hi sweet community,
this month’s issue is filled to the brim with juicy, creative, critical, and deep offerings. we’re entering elul—a month of preparation—and we’re blessed with so many resources to help us prepare and be together. as we near the high holidays, i particularly want to draw attention to Rabbis for Ceasefire’s open congregations directory (in the announcements section below), which is a compilation of ceasefire high holiday offerings all around the world. with the high holidays sandwiching the one year anniversary of oct 7th this year, i imagine many of us are desperate to find values-aligned services, and that directory can help.
there are a few special things about this issue: first off, it marks one full year of the 🧿SHTETL CRIER (!!!). it’s also the ✨18th✨ issue, which feels appropriate. and i’ve made the decision that this issue will be the last, at least for now. it’s a natural ending; one full year, 18 issues—kind of fitting, no?
when i started this newsletter, i was (very happily) unemployed and enjoying the spaciousness and capacity i had to take on and dream up new projects. this newsletter was one such project. i wanted our community’s beautiful and vast offerings to live in one, consolidated place for easy browsing. oct 7th happened in between the first and second issues, and suddenly this little project became way harder (and heavier, more necessary) than i had ever imagined. it’s been a real privilege to source and compile these offerings, and it’s helped me navigate my own grief and rage and confusion.
i wish i could keep this going. i started working full-time again this summer, and i’ve been struggling to balance work with everything else in my life. this project takes up too much time for me to continue. i tried my best and put a lot of work in. thank you for trusting me 💛
i want to thank everyone who submitted events, shared this newsletter with friends and networks, supported me financially, and/or helped me brainstorm ways to make this more sustainable. thank you to everyone who coordinates, facilitates, and promotes beautiful events, retreats, and workshops that make their way into this newsletter. and lastly, thank you to all the subscribers for opens/clicks and kind words. it’s all meant so much, and has been a constant reminder to me of how expansive our community is.
sending love and care always,
standing in solidarity with you all,
and packing up my virtual megaphone for now,
💖 vlada, AKA your shtetl crier
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
🇨🇦 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.orgfestival
Ashkenaz Festival 2024 (Ashkenaz)
📆until September 2, 2024
📍Ontario > Toronto > Harbourfront Centre
The 14th live edition of the Ashkenaz Festival will take place August 27 to September 2, 2024, at multiple venues across Toronto. The Festival will once again celebrate Jewish musical and artistic creativity from across the globe, spotlighting diverse musical expressions of the Jewish experience, with everything from klezmer and Yiddish styles to Sephardic, Mizrachi, and Falasha music, and much more. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🥳Social, 🎶Music
🤔Questions? info@ashkenaz.caevent
🆕Elul Shabbat (Renewal Shabbat & Annex Shul)
📆September 6, 2024 / 6:45-9:45 PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > Friends House, 60 Lowther Ave
Elul is known as a month of spiritual potency. This Elul, join us for another edition of Renewal Shabbat in Toronto led by Aaron Rotenberg and Michael Morgenthau.
What is a renewal-style shabbat? This shabbat service will not be strictly-traditional. Instead we will engage with tradition in creative ways, focused on tapping in to our collective ruach (spirit). Expect a circle of friends, age-old prayers (tefillot), wordless songs (niggunim), and live instrument(s). This is a participatory experience where each attendee is a co-creator. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? mmorgenthau@hotmail.comworkshop / class
🆕The Places Before You: A Writing Workshop and Exhibition Tour (Museum of Jewish Montreal)
📆September 10, 2024 / 7-9PM ET
📍Quebec > Montreal > Musée du Montréal juif - Museum of Jewish Montreal, 5220 Boul. Saint-Laurent
How does a place become more meaningful once it’s left behind?
How do we make sense of memories that are not entirely our own?
Rooted in notions of place, identity, and the diaspora, this interactive writing workshop will explore overlapping topics found in our ongoing exhibition The Past Is Before You by Arnie Lipsey and Doikayt, On Being Here and Loving It, a zine produced by Karl Ponthieux Stern. Meaning “hereness” or “diasporism,” the Yiddish term doikayt refers to how Jewish communities may be strengthened wherever they are. Facilitated by the Museum’s curatorial team and by Karl, this guided workshop will consist of a guided exhibition tour, followed by several structured writing exercises from Karl’s zine. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, Writing
🤔Questions? taryn@imjm.caevent
🆕On The Jewish History of Garlic (Koffler Arts, Shoresh)
📆September 12, 2024 / 6-8PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > 180 Shaw Street
Learn about Jewish herbal and culinary traditions and folklore with Shoresh and Koffler Arts. As a form of Jewish nature connection, Shoresh tends a garlic patch at Bela Farm, where participants plant, harvest, bundle, and cure organic garlic bulbs. During this program, Tiferet Nashman, Executive Director, will share more about Jewish herbal and culinary traditions and folklore involving garlic.
Shoresh will also have a Pop-up Shop selling sustainable products that are gifts from the earth, including raw honey, beeswax Shabbat, Havdalah, and Chanukah candles, and more! Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 📚Education, 🌿Nature, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? info@shoresh.caevent
🆕Crafting Kavanot (OneTable)
📆September 13, 2024 / 6:30-9:30PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > Peach Berserk, 1694 Queen St W
On Friday September 13, you’re invited to tap out of your screens, and tap into creativity for a night of Jewish joy and ritual, hosted by OneTable. Guided by established custom (kevah) in one hand, and personal intention (kavanah; pl. kavanot) in the other, we’ll be decorating and dedicating our own personal protective amulets to mark our gathering spaces as sites of welcome and elevation. We’ll also be drawing inspiration from Jewish folk traditions of golems as we consider how the mezuzah functions simultaneously as an entryway to community and a protective barrier against negativity. Learn more
💸Discount code: SHTETL
For: Young Adults (21-39ish)
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 📚Education, 🥳Social, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? simon@onetable.orgcourse
🆕Shule Registration (Morris Winchevsky Schools)
📆starts September 15, 2024 / 10AM - 12PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > 918 Bathurst Street
The MWS is Toronto’s secular Jewish Shule, focused on social justice. Offering a range of programs for pre-school all the way to B’Mitzvah groups, our Shule focuses on experiential education, immersing our students in an environment where they get to learn, play, and experiment with secular Jewishness and social justice practices. Learn more
For: Kids, Youth
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 📚Education, 🥳Social, 🌿Nature, 🌚Holiday Observance, ✊Social Justice, 🎶Music, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? ed@winchevskycentre.orgretreat
🆕Leather Working Shabbaton (Tamar Goldberg, Moishe House Peer Led Retreats, The Herd's Throne, Shoresh)
📆September 18-22, 2024
📍Ontario > Ottawa Valley > Wilno
Join us for a leather workshop, Jewish learning, and camping, culminating in an outdoor Shabbat celebration! Get ready to use your hands in a new way and delve into embodied Earth-based Jewish rituals. Learn more
For: Adults, All Types Of Earthy Jews
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 📚Education, 🌿Nature, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? tamarmgoldberg@gmail.comevent
🆕Resilience & Queer Narratives at the THM (LGBTQ+ at the J; The Toronto Holocaust Museum)
📆September 18, 2024 / 7-9PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > 4588 Bathurst St.
Join the Toronto Holocaust Museum and LGBTQ+ at the J to explore stories of resistance and queer experiences during the Holocaust. The evening includes an opportunity to process your thoughts through creative expression, reflections on resilience, and understanding how these stories shape our sense of identity and hope. Learn more
For: Everyone, Queer & Trans Jews
Tags: 📚Education, Holocaust
🤔Questions? emunahw@mnjcc.orgevent
🆕Yiddish Concert and Café featuring Theresa Tova and David Warrack (Miles Nadal JCC)
📆September 19, 2024 / 1:30-4:30PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > 750 Spadina Ave
Join us in the Al Green Theatre for an afternoon of music and Mameloshn at our Yiddish Concert and Café, co-presented by the Miles Nadal JCC and UJA Committee for Yiddish! An homage to the great European Yiddish coffee houses, this in-person concert features Canada's reigning diva of Yiddish song Theresa Tova and award-winning musician David Warrack. Sweet treats will be served.
Concert: 1:30-3:30pm
Reception: 3:30-4:30pm
Learn more
For: Everyone, Adults
Tags: 🥳Social, 🎶Music, Yiddish
🤔Questions? lisar@mnjcc.orgworkshop / class
🆕Restorative Creativity (Miles Nadal JCC)
📆September 21, 2024 / 2-4PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > 750 Spadina Ave
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
🆕Threads of Spadina: Our Interwoven Stories (Miles Nadal JCC)
📆September 22, 2024 / 10AM - 12PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto
Let’s pull back Spadina’s rich tapestry, revealing a world of seamstresses and sweatshops, tinkers and tailors, pushcarts and pamphlets, bagels and bushel baskets. Step back in time to when this neighborhood was the vibrant heart of a bustling Jewish community, with Spadina Avenue serving as its “cosmic spine.” As we walk through history, we’ll recapture the essence of what novelist Matt Cohen described as “an infinity of delectable possibilities, an adolescent theme park throbbing with folk music… protest marches, idealists of all ages.” Discover how Spadina's Jewish community wove itself into the broader fabric of the city, paving the way for new waves of immigrants and emerging countercultures. Learn more
For: Youth, Adults
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social
🤔Questions? LaurenS@mnjcc.orgworkshop / class
🆕Soul Candles (LGBTQ+ at the J)
📆September 25, 2024 / 6-8PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > 750 Spadina Ave.
Facilitated by artist Sof Kreidstein, this creative workshop is focused on the old Ashkenazi custom of making soul candles out of beeswax. This centuries-old practice, called feldmestn (Yiddish) was carried out by women in Eastern Europe who would measure the graves of their ancestors with wick thread, making candles as a connective channel between the dead and the living. Learn more
For: Everyone, Queer & Trans Jews
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 📚Education, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? emunahw@mnjcc.orgevent
🆕Bakers and Butchers: A Jewish Tour of Kensington Across Time (Mazon Canada)
📆September 25, 2024 / 7-9PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > Kensington Market
Take a time-traveling walk with Mazon through Kensington Market, exploring the past, present, and future food systems of the working class and linking the struggles of last century's immigrant Jewish community to the struggles of the working class, poor, and newcomers of today. How did homes become storefront businesses? How did bakers unite and unionize? From meat strikes to the regulation of kosher slaughter, from the carp in your bathtub to the sticky pickle juice underfoot, we'll explore the economic and cultural history of Kensington's Jewish foodways and learn about Mazon's work with food security, in today's multicultural market. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, ✊Social Justice, Food, History
🤔Questions? community@mazoncanada.cafilm screening
🆕Letter to My Tribe + Panel (Toronto Palestine Film Festival)
📆September 28, 2024 / 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King St W OR virtual
Letter to My Tribe started with a question: Why don’t more Jews and Israelis speak out about Palestine? Over many years my mother, who represents a more messianic perspective, and I have had numerous arguments, some recorded, some not. These form the backbone of this video essay in which Israelis and Jews, journalists, activists and a rabbi are interviewed, and in which documentation of actions on the ground, in the West Bank, are woven with more personal family histories and journeys to Iraq and to Poland. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: ✊Social Justice, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestineworkshop / class
🆕Families at the J: Rosh Hashanah Holiday Crafternoon: Printmaking the Jewish New Year (Miles Nadal JCC)
📆September 29, 2024 / 3-5PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > 750 Spadina Avenue
Join us for a hands-on workshop in advance of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year! This special holiday marks the beginning of the Jewish year (5785); a time for reflecting on the year past, and setting intentions for what’s to come. In this workshop, we will learn about printmaking from artist Leah Gold and create our own unique calendars for the new year. These personalized calendars make perfect gifts for friends and family, or beautiful additions to your home, to be enjoyed all year long. Let's come together to celebrate Rosh Hashanah with creativity and joy! Learn more
For: Kids
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 📚Education, 🥳Social, 🌚Holiday Observance
🤔Questions? LaurenS@mnjcc.orginstallation
🆕The Apologies Exchange (Miles Nadal JCC)
📆October 2-14, 2024
📍Ontario > Toronto > 750 Spadina Avenue
During the Days of Awe (a sacred period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) stop by the MNjcc Café and experience tradition with a twist; The Apologies Exchange invites you to participate in a powerful act of reflection, connection and meaningful exchange. Take an apology, leave an apology, and tap into the spirit of atonement and forgiveness while exploring new interpretations of ancient technologies. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 🥳Social, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? LaurenS@mnjcc.orgevent
🆕Rosh Hashonah / Yom Kippur Observances (The United Jewish People's Order)
📆October 3, 2024 @ 10:30 AM ET // October 11, 2024 @ 7:30PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > 967 College Street OR virtual
Join the United Jewish People’s Order for our meaningful secular celebrations of Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur to usher in the new year, 5785! On Rosh Hashonah, we begin a ten-day period, using symbols, foods, and for some, fasting to help us step out of ordinary time and into a period of reflection. Our uplifting and inspiring celebrations of the Jewish New Year will include our traditional shofar blowing, readings, poetry, and Yiddish, Hebrew, Arabic and English music led by well-known Toronto musicians David Wall and Marilyn Lerner — including Kol Nidre on Yom Kippur, with live performances by some guest musicians. We look forward to safely celebrating, reflecting, singing and assembling, together with you!
The theme of our observances this year is Reflection and Action. Since the last time we met as a community to mark the days of Awe, the world has endured an intense and horrifying year. As Jewish people, many of have felt the need to come to terms with our connections to the terrible violence and ongoing genocide since last October. If this time of year is a time of reckoning, what does it mean in our current circumstances? This year, we offer opportunities for reflection and a call to action. Accordingly, we will be helping to facilitate 10 Days of Awe and Action, combining political, reflective and spiritual engagement for our community, in the days between our regular Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur observances. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🥳Social, 🌚Holiday Observance, ✊Social Justice, 🎶Music, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? ed@winchevskycentre.orgevent
🆕Rosh Hashanah Hike (Secular Synagogue and Jewish&)
📆October 4, 2024 / 10AM - 12PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto
Join us for a beautiful walk on the second day of Rosh Hashanah! Shofar blowing, tashlich (casting away), BYO apples and honey picnic. Open to families, individuals, anyone! Exact location provided upon registration; registration required. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🥳Social, 🌿Nature, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? LaurenS@mnjcc.orgevent
🆕Reflecting and Recommitting by the Lake: A Tashlich Gather-In (IfNotNow Toronto)
📆October 6, 2024 / 11AM - 12:30PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > Lake Ontario -- Budapest Park near Roncesvalles Pedestrian Bridge OR virtual
IfNotNow Toronto invites Jews and allies in the Toronto area to gather on the shore of Lake Ontario for the High Holy Days ritual of Tashlich, within the context of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Let’s return to our Jewish values, reach for our community and reflect on where we personally and collectively missed the mark as the crisis in Gaza unfolded. Let’s recommit to taking action in the new year for collective liberation for everyone between the river and the sea. While this ritual is centring Jewish reflections on our community, all are welcome. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🌚Holiday Observance, ✊Social Justice, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? ifnotnowtoronto@gmail.comevent
🆕Queer Waters: Tashlich at Hanlan's Point (LGBTQ+ at the J)
📆October 6, 2024 / 2-4PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > Hanlan's Point
LGBTQ+ at the J invites you to our second annual Tashlich at Hanlan’s Point. Literally translating to “casting off”, taschlich is traditionally done on the second day of Rosh Hashanah or in the days before Yom Kippur. Many Jews go to a moving body of water to welcome the new year and symbolically cast into the water what we would like to leave behind. We bring this ancient practice into the present moment, recognizing that the water is our teacher and we are all connected to ourselves, to one another, and to the nature around us. Hanlan’s point is one of the Toronto Islands, and its beach faces west, allowing us to watch the sunset as we engage with this ritual. LGBTQ+ community has gathered at Hanlan’s Point since the 1950s, and the first Gay Pride celebration took place on this beach in 1971. We will bring our Jewish practices and community to this queer landmark as we enter the new year together. Learn more
For: Queer & Trans Jews
Tags: 🥳Social, 🌿Nature, 🌚Holiday Observance
🤔Questions? emunahw@mnjcc.orgevent
🆕Shoresh's Sukkot Festival at Bela Farm (Shoresh)
📆October 20, 2024 / 11AM - 3:30PM ET
📍Ontario > Hillsburgh > Bela Farm, 5750 6th Line
Gather with the wider Shoresh community at Bela Farm to celebrate Sukkot! $18 per person (sliding scale pricing available), bus from Toronto available for an additional $25. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🥳Social, 🌿Nature, 🌚Holiday Observance
🤔Questions? info@shoresh.caevent
🆕SAVE THE DATE: Heartlines (FENTSTER, Miles Nadal JCC, Toronto Holocaust Museum & more)
📆November 17, 2024 / 2-6PM ET
📍Ontario > Toronto > Miles Nadal JCC, 270 Spadina Ave
Join an engaging, multi-disciplinary afternoon of arts and community inspired by Lucy Schwob and Suzanne Malherbe, French-Jewish artists who used their art as resistance during the Second World War. Adopting the gender ambiguous pseudonyms of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, the artists (who were also in a lifelong romantic relationship) often explored gender identity in their surrealist photography, collage and illustrations. Their story is the inspiration for a new play that traces the intersection of love, art and war - Heartlines - by queer-Canadian playwright Sarah Waisvisz. Don’t miss the Toronto premiere of an excerpt of Heartlines followed by related sessions of art making and conversation. The day concludes with a reception and book launch. Come for all or part of the festivities! Learn more
For: Youth, Adults
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 📚Education, 🥳Social, ✊Social Justice, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, Theatre
🤔Questions? info@fentster.org💻 virtual
workshop / class
Dying to Live: Activating the Death/Rebirth Potency of the Days of Awe: A workshop for Queer/ Trans Jews on an anti-Zionist path (Elana-June Margolis)
📆September 3, 2024 / 8-10PM ET, 5-7PM PT
💻virtual
Dying to Live will be an active inquiry into the mystical, revolutionary potencies of the Ya’amim Noraim. Participants will explore and experiment with three of the primary tools & technologies of the month of Elul: the shofar (ram’s horn, through which we receive and learn to tune into the call to transform/ realign), mikveh (ritual bathing, in which water assists us in releasing, renewing & invoking) & Kneutlekh-leygn (making soul candles to work with ancestors) as a means of tapping in to the Teshuvah that is uniquely ours to do in service of the agonizing yet miraculously potent times we live in. Additionally, participants will receive a map for ceremonially activating the death/rebirth potencies of the Ya’amim Noraim, beginning on erev Rosh ha Shana, peaking during the 24 hour window of the Yom Kipportal, landing in the Sukkah (harvest hut) as rebirth-cradle and then sealing on Hoshana Rabba (the night of the last day of Sukkot/ the day of the willows), as well as indications for integrating & carrying the work forward beyond the High Holy Day season. Learn more
For: Adults, Queer & Trans Jews
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, 🌚Holiday Observance, ✊Social Justice, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine, Kabbalah
🤔Questions? elana.june.margolis@gmail.comcourse
Alef-beys Yiddish Alphabet Course with Moishele Alfonso (Yiddish Book Center)
📆starts September 3, 2024
💻virtual
Learn and practice the Yiddish alphabet in this intensive four-day online course taught by Moishele Alfonso. This course will focus on reading and pronouncing the printed Yiddish alphabet, with an introduction to handwriting. Optional homework exercises will be provided. Space is limited; registration closes August 30. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 📚Education, Yiddish
🤔Questions? info@yiddishbookcenter.orgcourse
🆕The Shofar Project: Awakening to Action for the New Year (Institute for Jewish Spirituality)
📆starts September 4, 2024 / 8-9PM ET, 5-6PM PT
💻virtual
Join faculty members of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality for four weeks of ongoing Jewish spiritual practice to prepare our inner lives for the challenges and joys of the upcoming Jewish year, 5785.
We will explore a new theme each week in the month leading up to Rosh Hashanah:
- Awakening the Heart with Rabbi Miriam Margles
- Attuning to the Pain of the World with Rabbi Sam Feinsmith
- Returning to Compassion with Rabbi Marc Margolius
- Transforming into an Instrument of Justice with Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife
Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🎶Music, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? support@jewishspirituality.orgcourse
🆕Creating with the Season: Elul Series with K' Keshira haLev Fife (Jewish Studio Project)
📆starts September 5, 2024 / 8-9:30PM ET, 5-6:30PM PT
💻virtual
Join us on a four-week creative spiritual journey through the Hebrew month of Elul in preparation for the Jewish High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. During this season we open our hearts to embrace the new and shed the old, awakening our spirits as we transform and draw closer to the Divine. Together we'll delve into the unetanah tokef prayer from the High Holiday liturgy. Its refrain, ""but repentance, prayer, and righteousness avert the severe decree,"" can be seen as how ""teshuvah (return), tefilah (prayer), and tzedakah (justice) transform how we experience our lives.” We will connect with each other and to the potency of this time in the Jewish calendar as we reflect, release and renew ourselves for the year to come.
September 5 - Wake up! Elul is here!!
September 12 - Tefilah (prayer) as a path to home
September 19 - Tzedekah as a portal to what’s possible
September 26 - Teshuvah as a cosmic chiropractor
Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? info@jewishstudioproject.orgevent series
🆕Our Torah, Ourselves (The Torah Studio)
📆starts September 5, 2024 / 8-9:30PM ET, 5-6:30PM PT
💻virtual
The Torah Studio's Elul Series is all about innovative approaches to loving Torah! Join us every Thursday in September as incredible Jewish thinkers share some of the ways they're building nourishing and healing relationships with Jewish text.
9/5 • The Woman Inside You with Lexi Kohanski
9/12 • Can The Torah Love Us Back? with Rabbi Avigayil Halpern
9/19 • Torah as High Fantasy with Liana Wertman
9/24 • How We Love Torah So Much: Live Conversation with Liana Wertman & Lexi Kohanski
Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🙏Religion & Spirituality,
🤔Questions? liana@thetorahstudio.orgevent
🆕JVP Havurah Network's Rosh Chodesh Elul (JVP )
📆September 5, 2024 / 8:30-9:15PM ET, 5:30-6:15PM PT
💻virtual
Please join us for the JVP Havurah Network's Rosh Chodesh (new moon) Elul virtual gathering led by Or Har-Gil.
Plus an optional 15-minute oneg social afterwards during which we will share gratitude for the 5784 Rosh Chodesh organizers and welcome the 5785 organizers. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? or.hargil@gmail.comworkshop / class
🆕Creating with the Moon: Rosh Chodesh Elul with Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife (Jewish Studio Project)
📆September 8, 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? info@jewishstudioproject.orgcourse
🆕The Shtetl: Jewish Community in Transition (YIVO)
📆starts September 8, 2024 / 11AM - 12PM ET, 8-9AM PT
💻virtual
The shtetl was one of the principal arenas in which Jewish life unfolded in Eastern Europe. In the collective imaginary of American Jewry, the shtetl is often an unchanging, and sometimes idyllic, site of Jewish traditional life in isolation from non-Jews. In reality, however, the historical shtetl went through many transformations and experienced many ideological upheavals. This mini-course will explore four major arenas where changes occurred—spirituality, politics, gender, and culture—dispelling the myth of the shtetl as a stagnant and isolated Jewish community. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 📚Education, History
🤔Questions? info@yivo.orgcourse
🆕Sacred Time and Liminal Space: Ashkenazi Folk Magic at the Threshold (Yiddish Book Center)
📆starts September 9, 2024 / 7-8:30PM ET, 4-5:30PM PT
💻virtual
Sacred Time and Liminal Space: Ashkenazi Folk Magic at the Threshold is an online culture course taught by journalist and scholar Rokhl Kafrissen. In this course, participants will explore Yiddish folk customs such as feldmestn (measuring a cemetery and its graves to make special holiday candles) and tkhines (personal, vernacular prayer). Students will learn about these customs within the context of rosh khoydesh (the new Hebrew month) and the yomim-neroim (Days of Awe), as well as how these rituals of folk magic have been reinvented for our modern world. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🙏Religion & Spirituality, Folklore And Folk Magic
🤔Questions? updates@yiddishbookcenter.orgcourse
🆕Answering the Call of the Shofar: A Study and Practice Group for Young Adults (Institute for Jewish Spirituality)
📆starts September 9, 2024 / 8-9:15PM ET, 5-6:15PM PT
💻virtual
Tap into a special High Holidays series in our vibrant weekly Shevet Jewish Mindfulness Community, to prepare for the Jewish New Year with a welcoming community of young adults in their 20s and 30s. Together we’ll embark on a powerful journey of reflecting on the past year and returning to our most authentic selves for the year ahead. Live sessions will be on Mondays, September 9, 16, 23, and 30 on Zoom. Learn more
For: Everyone, Everyone In Their 20s And 30s
Tags: 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? support@jewishspirituality.orgcourse
🆕Judaism In-Bound: An Introduction to Judaism for Everyone (Judaism Unbound)
📆starts September 10, 2024 / 12-1:30PM ET, 9-10:30AM PT
💻virtual
Take a deep dive into Judaism's core ideas, texts, and practices. In this class, explore what being Jewish has looked like in the past and scout ahead for what it could look like in the future. Judaism In-bound is a perfect course for those considering conversion, in multi-faith relationships, seeking to unlearn/relearn a new framing around Judaism, or just curious about Judaism.
This class is built around the notion that Judaism is constantly changing and is currently in a period of especially radical change. We believe that there is no singular way to teach “what Jews believe” or “what Jews do,” as Judaism and Jews are constantly evolving. Even more, it isn’t entirely clear how best to introduce people to something that may look very different before too long. As such, this class is a lecture series, a study club, and a spiritual laboratory; a class designed both to teach and to challenge mainstream Judaism. At the conclusion of this class, we hope that students will be familiar with longstanding tenets of Judaism and also feel empowered to experiment with what is most meaningful to them, viewing what they have learned as raw material that can be reshaped in their own lives the way an artist creates a sculpture out of clay. Learn more
For: Adults, People Considering Conversion, People In Multi-Faith Relationships, People Curious About Judaism
Tags: 📚Education, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? info@judaismunbound.comcourse
🆕When Abraham Killed Isaac: The Binding of Isaac...Unbound (Judaism Unbound)
📆starts September 11, 2024 / 1-2:30PM ET, 10-11:30AM PT
💻virtual
All stories have beginnings, but some never end. The analysis of Isaac’s sacrifice in Genesis 22, an account generally acknowledged as one of the seminal texts of the western canon in general, and Judaism in particular, usually begins with God’s command to Abraham go forth to the land of Moriah and sacrifice his son. Abraham silently obeys and history is forever changed. Abraham’s silence is one of the biggest mysteries of the Akedah. The existential philosopher Soren Kieregaard was frightened by it: “Silence is the snare of the demon,” he says, “and the more one keeps silent, the more terrifying the demon becomes.” In this three-part course, I will attempt to explain the “why” of God’s command and Abraham’s silent obeisance, but to do so I will have to start our story a little earlier than Genesis 22. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 📚Education, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? hello@judaismunbound.comevent
🆕Radical Yiddish Games Night (Rad Yiddish and Queer Yiddish Camp)
📆September 12, 1987 / 7:30-9PM ET, 4:30-6PM PT
💻virtual
🌈 Play Zoom games in Yiddish, or in English about Yiddish culture, like Yiddish Randomizer; Yiddish Cards for Humanity; & Yiddish Karaoke! 🔠 Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 📚Education, 🥳Social, ✊Social Justice, 🎶Music, Yiddish
🤔Questions? hello@radyiddish.orgevent
🆕Jewish Currents Live: A Day of Politics & Culture (Jewish Currents)
📆September 15, 2024 / 10:30AM - 7:30PM ET, 7:30AM - 4:30PM PT
💻virtual OR in NYC
Jewish Currents Live is a day of gathering, discussion, performance, discussion and connection. During this time of immense violence, suffering, and authoritarian threats, we know we need each other. We’ll come together in conversation around some of the most pressing political and cultural questions of our moment, and reflect on provocative performances by innovative artists. Together, we’ll build the community we need.
Sessions will include discussion on the possibilities and limits of international law with Rob Malley and Diala Shamas, performance art and dance from Fargo Tbakhi, Hadar Ahuvia and Alex Tatarsky, reflection on the future of the Palestinian liberation movement with Fadi Quran and Noura Erakat, conversation on Judaism beyond Zionism with Shaul Magid, Alissa Wise, and Ariella Aïsha Azoulay – and much, much more. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 📚Education, ✊Social Justice, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? JCLive@jewishcurrents.orglecture
🆕Judaism Beyond Zionism (Reform Jews for Human Rights, Reform Jews for Justice)
📆September 15, 2024 / 8PM ET, 5PM PT
💻virtual
Over the last 100 years, mainstream Zionism has become deeply embedded in Jewish life. Yet 20th century Zionism departs from traditional Jewish religious belief and ethical commitments in many ways. Join Matthew Gindin in this lecture on the tensions that continue to exist between Zionism and traditional Judaism. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🙏Religion & Spirituality, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? reform4humanrights@gmail.comcourse
🆕Elul: Your On-Ramp to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (Judaism Unbound)
📆starts September 16, 2024 / 7:30-9PM ET, 4:30-6PM PT
💻virtual
Elul is a special month in the Jewish calendar – a whole month to reflect on the prior year, and to set your intentions for the coming year. Elul is a bridge between the past and the future! That said, many people have never heard of Elul – despite its cherished status as the lead-in to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. This mini-course is the chance to treasure Elul, and create an Elul spiritual practice that will be deep, and meaningful, and fully equip you for the holidays that follow it.
Elul is primarily about individual reflection, and not as geared toward communal experience. This three session class is an opportunity to explore, develop, or renew an Elul practice especially suited to your unique Elul journey – your own unique and embodied Elul tool-kit. We will dive into some traditional practices (chant, meditation, journaling, prayer), along with some sparkly renewed ones (including the Jewish Studio Process), which will help you channel this month in heart-opening and soul-refreshing ways. These three sessions are the perfect way to prepare for the biggest holiday/holy day season in the flow of our Jewish calendar! Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 📚Education, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? hello@judaismunbound.comcourse
🆕Hasidism and Neo-Hasidism: Past, Present, and Future (Judaism Unbound)
📆starts September 17, 2024 / 6-7:30PM ET, 3-4:30PM PT
💻virtual
Hasidism was a populist Jewish spiritual movement that developed in late eighteenth century Ukraine, and sought to make the wealth of Jewish mysticism radically accessible. Neo-hasidism aims to continue this legacy in the 21st century, connecting people of diverse backgrounds to with transformative power of Jewish mystical traditions. In this course, we'll explore central ideas, questions, and practices in contemporary neo-Hasidism like Jewish panentheism, devotional prayer, contemplative Torah study, and more. Participants will understand how Neo-Hasidism developed, and be empowered to shape the Neo-Hasidic future. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 📚Education, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? hello@judaismunbound.comcourse
🆕The Cop in the Head of the Jewish Left: Breaking out of 19th Century Norms to Organize Our People (Boston Workers Circle)
📆starts September 17, 2024 / 7-8:30PM ET, 4-5:30PM PT
💻virtual
The Jewish Left is contained by invisible walls that prevent us from fully claiming our power and steering our people in a new direction. We aren’t just up against obvious things, like the entanglement of many Jews in privilege and white supremacy, or well-funded Right-wing strategies. We are held in place by limitations dreamed up for us more than a century ago by the European Left.
To rise to all the challenges we face – including the immediate challenge of seeking Palestinian freedom and the imminent challenges to democracy and the earth’s climate – it is essential that we break out of these limits so that we can access our full power and help our people play our strongest, most liberatory role. Over four sessions, we’ll use course instructor April Rosenblum’s new MA research, the wisdom of the organizing tradition, analysis of Christian dominance, and participants’ own reflections to make visible what has been holding us back.
This course is for Jewish Leftists who want to strengthen their leadership and critical thinking skills and come out with a bolder sense of Jews’ place in movements and in the world. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 📚Education, ✊Social Justice, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? info@circleboston.orgcourse
🆕Mizrahi Politics & Protest in Israel-Palestine (JFREJ)
📆starts September 19, 2024 / 5:30-7PM ET, 2:30-4PM PT
💻virtual
This two-part course with JFREJ member Yael Mizrahi-Arnaud will examine the evolution of Mizrahi politics in Israel/Palestine, beginning with Middle Eastern Jewish responses to Zionism in the early 20th century, through the present day, where Mizrahiyut has become synonymous with a type of right-wing politics. The course will be interested in moving away from essentializing narratives, to explore both the cultural, political and socio-economic spheres of Mizrahi responses to and impact on Zionism. Highlighting the roots of the national conflict between Jews and Palestinians, we will aim to understand the role of ethnic hierarchies and the place of Mizrahim in this equation. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 📚Education, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine, Identity
🤔Questions? info@jfrej.orgworkshop / class
🆕High Holidays Learning Series with Laura Elkeslassy (Let My People Sing!)
📆starts September 22, 2024 / 6-7:30PM ET, 3-4:30PM PT
💻virtual
Join us for a 3-part virtual series led by Laura Elkeslassy as we move through the High Holidays. This class will be centered on North African music and traditions as we move through the Jewish calendar learning melodies for Selichot, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
This series is an affinity space, and only open to Sephardi/Mizrahi/SWANA folks. Learn more
For: Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews
Tags: 📚Education, 🎶Music, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? info@letmypeoplesing.orgworkshop / class
🆕Jewish Witch Circle (Beit Kohenet & Temple of the Stranger)
📆September 22, 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. Welcoming folks of all genders & backgrounds. Held via Zoom.
At our September gathering, we will be exploring Birthing Magic: Midwives, Ba'alei Shem, and Spiritual Rebirthing magic with Dr. Yosef Rosen! Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 📚Education, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? Or@templeofthestranger.comcourse
🆕Kol Nidrei: Jewish Vows (Literally) Unbound (Judaism Unbound)
📆starts September 24, 2024 / 3-4:30PM ET, 12-1:30PM PT
💻virtual
"Kol Nidrei" is an unbelievably popular one. Many folks, even some who rarely enter synagogue spaces, talk about this famous Yom Kippur declaration, set to a haunting melody. It is so popular, that the entire Yom Kippur evening service has gained the alternate title of... "Kol Nidrei." But... what's the Kol Nidrei declaration actually about? (in short: the nullification of certain kinds of vows and oaths) What does it say, for what reasons? To what extent might its contents feel beautiful to us, or horrifying, or confusing, all at the same time?
In this class, we'll explore all of these questions. We'll hone in on why, for over 1,000 years (since the declaration was written), there has been a long lineage of rabbis calling Kol Nidrei a "foolish custom." We'll explore the ways in which it has continued to hold power, even despite those rabbinic objections, and what that reality teaches us about Jewish ritual, community, and creativity. We'll do all of this in interactive conversation, holding a love for Jewish tradition and rebellion all at the same time. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 📚Education, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? hello@judaismunbound.comlecture
🆕Torah of Bees: The Torah, Ethics, and Biology of Sustainable Beekeeping (Jewish Farmer Network)
📆September 25, 2024 / 7PM ET
💻virtual
What do traditional Jewish traditional sources say about bees and honey? What did the sages understand about honey bee biology, and how can our tradition inform our approach to beekeeping and land stewardship today? And why is honey featured in our Rosh HaShanah and new year cycle? Rabba Amalia Haas will share her experience as a beekeeper and how she employs honeybee education to uplift the story of the pollinators at large. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 📚Education, 🌿Nature, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? liel@jewishfarmernetwork.orgworkshop / class
🆕Have You Made Art About It Yet? Rosh Hashanah Edition with Rabbi Adina Allen (Jewish Studio Project)
📆September 26, 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 Rosh Hashanah we reflect on the year that has been and prepare to welcome in the sweetness and blessing of the new year to come. It is a time for the spiritual work of teshuvah (“return”) in which we return to the places where we’ve missed the mark, to our deepest selves, and to connection to the Source. 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 connect to that which we seek to release from the past year, that which we desire to return to, and open to the beauty and possibility awaiting us in the year to come. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? info@jewishstudioproject.orgworkshop / class
🆕Holistic High Holiday Prep: Nurturing Body, Mind, Spirit, and Heart (Ammud: Jews of Color Torah Academy)
📆September 26, 2024 / 3-4:30PM ET, 12-1:30PM PT
💻virtual
During the month of Elul, it is traditional to blow the shofar each day in order to awaken to the magnitude of the season. In this session, we'll explore what we're awakening to, and then you'll be guided through holistic preparation for the High Holidays using the Kabbalistic Four Worlds framework. Engage in activities that support realignment of body, mind, spirit, and heart for this sacred season. Through journaling, study, and discussion, immerse yourself in a journey towards a meaningful 5785. Learn more
For: Jews Of Colour, Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews
Tags: 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? team@ammud.orgworkshop / class
🆕Omar Monsour: My Life In Gaza, & What Jews Can Do To Help (Reform Jews For Human Rights, Reform Jews For Justice, IJV Guelph)
📆September 29, 2024 / 8-9:30PM ET, 5-6:30PM PT
💻virtual
Reform Jews 4 Human Rights is going to be hosting a webinar by Omar Monsour (Vancouver) about his experiences growing up in Gaza through three IDF invasions of Gaza among other experiences, organizing for Palestinian liberation (from Canada), and what Jews can do to help the struggle for Palestinian liberation. The event is planned largely for Jewish audiences. Omar Monsour was sponsored as a single refugee to Canada 10 years ago by a group of progressive Jews. He has worked with people of all backgrounds including Jews, Palestinians, and Arabs, to organize for Palestinian human rights and liberation. Learn more
For: Youth, Adults
Tags: 📚Education, ✊Social Justice, ✨Wellness, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? reform4humanrights@gmail.comlecture
🆕Replanting Seeds of Jewish Revolutionary Nonviolence after October 7 (Jewish Liberation Theology Institute)
📆October 8, 2024 / 7:30PM ET, 4:30PM PT
💻virtual
On Tuesday, October 8, Rabbi Lucia Pizarro will have a conversation with Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb about her new book, Replanting Seeds of Jewish Revolutionary Nonviolence after October 7. From the sevenfold pathway of Shomeret Shalom, to the 5-step system of repair and Teshuva, we will talk about what Jewish nonviolence looks like, how we can create a reparative practice devoted to healing the ongoing wounds of colonial settlerism and genocide after October 7, and other big and troubling questions.
Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb's unwavering commitment to nonviolent resistance and peace education has left a lasting impact on countless communities. This session, scheduled between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, will provide you with a unique opportunity to ask all the big, emotional and troubling questions about whether we can find a Jewish practice with integrity after October 7. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 🌚Holiday Observance, ✊Social Justice, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? info@jelinth.caworkshop / class
🆕JeLiThIn’s Book of Jonah Session 2024 (Jewish Liberation Theology Institute)
📆October 10, 2024 / 12PM ET, 9AM PT
💻virtual
Traditionally, the Book of Jonah is read in the synagogue on the afternoon of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Why? The rabbis give a variety of reasons:
- Because the book reminds us of God’s infinite mercy
- Because the people of Ninveh are a paradigm of repentance
- Because the book serves as a reminder that the entire world, and all of its natural forces, are in God’s hands
- Because as we read of Jonah being answered from the belly of the fish, we are reminded that we too can be saved
This year we are opening the doors of JeLiThIn’s Parashat HaShavua Group to anyone who wants to read the Book of Jonah in a kind and safe space for anti-Zionist Jews where we can process our joy and anger together. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 📚Education, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? info@jelithin.cacourse
🆕SVARA's Fall Zman Courses! (SVARA)
📆starts October 28, 2024
💻virtual
Kickstart a sparkling spiritual journey this season at SVARA!
Regardless of where you’re starting from, you can explore season-long offerings and drop-in programming.
Course offerings include:
- Queer Talmud for Beginner's Mind
- Beit Midrash: All in One
- Beit Midrash: Chevruta Plus
- Queerly Original: The Midrash on Genesis
- TransTextual
Learn more
For: Adults, Queer & Trans Jews
Tags: 📚Education, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions?Virtual retreat
Queer Yiddish Camp Intensive (Queer Yiddish Camp & Rad Yiddish)
📆November 3-17, 2024
💻virtual
Queer Yiddish Camp is a two-week online Yiddish intensive from for ALL levels. Take language, literature, song, history, and culture classes from an all-queer faculty of world-renowned Yiddish teachers, scholars, artists, activists, and cultural workers!
Registration is now open! Apply by September 8 for Early-Bird Discounts including Work-Trade & Bursaries!
For: Everyone
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 📚Education, 🥳Social, ✊Social Justice, 🎶Music, Yiddish
🤔Questions? info@queeryiddish.camp🌎 retreats outside canada
retreat
Rosh Hashanah at Isabella Freedman (Adamah)
📆October 2-6, 2024
📍USA > CT > Falls Village > Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center
Start the new year with us surrounded by the natural beauty of the Berkshires! Mornings are filled with meaningful spirited prayer led by inspiring leaders in the beautiful setting of the Berkshires amongst the tall trees and sparkling lake. Afternoons and evenings are packed with leisure activities, classes and fun, including special programs for children. We offer the highest quality organic kosher meals to Jews of all denominations and backgrounds. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, 🌿Nature, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? registrar@adamah.orgretreat
Rosh Hashanah with Hadar’s Rising Song Institute (Hadar’s Rising Song Institute & Adamah)
📆October 2-6, 2024
📍USA > MD > Reisterstown > Pearlstone Campus
This Rosh Hashanah, gather with family and friends at Pearlstone outside Baltimore for a transformative musical New Year and Shabbat experience. Enjoy the changing autumn season with four days of song-filled traditional egalitarian davening, vibrant community, delicious organic kosher food, and ample outdoor farm space for kids and families.
Davening led by Joey Weisenberg, Rabbi Aviva Richman, and Rabbi Elie Kaunfer will be complemented by profound divrei Torah and inspiring classes from the Rising Song and Adamah team and our special guest speakers. Highlights include outdoor nature activities, engaging children’s programming, communal meals, and singing throughout the program. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🥳Social, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🎶Music, 🙏Religion & Spirituality
🤔Questions? registrar@adamah.orgretreat
May I Become Ready: a season of High Holy Day Offerings / a Portal for Transformation (Elana-June Margolis)
📆October 2-27, 2024
📍USA > CA > Ukiah > Mariposa Institute
How long has it been since October 7th, 2023? A year, a week, a lifetime, a generation? How can we metabolize & reckon with all that has occurred, been revealed, been destroyed, been desecrated? How can we grieve the genocide? How can we integrate all that has emerged, all we have witnessed/ embodied in the fierce, brilliant resistance rising? How can we take responsibility? How can we be transformed & grow together through this moment? How can we continue to connect to hope, to joy, to love, knowing that all of these are essential elements in any movement moving towards liberation?
The season will be anchored by three retreats during Rosh ha Shana, Yom Kippur and Shemini Atzeret/ Simchat Torah. Guests are welcome to register for any/ all of these gatherings, as well as to stay for days in between to engage in personal practice during unprogrammed time.
Retreat Offerings:
- B’Tzelem (in the Image): a Rosh ha Shana retreat for Queer/ Trans Jews on an anti-Zionist path
- Yom Kipportal: a Yom Kippur retreat for Queer/ Trans Jews on an anti-Zionist path
- Ending is Beginning (One Year Later): a Hoshana Rabba/ Shemini Atzeret/ Simchat Torah retreat
Learn more
For: Adults, Queer & Trans Jews
Tags: 🥳Social, 🌿Nature, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? elana.june.margolis@gmail.comretreat
Rest to Return: A Days of Awe Deceleration Retreat (Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife & friends)
📆October 7-10, 2024
📍USA > CT > West Cornwall > Trinity Retreat Center
In a culture that pushes us to go fast, Rest to Return is an opportunity to slow down in order to root deeply as we prepare to move into 5785. This retreat, held during the Days of Awe, will invite us to engage in facilitated rest, reflection and connection through song, prayer, ritual, reflective writing, art-making, wandering, wondering, dreaming, and more. Hosted by Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife (and friends TBC), this is an opportunity to bring meaning and connection to the process of yeshivah (returning). Learn more
For: Adults, Jewish Leaders
Tags: 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? keshira@keshirahalev.comretreat
The Art of Possibility: A Yom Kippur Retreat 5785 (Jewish Studio Project)
📆October 11-13, 2024
📍USA > CA > Simi Valley > Brandeis Bardin Campus
We invite you this Yom Kippur to join us in Simi Valley, CA (near Los Angeles) for a two-day creativity retreat! At this one-of-a-kind immersive experience we will draw on the power of our inherent creativity to access the deep meaning and healing potential of this sacred time in the Jewish calendar. Through a mix of prayer, ritual, text study and art-making we will open ourselves to the possibility of release, renewal and forgiveness in the year to come. Learn more
For: Adults
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness
🤔Questions? info@jewishstudioproject.org📢 announcements
announcement
🆕Rabbis for Ceasefire High Holidays 5785 Congregations Directory (Rabbis for Ceasefire)
After a heartbreaking year, many Jews are feeling disconnected from their home communities or even from Judaism as a whole. As we approach Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Rabbis for Ceasefire is here to support you in having a meaningful High Holidays experience.
This High Holiday directory lists services from dozens of Jewish communities, all of them eager to warmly welcome those in ceasefire movements, exactly as you are. These services represent a range of religious denominations and approaches to Israel/Palestine; some are affiliated with major Jewish movements and some are independent; some have large clergy teams and some are lay-led; some hold specific perspectives on Zionism and anti-Zionism and some have a range of progressive political orientations. We hope that the variety of national and international offerings allow you to connect with a congregation that suits your spiritual needs. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🌚Holiday Observance, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? rabbis4ceasefire@gmail.comjob
🆕HIRING: IJV Communications Coordinator (Independent Jewish Voices)
📆due September 9, 2024
Are you passionate about growing the Jewish left and the Palestine solidarity movement in Canada? Do you have a talent for writing and communications, a penchant for fostering relationships with press and supporting volunteers, and an expertise in utilizing a variety of media platforms for social change? If so, apply now to the position of Communications Coordinator at IJV! Applications due September 9th. This is a full-time remote position open to anyone legally permitted to work in Canada. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: ✊Social Justice, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? personnel@ijvcanada.organnouncement
🆕Orders open for Dreaming the World To Come 5785 Daily Planner! (Dreaming the World to Come)
The Dreaming the World to Come planner is a tool for touching into ancient timekeeping, while tracking emerging magical practices of connecting with the earth, the heavens, and the stories of our lives and dreams. In this time of fragmenting Jewish community due to the colonial violence of the state of Israel, we offer this mystical, queer, deeply rooted, anti-Zionist, anti-colonial tool for keeping ourselves whole as we map our pathways toward a liberated future. The 5785/2024-2025 contributions were curated and edited by erica riddick, with art by Kim Wayman and Nomy Lamm. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 🎨Art & Craft, 📚Education, 🌿Nature, 🌚Holiday Observance, ✊Social Justice, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine
🤔Questions? brunemwarshaw@gmail.comweekly anti-Zionist grief circle
Kruim Yachad (Torn Together): Diasporist Griefwork for the Longhaul (JVP Havurah)
📆Mondays / 8:30-10PM ET, 5:30-7PM PT
💻virtual
Kruim Yachad (Torn Together) is a weekly space for Jews to gather to metabolize our grief over the recent and (at the time of this writing) ongoing genocide in Palestine. Weekly sessions will incorporate a variety of Jewish grief technologies, including (but not limited to) prayer, kriah (tearing fabric), song, movement, lighting candles and work with sacred plants. Learn more
For: Adults, Queer & Trans Jews
Tags: 📚Education, ✊Social Justice, 🙏Religion & Spirituality, ✨Wellness, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine, Grief
🤔Questions? elana.june.margolis@gmail.comannouncement
Arabic language lessons (Palestinian Arabic Bridge)
Palestinian Arabic Bridge is a small and quickly growing mutual aid project which connects those who want to learn Arabic with Palestinians in the West Bank who are offering online Arabic lessons and conversation practice. Learn more
For: Everyone
Tags: 📚Education, 🥳Social, ✊Social Justice, 🇮🇱Israel/🇵🇸Palestine, Language
🤔Questions? PAB.connect.info@gmail.com
Thank you for taking time to do such important work. I hope this can continue in some form or another. xo
Thank you for your work! This offering has meant so much to me.