as we hurtle towards pesach and six months (six! months!) of a continuing genocide in gaza, i’m thinking a lot about the narrow place — the one we escaped from but still seem stuck within. how do we liberate ourselves from the narrow place… again? the narrow place we’re in when we find ourselves in whack-a-mole conversations with other jews:
- over 30,000 palestinians in gaza have been killed
- you’re going to believe a number hamas made up?- the IDF bombed hospitals
- hamas was in the hospitals- israeli extremists are blocking aid trucks from entering gaza
- the aid is going directly to hamas
this narrow place has some of us rejecting our own humanity and identity out of shame. the narrow place has us thinking narrowly about all of it — often stuck in a place of purity and judgment, rather than abundance, curiosity, and expansiveness. i want freedom from the narrow place, and i want that same liberation for palestinians.
i hope pesach later this month is an opportunity to recommit to liberation for all, and think deeply about how our freedom is always intertwined.
an announcement: as of this issue, 🧿SHTETL CRIER is shifting to a monthly cadence. this unfortunately means events that come together super quickly won’t make it in, but i need to bring myself a bit more ease with this project. next issue comes out may 1st! keep submitting!
housekeeping
this newsletter is “too long” for your email & will get cut off. go to shtetlcrier.substack.com to read the entire post
new events that haven’t appeared in a prior issue are marked with 🆕
an event appearing in this newsletter is not an endorsement of said event
this newsletter is free & compiled with love for community. and i wouldn’t say no if you ever wanted to buy me a coffee
i would love to see more canadian events outside of toronto in future issues. if you know progressive jews living outside toronto, please share this newsletter with them
& lastly: help me get the word out about 🧿SHTETL CRIER! share this newsletter / tiktok / instagram reel / instagram post / facebook post
🇨🇦 canadian events
workshop / class
🆕Kultur-krayzl Workshop Series 1: Introduction to Klezmer (KlezKanada & L’Annexe: the Ometz Centre for Young Adults)
📆starts April 2, 2024 / 6-8PM ET
📍Quebec > Montreal > L'Annexe: the Ometz Centre for Young Adults, 5400 Av de Westbury
Kultur-krayzl (Culture Circle) is an upcoming series of Yiddish arts and cultural workshops starting this spring. Aimed at engaging L’Annexe’s young adult community (16-35) through Yiddish culture, this project offers young adults in Montreal unique and fun opportunities to connect with Jewish arts and culture, tap into their creativity, and discover a diverse, intergenerational community.
Join Josh Dolgin (Socalled) for a hands-on introduction to klezmer music! In this workshop we will create a mini-ensemble, playfully covering basic genres and repertoire while learning cultural context along the way. Participants should be able to play their instrument at an intermediate level or above, but no prior experience playing klezmer music is necessary to participate. All instruments are welcome! Please note that capacity is limited and participants must attend all three sessions taking place on April 2, 9, and 16. Learn more
For: Youth, Everyone Aged 16-35
Tags: 🥳Social, 🎶Music
🤔Questions? info@klezkanada.orgevent
The Anarchist Lunch Movie Night (UJPO)
📆April 3, 2024 / 7-9PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > YWCA Toronto, 87 Elm St.
Please join us for a fascinating evening of films and conversation. Kicking off the event, we'll showcase two incredible films directed by UJPO's own Rachel Epstein and Amy Gotlieb, both films that celebrate intergenerational activism, legacies of Jewish radicalism and the intersections of family love, community and political action.
As an almost 100-year-old organization, UJPO includes many multigenerational activist families. Our panel following the films on April 3 will include: Rachel Epstein & Sadie Epstein-Fine; Alan Silverman & Karine Silverwoman; and Marilyn Tate & Dylan Tate-Howarth & Sasha Tate-Howarth. We’ll be talking about the good, the bad and the ugly of growing up with activist parents. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, ✊Social Justice
🤔Questions? program@winchevskycentre.orgevent
🆕L'Chaim, L'Challah! A OneTable Shabbat Experience (OneTable)
📆April 5, 2024 / 6:30-10PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > 875 Bloor St W.
We’re celebrating our recent launch of OneTable Toronto (OneTable’s first-ever Canadian hub!) and are so excited to expand our presence in Toronto together. Help us usher in Shabbat Ha’Malka (the Shabbat queen) with OneTable’s very own Queen of the [Friday] Night, drag performer Josie!
OneTable is building a movement of young adults (21-39ish) who are creating intentional and authentic Friday night experiences. Inspired by the ancient Jewish wellness practice of Shabbat, OneTable is here to help you unlock into a portal of slowing down, discovering community, and tapping into ritual. Since launching in Toronto this fall, OneTable has supported over 80 dinners on their platform, with nearly 900 seats at the table, and 500+ unique users. Be a part of the Shabbat momentum, and help OneTable count down to their 100th Shabbat dinner in Toronto! Learn more
For: Adults in their 20s & 30s, Queer & Trans Jews
Tags: 🥳Social, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? simon@onetable.orgevent
🆕Davening Liberation Oraciones ~ Praying Liberation Prayers
📆April 6, 2024 / 10AM-1PM PT
📍British Columbia > Vancouver > Trinity Grace United Church, 803 East 16th Avenue
With heavy hearts, full of grief and rage we are reclaiming and reinventing our Shabbat morning service separate from Zionism/ethno-nationalism, white supremacy, Ashkenormativity and heteropatriarchy. All are welcome to this collectively led, co-created sacred space. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: ✊Social Justice, 🎶Music, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? orev@orevreenakatz.caevent
🆕Racism in Canada's Prisons and Why We Should Care (Oraynu Congregation for Humanistic Judaism)
📆April 7, 2024 / 7-9:30PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, 16 Spadina Rd. OR virtual
Oraynu Congregation invites you to attend an important evening of discussion. As Humanistic Jews, our focus is tikkun olam, and the racism in Canada’s prisons is something we should all be concerned about. Please join us as we hear from three experts on this critical issue. Please register in advance. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 📚Education, ✊Social Justice
🤔Questions? roby@oraynu.orgworkshop / class
🆕Passover Printmaking: A Linocut Workshop (Museum of Jewish Montreal / Musée du Montréal juif)
📆April 7, 2024 / 1-4PM ET
📍Quebec > Montreal > 5220 Boul. St-Laurent
Ring in the Passover season by learning a new skill! Join us for a workshop on linocut printmaking. Damián Birbrier will facilitate a 3-hour workshop, which will instruct guests on how to design, prepare, and produce their own prints using the linocut technique, otherwise known as block printing. With Passover just around the corner, this workshop will be geared towards creating a cover for your Haggadah – though guests are more than welcome to create prints for other purposes. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 📚Education, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? anya@imjm.calecture
🆕What We Talk About When We Talk About Jewish Objects (Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies)
📆April 15, 2024 / 4PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > Jackman Humanities Building (room 100), 170 St. George St.
Keynote lecture by Dr. Jodi Eichler-Levine for the Schwartz-Reisman Graduate Student Conference in Jewish Studies
"Something magical happens when women sit and stitch together,” one woman said to me, years ago, at a convention of the Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework. Jews of all genders make and use innumerable objects: torah scrolls, bourekas, prayer shawls, amulets, mosaics, kugels, cartoons. Both Jews and non-Jews have idealized, critiqued, and imagined these material practices, from ancient midrash about priestly robes to recent craft workshops run by the Jewish Studio Project. Whether we are talking about Jewish food or Jewish embroidery, matter matters. This talk approaches Jewish object creation as both a Jewish ritual practice and, perhaps, as something more capacious, yet hard to name—perhaps “magical,” perhaps not. Most of all, we will think through the senses. How do Jews and Jewish-adjacent people gaze upon, feel, smell, taste, and hear these objects? What concepts of Jews and Judaism do these embodied encounters create? Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 📚Education
🤔Questions? cjs.events@utoronto.caevent
🆕Pesach Hike (Shoresh)
📆April 17, 2024 / 6-8PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > High Park
Join us for a springtime adventure with our Pesach Hike, the first installment in our Holiday Series, where you'll connect with nature, celebrate tradition, and ignite your excitement for the holidays. Spend quality time with your community in High Park as you experience Jewish-nature connection through guided exploration, ecology awareness, and fun activities! Learn more
For: Adults, Youth
Tags: 🥳Social, 🌿Nature, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness, 🌚Holiday Observance
🤔Questions? shalva@shoresh.cacourse
🆕Song | Study | Silence: A Playful Crossfit of Art, Spirit & Torah Study (Or Shalom Synagogue)
📆starts April 24, 2024 / 7-8:30PM PT
📍British Columbia > Vancouver > Or Shalom, 710 East 10th Avenue
Rabbi Hannah’s final Zusia offering as Senior Rabbi of Or Shalom will be a generative, experiential class, an open-ended creative process engaging our felt, intuitive responses to the weekly themes of the Omer, selections from the weekly Torah cycle, visual images, melody – and their inter-textuality. After orientation to the practice, opportunity will be offered to class members to select texts and images for our consideration. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🎶Music, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? rabbihannah@orshalom.caevent
🆕UJPO's Annual 3rd Seyder (UJPO & Jews Say No to Genocide)
📆April 27, 2024 / 5:15-9:15PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > Lithuanian House, 1573 Bloor St W. OR virtual
You are invited to join us for UJPO’s Annual 3rd Seyder! This year, UJPO is collaborating with Jews Say No to Genocide (JSNTG), the Jewish-led, Palestine solidarity coalition that UJPO has joined in the streets during these past seven months. We will be reflecting and focusing on our Jewish-Palestinian solidarity and collective liberation— in particular, the events that have transpired in our communities since October 7th, 2023. We are asking, how can a Passover Seyder give us the tools to radically imagine a future without hate or need? Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, 🌚Holiday Observance, ✊Social Justice, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? ed@winchevskycentre.orgevent
🆕Warsaw Ghetto Memorial: Looking at Resistance Through the Lens of Family History (United Jewish People's Order/Jews for Social Justice)
📆May 7, 2024 / 7-9PM CT
📍Manitoba > Winnipeg > 591 Pritchard Avenue (at McGregor)
An annual program of remembrance of the fighters in the Warsaw Ghetto, with an address by Cecil Rosner, whose parents survived the Nazi occupation of Poland and moved to Winnipeg in 1948. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, ✊Social Justice
🤔Questions? united.jpo.canada@gmail.comcourse
Shoresh Outdoor School - Spring Edition (Shoresh)
📆starts July 4, 2024 / 12-2PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > Cedarvale Ravine and Riverdale Park
The Shoresh Outdoor School bridges meaningful Jewish learning with hands-on, nature-based experiences! Spring edition registration now open.
Give your kids the gift of Jewish learning… in the great outdoors! Through urban wilderness experiences, students (JK-grade 6) explore Jewish holidays and cycles, mitzvot and rituals, and ethical teachings, while being active, building community, and experiencing moments of deep nature connection. The Shoresh Outdoor School is pluralistic and open to the many ways that our community members live and learn Jewishly. Learn more
For: Kids
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 📚Education, 🥳Social, 🌿Nature, 🎶Music, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? sabrina@shoresh.caretreat
🆕KlezKanada's Summer Retreat (KlezKanada)
📆August 20-26, 2024
📍Quebec > Sainte-Agathe-Des-Monts > Dos bisele glik (Le P’tit Bonheur)
KlezKanada's Summer Retreat is a place where a true community is formed and where the living, vibrant tradition of Yiddish culture and Jewish music continues to thrive. Each year, KlezKanada's Summer Retreat draws people from around the world. Whether on the shores of a calm lake, nestled amongst the beautiful Laurentian mountains or through the screen, participants celebrate the tradition, innovation, and continuity of Jewish music and Yiddish culture. Intergenerational, interdisciplinary, and international, KlezKanada's Summer Retreat has grown into one of the leading Jewish cultural events in the world. Registration information coming April. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, 🎶Music, Yiddish
🤔Questions? info@klezkanada.org💻 virtual
workshop / class
🆕Cultural Judaism: What? Why? How? (Secular Synagogue)
📆April 3, 2024 / 7:30-8:30PM ET, 4:30-5:30PM PT
💻virtual
How do secular/cultural Jews build meaningful and beautiful Jewish culture, ritual, holiday celebration and learning? Come find out in this workshop by Secular Synagogue. You'll walk away with actionable steps to create a fulfilling Jewish life! Open to anyone who is Jewish, Jew-curious, a fellow traveller of Jews, etc. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? rabbidenise@secularsynagogue.comworkshop
Jews of Color Monthly Mindfulness Sit (Institute for Jewish Spirituality)
📆April 3, 2024 / 12-1PM ET, 9-10AM PT
💻virtual
Slowing down and resting are one of the ways in which we move ourselves to greater liberation. Join us in a space dedicated to Jews of Color (JoC) for a monthly opportunity to slow down together and take a mindful pause. This JoC-led space is one part inspiration, one part meditation, one part community connection! Led by Keshira haLev Fife, IJS Faculty Fellow, Yoshi Silverstein of Mitsui Collective, and other guest JoC leaders. Next sessions are Apr 3, May 8, and Jun 5. Learn more
For: Jews Of Colour
Tags: 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? support@jewishspirituality.orgcourse
Shabbat: Rituals of Rest with Rabbi Bluth (The Torah Studio)
📆starts April 4, 2024 / 12-1PM ET, 9-10AM PT
💻virtual
Shabbat is the heart of Jewish practice. Each week we are invited to enjoy a taste of the world to come – but how? Shabbat is built through a number of rituals that create the container carved into time. Together we will explore the rituals that create this container. We’ll understand their power and empower you to feel inspired and able to weave Shabbat into your lives.
This class is for people with any or no experience with Shabbat. Deepen your own individual relationship to the practice of sacred rest. Unlike other Torah Studio classes, classes will be full-group discussions centered around Bluth’s curated ritual guides. Each session will be one hour long, with time for schmoozing and questions after. Our goal is not for everyone’s observance to look the same–we want to nurture a Shabbat practice that works for you!
Join a community of learners seeking to deepen the joy of Jewish practice. Build the weekly rituals that nourish you. Sink into the liberatory pleasure of Shabbat! Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? lexi@thetorahstudio.orgevent
🆕Queer, Anti-Zionist Shabbat (Making Mensches)
📆April 5, 2024 / 6-9:30PM ET, 3-6:30PM PT
💻virtual (OR in-person in NYC)
Join Making Mensches for another queer, anti zionist shabbat dinner & ritual space! Learn more
For: Everyone, Queer & Trans Jews
Tags: 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? makingmensches@gmail.comevent
🆕Hineinu: Stories of Palestinian-led coresistance from Masafer Yatta (Center for Jewish Nonviolence & Vashti Media)
📆April 7, 2024 / 1PM ET, 10AM PT
💻virtual
CJNV and Vashti Media are hosting a virtual storytelling event that will feature members of CJNV's current Hineinu cohort — a group of six US Jewish activists who have been engaging in solidarity work alongside Palestinians in Masafer Yatta since February. They will be sharing from their own experiences witnessing settler-state violence and the ongoing Nakba. They will also share stories they have been collecting from the region of powerful local Palestinian-led civil resistance. We hope that one of our Palestinian partners will be also able to join us to speak, Ramadan depending. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: ✊Social Justice, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? clare@cjnv.orgworkshop / class
Creating with the Moon: Rosh Chodesh Nissan (Jewish Studio Project)
📆April 7, 2024 / 1-2:30PM ET, 10-11:30AM PT
💻virtual
Ground yourself in the power of the new moon! As the tiny crescent becomes visible in the night sky, Rosh Chodesh offers us an opportunity to refresh our dreams and desires. Together we’ll reweave ourselves into the cycle of Jewish time and nourish our creative spirit so that we might enter the month refreshed and renewed.
During this 90-minute, virtual session we’ll use the Jewish Studio Process, a unique methodology combining practices from the field of art therapy with a reimagined approach to Jewish learning, to cultivate our inherent creativity as a spiritual practice. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? info@jewishstudioproject.orgcourse
From Older to Elder (Wilderness Torah)
📆Applications due April 8 (hybrid), program starts August 2024
💻virtual OR hybrid with retreats in California
This is a program for people aged 64+ who want to explore their identity as elders and reflect on what to do with “this one precious life” during your next phase of life. We believe that there is a difference between being old or elderly, and being an elder—a role of continuing personal growth and service to one’s community. In this program, we hope to support you to find ways to fulfill your potential in this last stage of life. It is for people who identify as Jewish or are connected to Jewish life and want to participate in a program in a Jewish context. Learn more
For: Adults Age 64+
Tags: 🌿Nature, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? info@wildernesstorah.orgevent
Queer Yiddishist Shmueskrayz (Queer Yiddish Camp + Rad Yiddish)
📆April 8, 2024 / 7-8:30PM ET, 4-5:30PM PT
💻virtual
Queer Yiddishist Shmueskrayz is an informal conversation practice circle for 2SIAQTBLG+ & Questioning Yiddishists and Yiddish learners, with three self-selecting breakout rooms by Yiddish level (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced) and an English-speaking room in the main Zoom room. No Yiddish experience necessary!
It's a chance to build rad Yiddish community, learn how to speak about issues we care about in Yiddish, and co-create contemporary Yiddish culture while improving (and improvising) our Yiddish. Learn more
For: Queer & Trans Jews
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, Yiddish
🤔Questions? info@queeryiddish.campcourse
🆕Awareness in Action for the Omer (Institute for Jewish Spirituality)
📆starts April 10, 2024 / 3-4:15PM ET, 12-1:15PM PT
💻virtual
Why is it so often difficult to be the person to whom we aspire? Participants in this program will cultivate the practice of tikkun middot (“mending our qualities”) melding mindfulness with close attention to eight core middot, innate, spiritual/ethical soul traits.
This nine-week online course will be led by Rabbi Marc Margolius with each weekly live practice session co-led by one of three special guest teachers offering a diverse understanding of these middot and the practice: Rabbi Tamara Cohen, Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife, and Rabbi Aaron Weininger. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? support@jewishspirituality.orgcourse
Let Justice Well Up Torah Study Series for Jewish Women of Color (Erica Riddick and Mayyim Hayyim)
📆next one April 13, 2024 / 5-6:30PM ET, 2-3:30PM PT
💻virtual
This is for nonbinary & women Jews of Color. Let’s study together! Register for a justice-focused creative process text study experience with non-binary and women of color. We will look at Torah text alongside secular sources, tap into the Jewish Studio Process creative practice, and weave wisdom from our intersectional identities in ways that bring us to Torah and Torah to us. These interactive sessions approach text study with the belief that our lived experiences prepare us for study and we don’t need any special preparation. Each monthly session is designed for learners of all backgrounds and can be taken individually or as a series.
Session topics include:
• 4/10 Bilhah & Zilpah in Modern Times: Ancient Womanist Wisdom for Justice
• 5/8 Waters of Home
• 6/12 Listening: Creative Practice for Justice
• 7/3 Choose Your Own Adventure: Resource Sharing & Closing Siyum
Learn more
For: Jews Of Colour
Tags: 🥳Social, ✊Social Justice, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? danserica@gmail.comevent
International Symposium on Jewish Meditation (HaMakom)
📆April 14, 2024 / 9AM - 5:15PM ET, 6AM - 2:15PM PT
💻virtual
Teachers and academics from around the world, with a variety of different outlooks on Judaism, will come together online to discuss their shared interest in and love of Jewish meditation. There will be news, views, texts, dialogue and more, with opportunities for practice and reflection. You are warmly invited, regardless of your previous experiences of Judaism and meditation. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? roland@theenglishcantor.co.ukcourse
Omer Pulses (Nomy Lamm & Elana-June Margolis)
📆starts April 16, 2024 / 8-10PM ET, 5-7PM PT
💻virtual
Join us for Omer Pulses, a 9 week journey towards & through the Counting of the Omer in beloved queer/trans community. In this time of enormous shattering & unspeakable horror, we will invoke the mysterious pulsing potencies of the Omer to guide & hold us through the transformation required to meet this moment together, in service of our personal healing towards collective liberation. Learn more
For: Queer & Trans Jews
Tags: 📚Education, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? elana.june.margolis@gmail.comworkshop
LGBTQ+ Monthly Mindfulness Sit (Institute for Jewish Spirituality)
📆April 17, 2024 / 3-3:45PM ET, 12-12:45PM PT
💻virtual
Join Rabbi Myriam Klotz, IJS Senior Core Faculty, and guest leaders for a monthly Jewish mindfulness sit offered by and for those who identify as LGBTQ+. In this affinity group space, you can slow down, become more present, and practice mindfulness in community with others who identify as LGBTQ+. Guest leaders include: Rabbis Ari Lev Fornari, Ellen Lippmann, Jay Michaelson, Dev Noily, Toba Spitzer, Rachel Timoner, neySHEV leader Aviva Chernick, and Karen Erlichman, DMin, LCSW. The next sessions are on Apr 17, May 15, and Jun 12. Learn more
For: Queer & Trans Jews
Tags: 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? support@jewishspirituality.orgworkshop / class
🆕Have You Made Art About It Yet? Passover Edition with Rabbi Adina Allen (Jewish Studio Project & The Rising Tide Open Waters Mikveh Network)
📆April 18, 2024 / 12-1:30PM ET, 9-10:30AM PT
💻virtual
Explore the power of art making as a tool for personal and collective renewal! On Passover we gather together with family and friends to tell the story of the journey to freedom. Every year the themes of oppression and liberation resonate in new ways and the unsuppressable energy for renewal surfaces like the growth emerging from dormancy at the cusp of a new season. Using the Jewish Studio Process - a unique methodology combining practices from the field of art therapy with a reimagined approach to Jewish learning and spirituality - we’ll explore the narrow places we have been in and open to what expansiveness may be awaiting us on the other side. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? info@jewishstudioproject.orgcourse
🆕God Is Here: Reimagining the Divine (Institute for Jewish Spirituality)
📆starts April 18, 2024 / 1-2:15PM ET, 10-11:15AM PT
💻virtual
Many of us struggle with “God language” – finding words, images, and practices to help us articulate our deepest spiritual experiences, yearnings, and inner life. The very word “God” and the popular concept of the Divine as a “Big Powerful Person” can impede rather than support our spiritual growth and understanding.
Are you looking for new ways and authentic Jewish language which can more authentically express your own spirituality? Join Rabbi Toba Spitzer and the Institute for Jewish Spirituality for a powerful exploration of non-human metaphors for the Divine in Jewish tradition. Teachings will be taken from Rabbi Spitzer’s ground-breaking book God is Here: Reimagining the Divine, which explores in-depth the concept of God and new paths for welcoming the sacred into our lives. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? support@jewishspirituality.orgevent
🆕Miriam's Seder: A Passover Journey Through Water (Beit Kohenet)
📆April 24, 2024 / 7-9PM ET, 4-6PM PT
💻virtual
Tradition holds that Miriam’s waters nourish and heal. On the third night of Passover, you’re invited for a seder-esque journey through Miriam’s story, where we encounter the blessing of water and the wisdom of the prophetess, recalling the four stages of her life: the waiting by the Nile, the crossing of the Sea, the wandering in the wilderness, and the rising of the well. We’ll experience exercises for elemental connection and a few beautiful bodies of water will make a cameo. Join us for this creative third-night Passover online experience held via Zoom, honoring the week of Earth Day and featuring Rabbi Jill Hammer, Shoshana Jedwab, Kohenet Liviah Wessely, Kohenet Aliza Rivka, Kohenet Dr. Harriette E. Wimms, and more! Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🌿Nature, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? liviah@beitkohenet.orgcourse
🆕Creating with the Seasons: Omer Series with Rabbi Bec Richman (Jewish Studio Project)
📆starts April 25, 2024 / 8-9:30PM ET, 5-6:30PM PT
💻virtual
Join our seven-week creative spiritual journey through counting the Omer. This year, we will explore different elements of our relationship with the Earth as we move through each week of counting the Omer. As we move from liberation to revelation, we will together connect to the potency of this time in the Jewish calendar. Through our sessions, we will reconnect with the natural world around us, explore our relationship with the Divine, deepen our personal reflective practice, and open ourselves to receive wisdom anew.
During these weekly 90-minute, virtual sessions we’ll use the Jewish Studio Process, a unique methodology combining practices from the field of art therapy with a reimagined approach to Jewish learning, to cultivate our inherent creativity as a spiritual practice. This series will be facilitated by Rabbi Bec Richman. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 🌿Nature, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? info@jewishstudioproject.orgcourse
🆕Faces of Oppression; Faces of Liberation: Untangling the Intersections of Antisemitism, White Supremacy, and Transphobia (Boston Workers Circle)
📆starts April 29, 2024 / 7-8:30 PM ET, 4-5:30PM PT
💻virtual
In this four-part course, teachers Andy Izenson and Heron Greenesmith will expose the faces of oppression impacting our communities: particularly antisemitism, transphobia, and white supremacy. Participants will begin with using their existing understanding and analysis of systems of oppression to enter into an analysis of transphobia. The group will deepen its understanding of gender, power, and violence through lenses both somatic and deeply practical. Ranging from kabbalistic understandings of the gendered body to the landscape of anti-trans feminist activism, this class will bring together a variety of frameworks to paint a comprehensive picture of how our oppressions are interrelated and how our liberation must be as well. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, ✊Social Justice, Antisemitism
🤔Questions? info@circleboston.orgcourse
🆕Presence and Absence: Images of the Divine in Kabbalah (Jewish Studio Project)
📆starts May 7, 2024 / 12-2PM ET, 9-11AM PT
💻virtual
We live in a time of deep division and loneliness. The Zohar, the 13th- century Kabbalistic work, offers rich and beautiful images to speak to this separation, and equally powerful ways to imagine divine presence, healing, and connection. In this series we will delve into the multifaceted, dynamic Divine through the radical imagination of the Zohar. We’ll bring what we discover into our own creativity through the Jewish Studio Process, a faciliated, intuitive use of art materials and reflective writing. We’ll pay particular attention to the experience of the Shekhinah, the feminine, immanent, indwelling Sacred Presence.
This practice is appropriate for absolute beginners and experienced artists who would like to explore this imagery. The focus isn’t on creating a polished piece of artwork, but rather on deepening your own intuition, insight and voice. During this series, we will harvest the insights and images that have come onto the page in word and color to write new midrash and liturgy. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? info@jewishstudioproject.org🌎 retreats outside canada
retreat
Come to Know Liberation A Queer/Trans anti-Zionist Passover Retreat (Elana-June Margolis, Ayelet Hashachar, Shai Schnall & Rayna Grace)
📆April 25-28, 2024
📍USA > California > Ukaiah > Mariposa Institute
Beloveds! YOU are invited for a Queer/Trans anti-Zionist Passover retreat at the Mariposa Institute in glorious Ukaiah, California (unceded Northern Pomo territory). This 4-day / 3-night retreat will be an unprecedented opportunity for us to gather in beloved queer/trans community to encounter the potency of Passover as a vehicle moving us towards collective Liberation. Together, we will co-collectively weave a container for experiencing a Judaism released from Zionism - a potent spiritual and cultural vessel for hospicing out empire and midwifing in Olam ha Ba (the World that IS Coming).
This retreat is open to anyone who would like to experience the magical potency of Passover and Judaism beyond Zionism in a space facilitated by & centered around queer/trans anti-Zionist Jews. You do not need to identify as queer/trans, Jewish or anti-Zionist to attend. Learn more
For: Everyone, Queer & Trans Jews, Anti-Zionist Jews
Tags: 🥳Social, 🌚Holiday Observance, ✊Social Justice, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? elana.june.margolis@gmail.comLegacy Trip Alabama: Jewish Edition with Kohenet Dr. Harriette E Wimms (Legacy Trips)
📆May 3-5, 2024
📍USA > Alabama > Montgomery
Together, we will face the truth of America's history of anti-Black racial terror and violence, self reflect on the ways each of us have upheld and perpetuated white supremacy in our lives, and embrace our ability to affect change and dismantle racism, first within ourselves, and then in our families and communities. Our purpose is to listen to and learn from Black leadership, utilize antiracism tools and resources to strategize ways to do less harm, be better co-conspirators to BIPOC and develop ways to move forward with mindful action toward collective liberation. Learn more
For: Everyone, Black Jews
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, ✊Social Justiceretreat
🆕Shavuot at Isabella Freedman (Adamah)
📆June 11-14, 2024
📍USA > CT > Falls Village > Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center
Celebrate Shavuot in the beautiful foothills of the Berkshire Mountains. Join us for an inclusive celebration of revelation that includes delicious farm-to-table foods, all-night learning concluding with a sunrise hike to the top of the mountain, a pilgrimage parade featuring goats, fruits, and more. Our schedule is packed with activities for the whole family. Nourish your mind, body, and soul this Shavuot. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🥳Social, 🌿Nature, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? IFregistrar@adamah.orgretreat
🆕Shavuot at Pearlstone (Adamah)
📆June 11-14, 2024
📍USA > MD > Reisterstown > Pearlstone, 5425 Mt Gilead Rd
This annual immersive retreat is filled with inspiring Jewish learning, spirited singing, festive farm-to-table meals, and a pluralistic community building experience. Details regarding teachers and programming still to come. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, 🌿Nature, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? neshama.sonnenschein@adamah.orgretreat
Let My People Sing! Summer Retreat (Let My People Sing!)
📆July 11-14, 2024
📍USA > Connecticut > Falls Village > Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center
SAVE THE DATE! The summer retreat is coming back for another year at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, July 11-14th, mark your calendars! We can't wait to sing with you again ❤️
April 1, 11AM ET: Financial assistance applications open
May 6, 11AM ET: Public registration opens
Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🥳Social, 🎶Music
🤔Questions? info@letmypeoplesing.orgfestival
Yidstock: The Festival of New Yiddish Music (Yiddish Book Center)
📆July 11-14, 2024
📍USA > Massachusetts > Amherst > Yiddish Book Center
Yidstock is back! Now in its twelfth year, Yidstock brings the best in klezmer and new Yiddish music to the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts. This four-day festival will include musicians and performers at the forefront of the Yiddish music scene. In addition to seven concerts, the lineup also includes four workshops, ten talks, and one special film screening, all in celebration of Yiddish music, language, and culture. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🥳Social, 🎶Music, Yiddish
🤔Questions? info@yiddishbookcenter.orgretreat
We Are Family: JOCSM In-person Shabbaton (The Jews of Color Mishpacha Project)
📆July 12-14, 2024
📍USA > Maryland > Reisterstown > Pearlstone Retreat Center
SAVE THE DATE! You are cordially invited for a weekend of connection, rest and release! We welcome Jews who are People of Color, Sephardic, and Mizrahi of every age, gender, orientation and denomination, their families and allies. Come participate in JOC-led learning, prayer and ritual, spirited singing, to connect with nature — and of course to enjoy nourishing kosher farm-to-table meals. Programming is available for families with children, youth, and adults, including diverse prayer options and varied affinity spaces! Learn more
For: Jews Of Colour, Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, 🌿Nature, 🎶Music, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? JOCMishpacha@gmail.comretreat
🆕Ruach, Jewish anti-Zionist body-based healing group (Wendy Elisheva Somerson)
📆August 1-4, 2024
📍USA > Washington > Seattle > 8011 Fauntleroy Wy SW
Ruach means breath/spirit in Hebrew. Ruach is a Jewish body-based healing group for anti-Zionist Jews that Wes/Wendy has been running since 2021 in the Pacific Northwest.
In-person Ruach is a 4-day anti-Zionist Jewish healing group held in Seattle Washington. Learn somatic practices in the forest and by the water. Info session is on April 19th at 11am. Learn more
For: Adults, Jews Of Colour, Queer & Trans Jews, Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Ashkenazi Jews
Tags: 🌿Nature, ✊Social Justice, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? wsomerson@gmail.com📢 announcements
announcement / request
Call for Artists for the 9th Radical Jewish Calendar! (Radical Jewish Calendar)
📆due April 21, 2024
The call for artists for the 9th Radical Jewish Calendar is here! Organized by Jewish month, layering Jewish & Gregorian dates. Living in Jewish time, learning Jewish and radical movement history.
We are looking for 13 people or teams (no more than 3 people per team) to design the art for each month and the cover. Please note: this year we have a theme. Existing artworks are welcome! You are invited to submit art, collage, visually compelling text, that:
- Expresses solidarity with Palestine and the Palestinian people and lands
- Captures a moment in radical anti-zionist~Jewish history (expansive definitions of both)
- Captures a moment or a concept of doykeit/hereness/diasporism (a la Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz)
- Portrait of a person, teacher, elder, movement leader related to anti-zionism, Jewish leftism, and Palestinian solidarity
Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, ✊Social Justice, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? RadJCal@gmail.comweekly event
Estranged Family Support Group (Jamie Aster/PQDJ Archive)
📆Sundays / 7:30-9PM CT, 8:30-10PM ET, 5:30-7PM PT
💻virtual
a peer support group that supports anti-zionist jews who are experiencing family estrangement. while you don't need to be queer or disabled to participate, this is a space that centers these identities. Learn more
For: Adults, Queer & Trans Jews, Disabled Jews
Tags: ✨Wellness, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? pqdjarchive@gmail.comannouncement / request
ShpellCheck: The SpellCheck of the Radical Jewish Diaspora (Binya Kóatz and friends)
IF YOU WANT YOUR RADICAL JEWISH TATTOOS AND PROTEST BANNERS CHECKED FOR SPELLING ERRORS PLEASE EMAIL SHPELLCHECK@GMAIL.COM
You have an idea for a sick diasporic tat, but only know a few yiddish words. You wanna show up to a solidarity demo with Ladino on a sign, but only your great grandmother spoke it. If you have protest banners, tattoo designs, zine covers, or more that have Hebrew, Ladino, Yiddish (or other Jewish languages) on them, and you want some rad queers who speak these languages to check it out to make sure it's spelled right, conveys what you're trying to say, and sounds good, send it to shpellcheck@gmail.com
Share with all your friends and tattoo artists. FREE. WE JUST WANT TO SAVE THE LEFTY JEWISH WORLD FROM MORE MISSPELLED TATTOOS. Let ShpellCheck shpell check it first! Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 📚Education, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? shpellcheck@gmail.comdaily event
IJS Daily Online Meditation Sit (Institute for Jewish Spirituality)
📆Mondays – Fridays / 12:30-1PM ET, 9:30-10AM PT
💻virtual
Join one of our expert teachers as they lead a live daily guided meditation, sharing 30 minutes of Jewish mindfulness with people from around the world. Open to all, no experience needed. Learn more
For: Everyone, Adults
Tags: 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? support@jewishspirituality.organnouncement
Coalition of Jewish social workers & therapists for social justice! (Tikkun Olam)
Introducing Tikkun Olam -- a new coalition of Jewish social workers and therapists advocating for social justice and Palestinian liberation. Please share widely!
website: jewsfortikkunolam.com
Instagram: @jewsfortikkunolam
Facebook: facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556524277979
X / Twitter: @jews4tikkunolam
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, ✊Social Justice, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? jewishsocialworkersnotinmyname@gmail.comweekly class
IJS Online Jewish Yoga (Institute for Jewish Spirituality)
📆Mondays / 11-11:45AM ET, 8-8:45AM PT
💻virtual
Mindful body practices help us find shelter right where we are, in our bodies in this very moment. Yoga teacher and IJS faculty member Cantor Lizzie Shammash guides you in an all-levels yoga and movement session informed by Jewish spiritual teachings and designed to relieve stress as we increase awareness of breath and grounding through our bodies. Open to all, no experience needed. Learn more
For: Everyone, Adults
Tags: 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? support@jewishspirituality.orgyelling into a virtual megaphone 📣
while ringing a virtual bell 🔔
while unfurling a long parchment scroll 📜
— and sending love as i do it,
💖 vlada, AKA your shtetl crier