.com<br />
Prime-Time Shuttle (800) 733-8267,<br />
www.primetimeshuttle.com<br />
Participants will be driving from all<br />
over California and beyond. You can<br />
check our website for ridesharing<br />
information!<br />
Early Arrival Lodging is available on<br />
campus Sunday night and would cost an<br />
additional $80 (includes room, dinner,<br />
breakfast and lunch).<br />
University of Redlands<br />
16 I N F O R M A T I O N
IMPORTANT INFORMATION<br />
Housing All accommodations are in university buildings.<br />
The rooms are clean and provide for basic needs.<br />
You may choose between the following options:<br />
• Single & double dorm rooms (with hall bath)<br />
• Suites in dorms (choice of single or double rooms) The<br />
bathroom will be within the suite and shared by 6 – 8<br />
people, maximum.<br />
• Apartment Housing (choice of single or double rooms)<br />
Please note that the apartments have 4 bedrooms and<br />
include a kitchen (bring your own utensils, etc.) and are<br />
a couple of blocks further away than the dorms.<br />
Commuters Lunches and dinners are included in the<br />
commuter fees. We also have an option to include breakfast.<br />
Commuters can arrange to stay on campus for Shabbat when<br />
you register.<br />
Meals The Redlands experience includes award-winning<br />
dining, and a menu that is locally grown and organic<br />
whenever possible. Every day you can expect healthy, creative<br />
vegetarian/fish/dairy/parve meals. A non-dairy, non-wheat and<br />
vegan choice will always be available. If you have special<br />
needs, please indicate on the registration form. Once again, the<br />
kitchen will be kashered under the supervision of our<br />
Mashgiach, Rabbi Dennis Beck-Berman.<br />
Special Needs We will have golf carts and vans to help with<br />
transportation around campus. Please notify us early if you<br />
have special needs of any kind. Most facilities on campus are<br />
wheelchair accessible.<br />
Shabbat Guests If the <strong>Kallah</strong> does not fill to capacity there<br />
will be the possibility of attending for Shabbat only. Include<br />
payment and mark “Shabbat Only” on the registration form.<br />
Payments will be held (not processed) until availability is<br />
determined. The office will maintain a waiting list and let you<br />
know by June 8 if there is space.<br />
Post-<strong>Kallah</strong> Advanced Studies Week The ALEPH<br />
Ordination Programs (Rabbinic, Cantorial, Rabbinic Pastor and<br />
Hashpa’ah: Spiritual Direction) will sponsor a week of advanced<br />
studies, following the <strong>Kallah</strong>. The program, hosted by Ruach<br />
Ha’Aretz at Redlands, is open to all students presently enrolled<br />
in one of the ordination programs. For information and registration,<br />
contact Rabbis Nadya & Victor Gross, Project Directors,<br />
at info@ruachhaaretz.com. Prospective candidates for one of<br />
our ordination programs may also attend with permission<br />
from the Dean, Rabbi Marcia Prager (Rebmarcia@aol.com).<br />
I N F O R M A T I O N 17
ALEPH AFFILIATED COMMUNITIES<br />
ALEPH Dues and Membership Information<br />
Am Kolel (Rockville, MD)<br />
Bnai Horin (Los Angeles, CA)<br />
Bnai Or (Boston, MA)<br />
Bnai Or (Pueblo, CO)<br />
Chadeish Yameinu (Santa Cruz,<br />
CA)<br />
Chochmat HaLev (Oakland, CA)<br />
Congregation Shir Tikva (Troy,<br />
MI)<br />
East Bank Havurah (Baltimore,<br />
MD)<br />
Eitz Or (Seattle, WA)<br />
Elijah Minyan (San Diego, CA)<br />
Havurah Shir Hadash (Ashland,<br />
OR)<br />
Kehilat Romemu (New York,<br />
NY)<br />
Kehilla Community Synagogue<br />
(Piedmont, CA)<br />
Makom Ohr Shalom (LA)<br />
Makom Shalom (Chicago, IL)<br />
Nahalat Shalom (Albuquerque,<br />
NM)<br />
Nevei Kodesh (Boulder, CO)<br />
Neve Shalom (St. Louis, MO)<br />
Or Ha Ahava (Lutz, FL)<br />
Pardes Hannah (Ann Arbor, MI)<br />
Pardes Levavot (Boulder, CO)<br />
Pnai HaSadeh (Silver Spring,<br />
MD)<br />
Pnai Yisrael (Charlottesville,<br />
VA)<br />
Pnai Or (Hartford, CT)<br />
Pnai Or (Gainesville, FL)<br />
Pnai Or (Philadelphia, PA)<br />
Pnai Or (Portland, OR)<br />
Ruach Hamidbar - Spirit of the<br />
Desert (Scottsdale, AZ)<br />
Sha'arei Shamayim (Madison,<br />
WI)<br />
Shir Hashirim (Berkeley, CA)<br />
Shir Ha Yam (San Diego, CA)<br />
Temple Adat Or (Florida)<br />
Temple Or Olam (Concord, N.<br />
Carolina)<br />
Yavneh (S. Carolina)<br />
International<br />
AUSTRALIA: Temple Emmanuel<br />
(Sydney)<br />
BRAZIL: Chavurah Al Sfat ha-<br />
Yam<br />
CANADA: Or Shalom<br />
(Vancouver)<br />
ENGLAND: Ruach Havurah<br />
(London)<br />
GERMANY: Ohel Hachidush<br />
(Berlin)<br />
ISRAEL: Nava Tehila<br />
(Jerusalem)<br />
PERU: Jewish Community of<br />
Huanuco, Beith Etz Chaim<br />
SWITZERLAND Basel Chavura<br />
(Basel)<br />
All adult <strong>Kallah</strong> attendees must be current members of<br />
ALEPH. Please select the category below that applies to your<br />
household.<br />
❑ Member of ALEPH through listed ALEPH Affiliated<br />
Community<br />
❑ Individual (household) member of ALEPH, through contribution<br />
made since October 1, 2009. (If our records show<br />
that you are not current, we’ll invoice you.)<br />
❑ Not a current ALEPH member. (Add $54 per individual or<br />
$72 per household to the registration fee.)<br />
2011 <strong>Kallah</strong> Planning Committee<br />
(at time of press)<br />
Sally Plone, Coordinator; Sheri Levson, Assistant Coordinator,<br />
Jonathan Baron, Deb Barsel, R. Dennis Beck-Berman, Stacey<br />
Bhaerman, Renee Brachfeld, Marcia Brooks, Lynda Danzig, Sheila Katz<br />
Feiwell, Andrea Foster, Eliezer Froehlich, Jessica Jobanek, Melissa<br />
Kahn, Saul Kaye, Annie Klein, Joanie Levine, Chava Monastersky,<br />
Harry Morrow, Mark Novak, Skye Pelicrow, Shawna Rothman, Howie<br />
(Chaim) Schneider, Sarai Shapiro, Yehuda Winter, Linda Zweig<br />
Brochure design: Hal Aqua, www.aquastudio.net<br />
Thanks to Ann Silver and all the photographers from past Kallot<br />
who contributed their work to this <strong>broch</strong>ure.<br />
Register early! Space is limited. Full<br />
payment is due May 15. Mail the forms on<br />
the next two pages with your payment to<br />
ALEPH <strong>Kallah</strong>, c/o Sally Plone, 47 Charles<br />
St., Newton, MA 02466, or fax to: 866-826-<br />
3011. You can also register online<br />
(www.aleph.org/kallah.htm).<br />
Mazel tov to Brian and Sarah Rohr as well as to all the couples<br />
who found each other at previous Kallot!<br />
18 I N F O R M A T I O N
BASIC FEES<br />
RESIDENTIAL x # of people AMOUNT<br />
Adult, per person, double hall bath $998 x________ = $____________<br />
Adult, per person, single hall bath $1098 x________ = $____________<br />
Adult, per person, double in suite $1098 x________ = $____________<br />
Adult, per person, single in suite $1198 x________ = $____________<br />
Adult, per person, double in apartment $1298 x________ = $____________<br />
Adult, per person, single in apartment $1358 x________ = $____________<br />
Adult, per person, two sharing private apartment $1398 x________ = $____________<br />
Teens (13-18) Teen Program $925 x________ = $____________<br />
Teens (13-18) Room & Board only $850 x________ = $____________<br />
Teen Staff (with approval, see p. 3) $375 x________ = $____________<br />
Child (4-12) $695 x________ = $____________<br />
2nd child $595 x________ = $____________<br />
Children 1-3 $400 x________ = $____________<br />
SUBTOTAL RESIDENTIAL<br />
COMMUTER (incl. tuition, lunch & dinner)<br />
Adults $850 x________ = $____________<br />
Children (1-12) $545 x________ = $____________<br />
Breakfast tickets (Tuesday – Sunday) $50 x________ = $____________<br />
SUBTOTAL COMMUTER<br />
SHABBAT/WEEKEND (Friday afternoon through Sunday morning)<br />
Weekend only (limited availability, see page 17) $425 x________ = $____________<br />
Weekend only COMMUTER (limited availability, see page 17) $325 x________ = $____________<br />
SUBTOTAL SHABBAT<br />
SPECIAL DISCOUNTS (apply to above fees only)<br />
5% First Timer (deduct 5% for each first-time <strong>Kallah</strong> participant) OR<br />
5% Register w/ a Minyan (deduct 5% only if 10+ registrations are<br />
received together from the same city) x________ = $____________<br />
Early Bird Discount (paid in full, postmarked by April 15)<br />
subtract $35/person x________ = $____________<br />
Workstudy total (include signed contract with registration) x________ = $____________<br />
Total DISCOUNTS<br />
ADDITIONAL FEES<br />
Special Pre-<strong>Kallah</strong> Conference $100 x________ = $____________<br />
Supplementary fees for classes (arts, hiking, etc) as noted x________ = $____________<br />
Sunday arrival $80 x________ = $____________<br />
Airport shuttle $35/person each way $35 x________ = $____________<br />
ALEPH membership (see page 18) [Tax Deductible] x________ = $____________<br />
Late fee (if not paid in full by May 15) add $50/person x________ = $____________<br />
Additional tax deductible donations (circle one):<br />
Kesher program (scholarships) Kids’ <strong>Kallah</strong> General Fund $____________<br />
Total ADDITIONAL FEES<br />
GRAND TOTAL (your subtotal plus fees minus discounts)<br />
Amount enclosed (minimum $100 per person now)<br />
Balance due by May 15, 2011 (After May 15 must be paid in full)<br />
$____________<br />
$____________<br />
$___________<br />
-$____________<br />
$____________<br />
$____________<br />
$____________<br />
$____________<br />
Visa or Mastercard # __________-__________-__________-__________ Expiration _____________ Security Code ____________<br />
Please charge my balance on ❑ April 15 (early discount) ❑ May 15 (regular registration)<br />
If paying by credit card, please make sure the address matches your billing address.<br />
Registration form continues on reverse.<br />
For Office Use Only: Date postmarked: ____________ Payment Received: ____________ Room Assignment: ____________
ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal<br />
7000 Lincoln Dr. B-2<br />
Philadelphia, PA 19119-3046<br />
NON PROFIT ORG.<br />
U.S. POSTAGE<br />
PAID<br />
WEST PALM BCH, FL<br />
PERMIT # 593<br />
Receiving duplicates Please pass on to a friend.<br />
ADULT #1<br />
Name (as you want it to appear on your name tag _________________________________________ Last Name______________________<br />
Birthdate (m/d/y) __________________ Gender: F M<br />
Address (include street, city, state, zip) ____________________________________________________________________________________<br />
Day phone ( _____ )______________________ Eve phone ( _____ )_________________________ fax ( _____ )______________________<br />
Occupation _________________________________________ Email _________________________________________________<br />
Please remember to approve kallahajr on your spam filter.<br />
COURSE PREFERENCES — list using course numbers. Courses are filled in order of postmark. If more space is needed, please<br />
copy sheet. Also, please circle whether you selected this course primarily for the topic or the teacher.<br />
AM 1st choice ________ topic / teacher AM 2nd choice ________ topic / teacher AM 3rd choice ________ topic / teacher<br />
PM 1st choice ________ topic / teacher PM 2nd choice ________ topic / teacher PM 3rd choice ________ topic / teacher<br />
Are you interested in: (check all that apply) ❑ Linda Hirschorn’s Choir ❑ Jewish Gospel Choir<br />
Room share request: ______________________________________ (every effort will be made to honor your request.)<br />
ADULT #2<br />
Name (as you want it to appear on your name tag _________________________________________ Last Name______________________<br />
Birthdate (m/d/y) __________________ Gender: F M<br />
Address (include street, city, state, zip) ____________________________________________________________________________________<br />
Day phone ( _____ )______________________ Eve phone ( _____ )_________________________ fax ( _____ )______________________<br />
Occupation _________________________________________ Email ___________________________________________ ❑ OK to email<br />
COURSE PREFERENCES — list using course numbers. Courses are filled in order of postmark. If more space is needed, please<br />
copy sheet. Also, please circle whether you selected this course primarily for the topic or the teacher.<br />
AM 1st choice ________ topic / teacher AM 2nd choice ________ topic / teacher AM 3rd choice ________ topic / teacher<br />
PM 1st choice ________ topic / teacher PM 2nd choice ________ topic / teacher PM 3rd choice ________ topic / teacher<br />
Are you interested in: (check all that apply) ❑ Linda Hirschorn’s Choir ❑ Jewish Gospel Choir<br />
CHILD/TEEN #1 Name______________________________ Birthdate___________ Gender: F M E-mail _______________________<br />
CHILD/TEEN #2 Name______________________________ Birthdate___________ Gender: F M E-mail _______________________<br />
OTHER INFORMATION<br />
Noise levels: Please indicate your noise tolerance: silence…………….……….not an issue…………………party!<br />
Electricity on Shabbat: ❑ No ❑ Yes ❑ Yes, but willing to accommodate roommate(s)<br />
Dietary Needs (check all that apply): ❑ Lactose intolerant ❑ Wheat allergy ❑ Vegan ❑ Other _________________<br />
Do any health issues require special consideration (Please explain.) _________________________________________________________<br />
Assistance (Apartments are 10 min from classes and dining): Do you think you would need a shuttle ❑ Yes ❑ No ❑ Wait and see<br />
How many previous Kallot have you attended_______________ What year was the last one you attended ____________<br />
How did you hear about the <strong>Kallah</strong> ❑ website ❑ friend ❑ <strong>broch</strong>ure ❑ other (specify) _________________<br />
Please rank your top 3 reasons for attending <strong>Kallah</strong> (place a 1, 2 & 3 in front of reason):<br />
___ Community ___ Re-entry into Judaism ___ Davening ___ Experience Jewish Renewal ____ My family<br />
___ Hoping to meet my Basherte (soulmate) ___ Learning (specify if particular teacher) ___________________________<br />
Are you affiliated ❑ Renewal ❑ Recon ❑ Conserv ❑ Reform ❑ Havurah ❑ Orthodox ❑ other ____________