issue #015: a reckoning
how does this end?
earlier in may i went on a five-day canoe trip. i watched the northern lights swirl above me during havdalah, hummed aly halpert’s “modah ani” as i explored the forest, and thought about my Nature Jew evolution while paddling. i had no deodorant, phone, or connection to anything beyond our roving campsites in temagami. being away and off the grid really filled my cup.
cut to this past week. i can’t get the images and videos from rafah out of my mind. i feel hopeless and then annoyed at myself for feeling hopeless. i cry and remind myself that it means i have a heart. how will we reckon with this?
i keep returning to that thought: how will the jewish community reckon with this? a year from now, five years from now, two decades from now—what will we do about the fact that not a single one of our canadian synagogues (even the ones that boldly claim to value social justice!), and barely any of our canadian jewish institutions have so much as called for a ceasefire? will we find ways to excuse their silence, or will we turn away forever? these last eight months have been the line in the sand. there’s no going back. the jewish establishment loves hand-wringing about the “threat” of intermarriage and assimilation, but the real threat is coming from inside the house. in refusing to act from a place of humanity, these institutions and synagogues have abandoned us.
we are all we have, we create the alternatives we need, and we won’t abandon each other. i pray that one day we have institutions that reflect our values.
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
art exhibition
🆕Botannica Tirannica (Koffler Arts)
📆until October 20, 2024
📍Ontario > Toronto > 180 Shaw St.
Koffler Arts is proud to present Botannica Tirannica by award-winning Brazilian artist Giselle Beiguelman. The exhibition explores how common botanical names both mirror and perpetuate societal prejudices against racial, cultural, gender, and social groups. Beiguelman was inspired to create this exhibition after receiving a gift of a Tradescantia zebrina seedling, commonly called “Wandering Jew,” a name referencing the 13th-century myth that recurred in Nazi propaganda. This led Beiguelman to investigate the complex, interwoven histories of botany, taxonomy and colonialism that often result in discrimination against specific groups of people. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 📚Education
🤔Questions? admin@kofflerarts.orgevent
🆕Jewish& In The Market: A Tour Of Kensington’s Layered Stories (Jewish&)
📆June 2, 2024 / 10AM - 12PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > Kensington Market
Enter a world of pushcarts and pamphlets, bagels and bushel baskets, delicatessens and clothing outlets, when Kensington was home to a vibrant, bustling Jewish community and Spadina Avenue was its “cosmic spine.” Learn about when Kensington’s Jewish community connected with the broader city and gave way to new waves of immigrants and new countercultures. Learn more
For: Youth, Adults, Jews Of Colour, Queer & Trans Jews, Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Ashkenazi Jews
Tags: 📚Education, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? Laurens@mnjcc.org"event
🆕End of Year Picnic and New Member Mingle (UJPO/MWS)
📆June 2, 2024 / 11AM - 1PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > Trinity Bellwoods Park, south west corner
Join us for an in-person gathering where new members can meet and connect with families from our school, as well as staff from UJPO and MWS. This is a wonderful opportunity to get to know each other in a relaxed setting. Please bring your own blanket. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🥳Social
🤔Questions? ed@winchevskycentre.orgevent
🆕The Child You Deserve (Miles Nadal JCC)
📆June 2, 2024 / 7-9:15PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > MNJCC, 750 Spadina Ave.
2023 Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition Winner: "The Child You Deserve" by Julia Peterson, directed by Michael Scholar Jr.
It is 1957, and three generations of Jewish women are gathered around a Montreal apartment's kitchen table. Jenny, a secretary and "accidental activist," has big dreams for her daughter and a surprising second chance at love with her partner, Rivka. When Jenny's mother crashes into their lives the women have to confront their dreams, fears and responsibilities for their communities, the future and each other. The play serves as a sequel to A Man in the House by Elinore Siminovitch and was written by her granddaughter. Learn more
For: Adults, Queer & Trans Jews
Tags: Theatre
🤔Questions? deannad@mnjcc.orgevent
🆕Weekly Reading Club (Mazon Canada)
📆starts June 3, 2024 / 5-7PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > Bickford Park
Come to the (totally free) Mazon Summer Reading Club! Whether you’re curious or committed to Mazon Canada, this is a great low-barrier way to introduce yourself and hang out.
Come read in the park Mondays in June anytime between 5pm and 7pm, no commitment necessary! Bring your own book, or borrow one of dozens in Mazon’s food security library. We’ll share insights, ideas, and AHA! moments as we read, gathering under the willow tree in the Northeast corner of Bickford Park. At the beginning of each session, Mazon Canada will share a little bit about food insecurity, its root causes, how we can combat it together. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, ✊Social Justice, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? robbie@mazoncanada.caevent
🆕Summer Gathering in Difficult Times: A Conversation for Jewish Artists (FENTSTER)
📆June 3, 2024 / 7-9PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > FENTSTER, 402 College St.
During these painful months of violence and war, we continue to gather together as Jewish artists, producers, curators and other arts workers to process deep feelings of suffering, anger, fear, confusion, isolation and grief. These gatherings rose up in response to a shared the desire to connect with other Jews in the art world who are grappling with a similar set of challenges particular to these artistic communities. This will be our fourth meeting, newcomers are welcome.
We offer this gathering as a space to connect, to share our heartbreak and to explore tools for grounding and supporting ourselves in difficult times. Our time together will be centred around deep listening as well as grounding through song and mindfulness practice. It is our goal to counter isolation with connection, and to open towards hopefulness and healing.
This is a space for professional artists and arts workers who identify as Jewish. If space allows, Jewish lay leaders of arts organizations are also welcome. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 🥳Social, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? info@fentster.orgevent
🆕Downtown Tikkun Leil Shavuot - All Night Jewish Learning Festival (Miles Nadal JCC)
📆June 11-12, 2024 / starts 6:30 PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > 750 Spadina Avenue OR virtual
The downtown Jewish community’s renowned Tikkun Leil Shavuot is back for our 16th year! The Tikkun Leil Shavuot is an incredibly generous outpouring of love, ruach (spirit), and wisdom from many, many teachers in our community. There’s something for everyone at this year’s celebration – a night of community, study, snacking and more. Limited hybrid options will be available; cheesecake is only available in person! Free and open to all. Registration required. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🎶Music, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? Laurens@mnjcc.orgworkshop / class
🆕Restorative Creativity (Miles Nadal JCC)
📆June 15, 2024 / 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > 750 Spadina Avenue
Shabbat is a great time to slow down and get closer to the world around you, to engage your senses and your sense of wonder by observing and processing our experiences through mark- and art-making. Using the Jewish Studio Process, we’ll gather in textual inquiry and art-making, ground ourselves with restorative creativity, let our minds wander with materials in hand, and nourish ourselves with deep play. Learn more
For: Youth, Adults
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 📚Education, 🥳Social, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? Laurens@mnjcc.orgevent
🆕YVR Yenta Single Mingle (YVR Yenta)
📆June 20, 2024 / 6-8PM PT
📍British Columbia > Vancouver > 110 West 7th Avenue
YVR Yenta - your modern matchmaking collective, will be hosting our third single mingle event filled with fun, games and opportunities for meaningful discussion. We hope to facilitate community members meeting one another and connecting - maybe you will make some new friends or maybe someone special will catch your eye. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🥳Social
🤔Questions? madison.slobin@gmail.comevent
🆕Summer Sidewalk Party (FENTSTER)
📆June 23, 2024 / 3-5PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > FENTSTER, 402 College St.
Celebrate art, community and Pride month as FENTSTER's signature sidewalk party returns with yummy nibbles, art-making for all ages and live music from The Horables! Meet queer Jewish artist Meichen Waxer and view her new window gallery installation, I Will Relate to You, which mines her family’s experiences and archival treasures to explore the little known story of Jewish life in the far north of Ontario from the early 1900s to the postwar years.
PLUS, be the first to see a vibrant new mural adjacent to FENTSTER created by artist Talie Shalmon drawing upon eclectic decorative patterns found in synagogues around the world. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 🥳Social, 🎶Music
🤔Questions? info@fentster.orgretreat
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
event
🆕Building Relationships By Hearing Stories: Voices from Palestinian Canadian Elders (Reform Jews For Human Rights)
📆June 2, 2024 / 12-1:30PM ET, 9-10:30AM PT
💻virtual
Join us in a webinar to hear from a diversity of Palestinian Canadians, as they share their experiences of life and displacement from Palestine/Israel. We'll hear from Nawal Halawa, Rami Krildli, Lilian Patey and Subhi Qaawish.
This event is organized by and for people who identify as Jewish, to create a space for members of the Jewish community to engage with each other and reflect on the many narratives that make up Israel/Palestine. Learn more
For: Youth, Adults
Tags: 📚Education, ✊Social Justice, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? reform4humanrights@gmail.comworkshop / class
Creating with the Moon: Rosh Chodesh Sivan with Rabbi Bec Richman (Jewish Studio Project)
📆June 2, 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, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? cgoodwin@jewishstudioproject.orgcourse
🆕Considering God’s Body: The Divine Body & Jewish Historical Imagination (Hebrew College Open Circle Jewish Learning)
📆starts June 2, 2024 / 4-5:30PM ET, 1-2:30PM PT
💻virtual
This course explores Jewish conceptions of the divine body. Does God have a body, multiple bodies, or no body at all? What could, or does, the divine body look like? What are foundational beliefs – and contradictions – in Jewish understandings of the divine body? What can we take with us into our own spiritual practice – and our understanding of our own bodies?
In this course, we will look at these questions across the prism of ancient, medieval, and contemporary Jewish thought. In addition to ancient and rabbinic texts, we will draw on philosophical texts, modern literature and poetry, visual art & media, and contemporary cultural critique. As a cohort, we will experiment with visualization, speculation, and experimentation in our own spiritual practice. Learn more
For: Youth, Adults
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 📚Education, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? sara.klugman@hebrewcollege.eduworkshop / class
🆕A Queer Nigun Project Iyyar Circle (A Queer Nigun Project)
📆June 2, 2024 / 8-9PM ET, 5-6PM PT
💻virtual
Join us for A Queer Nigun Project's Iyyar Circle, moving through the introspective Omer period and through the healing month of Iyyar in sweet melody and in community. This circle will be led by Rakhel Silverman-Gitin and Sy Silverman-Gitin. Learn more
For: Queer & Trans Jews
Tags: 🌚Holiday Observance, 🎶Music, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellnessworkshop / class
🆕Shavuot Class (Wilderness Torah)
📆June 4, 2024 / 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM pacific
💻virtual
Shavuot is our annual, early summer B’Mitzvah! We explore the intertwining themes of honoring First Fruits, receiving Torah, and coming of age in the wilderness. Come ready for revelation and the ultimate rite of passage! Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 📚Education, 🌿Nature, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? halley@wildernesstorah.orgevent
🆕Evening of Gratitude: The Value of Jewish Mindfulness (Institute for Jewish Spirituality)
📆June 4, 2024 / 8-9PM ET, 5-6PM PT
💻virtual
Writers Rodger Kamenetz, Rabbi Dr. Jay Michaelson, and Jane Eisner will reflect on the three decades since the publication of Rodger Kamenetz's seminal book, The Jew in the Lotus, how IJS has grown and changed in this time, and the role of Jewish mindfulness in the world today.
The evening includes spiritual practice with Rebecca Schisler, a musical performance by Rabbi Deborah Sacks Mintz, and opportunities for you, the IJS community, to share the people and things for which you are grateful. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? support@jewishspirituality.orgevent
🆕What Do I Do With All This Heritage? (The LUNAR Collective & The Braid)
📆June 6 & 9, 2024 / 7PM ET, 4PM PT
💻virtual OR virtual
What Do I Do with All This Heritage? dives into our multicultural Jewish future with witty, insightful, and heartbreaking true stories in the first-ever theatre show about the lives of Asian American Jews. Featuring their own words performed by professional actors, you’ll be entranced by the story of a Vietnamese teenager struggling to reconcile her Orthodox Jewish tradition with her secret love of dancing to K-Pop. An adoptee from Korea, raised by an American Jewish family, returns to discover his birth-family in a surprising and unforgettable tale. A Chinese American Jew by Choice lays bare her anguish that at this stage in her life, she’ll never get to raise a Jewish child. Plus many more fascinating and joyful stories! Broadway World raves this show “speak[s] to everyone who’s ever struggled to balance different sides of their identity.” Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: Theatre, Identity
🤔Questions? hello@weareasianjews.orgevent
🆕ShavuotLIVE: a 24-hour Festival of Jewish Learning (Judaism Unbound)
📆June 8, 2024 at 5PM ET, 2PM PT - June 9, 2024 at 5PM ET, 2PM PT
💻virtual
Shavuot is a Jewish holiday that many have never observed before. But we think it's a great one! One of its traditions has been staying up all night, learning in community with others. But we're greedy. We don’t just want all-night... we want all-night AND all-day! So we offer an event called ShavuotLIVE, which creates a marathon of 24 straight hours of learning, for FREE, available anywhere on the planet with internet access. Over the course of its first three years, ShavuotLIVE has reached over 3,000 participants, all around the world!
We’ve invited an incredible slate of presenters, who will collectively teach for 24 straight hours. You can come for just 1 session, go to 3 or 4, or shoot for 24 in a row! Whatever works for you, we want your Shavuot to be special, and full of learning! Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🌚Holiday Observance, ✊Social Justice, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? lex@judaismunbound.comworkshop / class
🆕Source Sheet Workshop (The Torah Studio)
📆June 10, 2024 / 8-9:30PM ET, 5-6:30PM PT
💻virtual
Shavuot is an incredible opportunity for new teachers to get up in front of their communities and share their Torah. There are lots of reasons that can be scary, and one of them is just having something to hand out!
Torah Studio founder & director Liana Wertman has a masters in education and is ready to share all her tips and tricks for building the best possible source sheets! Join this live workshop with us for a presentation, Q&As, and supervised practice. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🌚Holiday Observance
🤔Questions? liana@thetorahstudio.orgworkshop / class
🆕Global Shavuot Teach-In: The Torah of Freedom for All (Rabbis For Ceasefire)
📆June 11-12, 2024 / starts 3AM ET, 12AM PT
💻virtual
We are excited to study, teach, and learn with you! It is traditional on Shavuot to stay up all night learning as a form of sacred repair. This year we will come together across continents as Jews to study the Torah (broadly defined) of freedom for all.
All are welcome to come together for 28 hours of study, community building, skill sharing, song, prayer, art and more. No prior Torah study experience required!
You can also sign up to lead a session! We imagine this Teach-In to be as wide ranging as Jews are. We are eager for sessions that are varied: short films and discussions, traditional Jewish text studies, skill shares, song shares, history lessons, political discussions, art making workshops and beyond! Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🌚Holiday Observance, ✊Social Justice, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestineevent
🆕Shavuot for Dezionization (Cultural Dezionization Front)
📆June 11, 2024 / 8:30-11:30PM ET, 5:30-8:30PM PT
💻virtual
The Cultural Dezionization Front, a new group fighting against Zionism, is excited for you to join us for a truncated Shavuot as we read, learn, talk, and work towards dezionization, the dismantling of the settler Zionist state! You're welcome to come for as much as you can, and to stay as long as you like. We'll send out info about readings by Tuesday, June 4. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🌚Holiday Observance, ✊Social Justice, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? jacob.friedman@riseup.networkshop / class
🆕Have You Made Art About It Yet? Shavuot Edition (Jewish Studio Project)
📆June 13, 2024 / 12-1:30PM ET, 9-10:30AM PT
💻virtual
On Shavuot we open ourselves to new ideas, images and insights as we prepare to receive Torah anew. Tradition teaches that the giving of Torah was not a one-time occurrence, but rather is an ongoing act that happens anew in each generation. 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 ready ourselves for the radical renewal of revelation. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 📚Education, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? cgoodwin@jewishstudioproject.orgevent
🆕Making Mensches Pride Shabbat (Making Mensches)
📆June 14, 2024 / 6:30-9:30PM ET, 3:30-6:30PM PT
💻virtual (or in NYC)
🍉 QUEER AS IN FREE PALESTINE ❤️🔥
Join us and other queer, anti-Zionist Jews (and non Jews!) for shabbat! This is a space for our community to grieve and gather energy to continue demanding an end to genocide. Come together with us to observe shabbos with a potluck meal, ritual prayers & songs, and community.
🍉 Hybrid: In-person NYC option & zoom option
🍉 RSVP for address / zoom link
❤️🔥 Interested in giving a dvar at shabbat? DM US
Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? makingmensches@gmail.comcourse
🆕SVARA's Summer Zman Courses! (SVARA)
📆starts June 17, 2024
💻virtual
Summer Zman kicks off with online offerings on June 17th through July 9th. We can’t WAIT to get back to the bet midrash! Course offerings include:
- Alef-Bet Basics
- Conjugation for Liberation
- Midrash and the Genesis of Svara
- Understanding Rabbinic Innovation: Five Sources of Law
- Unpacking the Teshuva Writer’s Toolbox
Learn more
For: Adults, Queer & Trans Jews
Tags: 📚Education, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions?workshop / class
🆕Yiddish Neopronouns Workshop (Rad Yiddish & Queer Yiddish Camp)
📆June 20, 2024 / 7:30-9PM ET, 4:30-6PM PT
💻virtual
We will start with a crash course on how various nonbinary pronouns are currently used grammatically in Yiddish. Then, you'll get to workshop your own Yiddish pronouns, including translating your English (or other language) neopronouns into Yiddish! You can try them out with the group, and get (entirely-optional) feedback and suggestions on your new pronouns.
CART and ASL will be available. This workshop is open to everyone while centering trans, nonbinary and gender-queer folks. Learn more
For: Everyone, Queer & Trans Jews
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, Yiddish, Language
🤔Questions? hello@radyiddish.orgcourse
🆕Hebrew TTRPG Beta Test (Lexi Kohanski)
📆starts June 23, 2024 / 1-4:30PM ET, 10AM - 1:30PM PT
💻virtual
Worlds To Come is an immersive TTRPG experience for learning Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew. Inspired by the high fantasy magic of Dungeons & Dragons and the collaborative liberatory storytelling of games like Dream Apart, Worlds To Come lets you harness the language of Torah and Talmud to imagine what it looks like to fight for a better world.
Play as a group of spellcasters traveling Roman-occupied Judea/Palestine after the destruction of the Second Temple. Meet the peoples of the Land and help them as they reel from war and exile. Fulfill merit-generating mitzvahs, face the demonic consequences of sins, and use your newfound Hebrew knowledge to cast spells that will reshape your broken world. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, ✊Social Justice, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? lexi@thetorahstudio.orgworkshop / class
🆕Jewish Witch Circle (Temple of the Stranger & Beit Kohenet)
📆June 23, 2024 / 3:45-5PM ET, 12:45-2PM PT
💻virtual
Join Rabbi Jericho Vincent of Temple of the Stranger and Kohenet Or Har-Gil for this monthly circle, to explore the legacy, gifts, and practices of Jewish witches.
This month, we’ll be exploring Moon Magic! Welcoming folks of all genders & backgrounds. Learn more
For: Everyone, Adults
Tags: 📚Education, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? Or.hargil@gmail.comcourse
🆕Shema: The Practice of Sacred Listening (Institute for Jewish Spirituality)
📆starts June 24, 2024 / 7-8:30PM ET, 4-5:30PM PT
💻virtual
Shema: The Practice of Sacred Listening is a five-week program designed to help you be more fully present and less reactive in conversation, especially when challenging emotions, differing values, or judgments arise. Shema, meaning “hear” in Hebrew, will help you listen deeply, with sacred awareness to both yourself and others. You can strengthen your ability to listen for the interconnection you share with all beings, a unity which often lies quietly beneath the louder voices of separation, judgment, and fear. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? support@jewishspirituality.orgcourse
🆕Leyning with Heart (Kohenet Avra Shapiro)
📆starts June 25, 2024 / 7-8:30PM ET, 4-5:30PM PT
💻virtual
In this 10-week class, we will create a fun, dynamic, and supportive container for participants to learn and practice leyning, or chanting from the Torah (leyn means “read” in Yiddish) in the traditional Ashkenazi forms. Through various activities and games, students will learn everything from the most common to the most unusual Torah trope (musical notation system). We will root in the “what it is we’re doing here.” What were our ancestors doing in creating this notation system? What are we doing today? And why does it matter? Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🎶Music, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? avrafshapiro@gmail.comcourse
🆕Shirat HaGuf: Body Songs (Mishkan B'Midbar)
📆starts June 25, 2024 / 8-9:30PM ET, 5-6:30PM PT
💻virtual
Join Jewish Somatic Practitioners Amber and Ore of Mishkan B'Midbar in a 6 part series that engages core Jewish prayer through layers of experience from literal, embodied and mystical. We will draw from ancient teachings and dive into the realm of song, movement, breath work, and guided meditation. We will explore Hebrew letters and co-create ritual space through our learnings.
Great for folks who are reconnecting to core prayers, and also for those totally familiar but who are wanting more embodiment and exploration of the esoteric. Learn more
💸Discount: Mention Shtetl Crier in an email for 10 percent off!
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, 🌿Nature, ✊Social Justice, 🎶Music, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? willowandalder@gmail.comcourse
🆕Threading Stones: An Elul Tradition (Ritualwell)
📆starts July 2, 2024 / 2-3:30PM ET, 11AM-12:30PM PT
💻virtual
Prepare yourself for Elul and the High Holy Days by learning an ancient tradition, rarely taught by those who have practice in this tradition. For generations, Jewish women in Eastern Europe utilized threads to measure cemeteries and graves. These threads were used to create special soul candles known as neshome likht, or sometimes as protective bands worn on wrists, ankles, or necks. Typically overseen by skilled women called feldmesterins, activities such as feldmestn (cemetery measuring) and kneytlekh leygn (laying wicks) were most prevalent during Elul to prepare soul candles for Yom Kippur.
In this Ritualwell Immersion program, you will be guided on how to carry out these rituals based on translated Yiddish ethnographic studies and memoirs. The session will include teaching Yiddish songs, reciting tkhines (Yiddish prayers), and reading poems, some of which are focused on this ritual. Delving into the history of this tradition will shed light on how cemeteries were perceived in shtetl society, serving as a means to communicate with the deceased and seek their assistance. At the end of this Immersion, you will be able to host a cemetery measuring event in Elul or any other time of the year. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🎶Music, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, Yiddishevent
🆕Queer Yiddishist Shmueskrayz (Rad Yiddish & Queer Yiddish Camp)
📆July 9, 2024 / 7:30-9PM ET, 4:30-6PM PT
💻virtual
Queer Yiddishist Shmueskrayz (conversation practice) is 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.
With 4 spaces to choose between - Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and English-only, Queer Yiddishist Shmueskrayz is accessible to Yiddish speakers of all levels from zero Yiddish to totally fluent! Learn more
For: Queer & Trans Jews, Queer & Trans Non-Jews
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, Yiddish, Language
🤔Questions? hello@radyiddish.orgworkshop / class
🆕Have You Made Art About It Yet? Post-Revelation Edition with Rabbi Adina Allen (Jewish Studio Project)
📆July 11, 2024 / 12-1:30PM ET, 9-10:30AM PT
💻virtual
On Shavuot we opened ourselves to receive new insights and images. What came to us and through us? How can these revelations help guide, support and sustain us, both personally and collectively? 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 revel in revelation’s gifts and begin to integrate this newfound wisdom into our lives. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 🌿Nature, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? cgoodwin@jewishstudioproject.orgcourse
🆕From Older to Elder: Exploring Jewish Identity as Elders (Wilderness Torah)
📆starts August 4, 2024 / 7-9PM ET, 4-6PM PT
💻virtual
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 — with a Jewish lens. 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 and the earth.
The program is 6 months, includes peer groups, nature wanders and classes with Rabbis Tirzah Firestone, Jill Hammer, Saraleya Schley and Zelig Golden, and integrates teachings from Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, “From Age-ing to Sage-ing.” Registration open until July 1. Learn more
For: Adults Age 64+
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, 🌿Nature, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? elliesch@gmail.com🌎 retreats outside canada
retreat
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
Camp Isabella Freedman (50+) (Adamah)
📆June 28-July 7, 2024
📍USA > CT > Falls Village > Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center
SUMMER-FILLED FUN, GEARED TOWARDS ADULTS 50 AND OLDER. Re-experience the delight of summer camp; spend time boating on our lake, swimming in the pool, exploring our nature trails or attending classes. We’ll have arts and crafts, dance and movement, memorable films, talent shows, campfires and lakeside happy hours.
Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center has been offering annual summer camp experiences for adults since 1956. We are honored to continue this tradition for adults by providing you with a warm and welcoming atmosphere for one of the best summer vacations you’ll ever have. Learn more
For: Adults 50+
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 🥳Social, 🌿Nature
🤔Questions? IFregistrar@adamah.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
🆕Shel Maala comes to Sadeh - Shabbat, Seudah && Study (Shel Maala)
📆July 26-28, 2024
📍England > Kent > Orpington > Sadeh Farm
Shel Maala, your favorite online queer Yeshiva, is coming DOWN FROM THE CLOUD just outside of *LONDON ENGLAND*, at Sadeh Farm to offer a weekend of Shabbes, Seudahs (feasts) and shtark Talmud learning in Europe for our first time ever.
Rosh Yeshivas Xava and Binya will be flying into Heathrow to lead a full weekend of rad Jewish farm goodness:
- Friday Night Kabbalat Shabbat & Dinner
- Shabbat Day - Three meals, Torah Study and Havdallah
- Sunday Full Day of Badass Talmud Learning
Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: ✊Social Justice, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? shelmaalayeshiva@gmail.comretreat
Torah Yoga (Adamah)
📆July 29-August 4, 2024
📍USA > CT > Falls Village > Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Cente
A TORAH YOGA RETREAT INTO OUR SPIRITUAL NATURES. We will immerse into the 5 elements around us and within us through the eyes of our Jewish sages and yoga practices. Each day we will draw from Torah Yoga teachings and the beautiful nature around us. Registration opens soon!
Come away with us this summer to a beautiful setting in the southern Berkshire mountains! This experience is for anybody looking to join an uplifting and relaxing Jewish-inspired spiritual retreat. No previous yoga practice or Torah study is necessary to participate, all are welcome! Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 🥳Social, 🌿Nature, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? IFregistrar@adamah.orgretreat
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. Applications due June 30th. 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.comretreat
🆕Being with What Is: A Silent Jewish Mindfulness Retreat for Young Adults (Institute for Jewish Spirituality)
📆August 13-18, 2024
📍USA > Connecticut > Litchfield > Wisdom House Retreat Center
Falling between the Jewish holidays of Tisha B’av, a day of mourning, and Tu B’av, a day of celebrating love, our retreat is a sacred space to open our hearts to grief, love, and everything in between. This program invites participants to slow down, connect with themselves and others, and drop into what matters most amidst the challenges of daily life and the ongoing difficulties we have been facing in the wake of the tumultuous events of this past year.
This retreat will be held mostly in social silence. All folks in their 20’s and 30’s are welcome. No experience with mindfulness and/or Judaism is necessary; this retreat is open to beginner and advanced practitioners alike. Learn more
For: Young Adults in Their 20s & 30s
Tags: 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness, Meditation
🤔Questions? rebecca@jewishspirituality.orgretreat
Family Farm Camp (Adamah)
📆August 14-18, 2024
📍USA > MD > Reisterstown > Pearlstone Campus
RETREAT, FARM, LEARN AND CELEBRATE AT FAMILY FARM CAMP! Family Farm Camp brings together families for an immersive experience of learning, playing, celebrating and community building.
Earth-based Jewish wisdom is woven into campfire songs and storytelling, wild edible walks and brachot (blessings), high adventure ropes course & team building games, night hikes, and of course a vibrant and joyous Shabbat celebration! Our schedule includes a drop-off camp component, activities for the whole family, and programming at night once kids are in bed. Learn more
For: Families
Tags: 🥳Social, 🌿Nature
🤔Questions? alustig@pearlstonecenter.orgretreat
Cultivating Culture: A Gathering of Jewish Farmers (Jewish Farmer Network)
📆December 12-15, 2024
📍USA > CT > Falls Village > Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center
It's been four years since our last gathering and we can't wait to see you! Cultivating Culture will convene 120 Jewish farmers for a weekend of learning and community building. The kitchen and dining room are glatt kosher under supervision of the Hartford Kashrut Commission.
Our schedule will highlight the many facets of Jewish agricultural wisdom, uplift the diverse stories of Jewish farmers past and present and leave room for lots of structured and unstructured shmoozing (socializing). Past session topics have included ancestral livestock ethics, Jewish food justice, the Torah of trees, and Jewish farm economics. Learn more
For: Jewish Farmers
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, 🌿Nature
🤔Questions? liel@jewishfarmernetwork.org📢 announcements
announcement
Jewish Bloc for Palestine Anti-Zionist Shabbos Siddur (London's Jewish Bloc)
This siddur was originally made for the London Jewish Bloc’s big shabbos meals, which bring together UK Jews fighting for Palestinian liberation, from the river to the sea. After many requests, we’re making physical copies and the PDF available for everyone 🤍
It’s a collection of prayers, poems, songs, prose, illustrations, images & more from various artists & archives. Pay what you can ~ 100% of proceeds go to eSims for Gaza 🇵🇸 Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🌚Holiday Observance, ✊Social Justice, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? zissel.aronow@gmail.comannouncement
Buttons and stickers to replant Palestinian olive trees
I created buttons, stickers, and a lotion to support Palestinian farmers through the replanting of olive trees in Palestine. Monies are sent through Zatoun's Trees for Life program, and you may support these efforts directly. Buttons and stickers cost a sliding scale of $2-$5 each. Please add $2 for postage within Canada, or pick up at Bloor and Dovercourt in Toronto. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🌿Nature, ✊Social Justice, ✨Wellness, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? AnarresHealth@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.comyelling 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