We live at a moment of great blessing in Jewish history.  There has been a great healing of old patriarchal wounds and we have women rabbis, cantors, chaplains, and liturgists.  For centuries, we were taught that Kabbalah was an expression of the divine feminine albeit articulated by men.  Today, thank G-d, we are blessed to have this coming through the beauty of women’s voices.

In our holy land of Israel, we stand together with the Women of the Wall and all those who hold dear the words that speak to our hearts from the Torah, “B’Tzelem Elohim . . . In the image of G-d, the Creator made them, male and female G-d created them. (Genesis 1:27)

We pray that the day has come when, women, created in the image of the divine, can worship, sing out, chant from Torah, and if they choose, wrap themselves in tallit, tefillin standing at the Kotel, the resonant symbol of the holy places of our tradition.

We stand with them and make an unequivocal commitment to do all that we can to ensure that Israel honor its commitment to all of Klal Yisrael in its wondrously diverse, pluralistic and egalitarian splendor.

Rabbi Dan Goldblatt, Beth Chaim Congregation, Danville, California; President, OHALAH (Renewal), International Vice Chair, Rabbis for Women of the Wall

OHALAH, the Association of Rabbis for Jewish Renewal, is delighted to announce that a book by one of our founding members has won a National Jewish Book Award.

Davening: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Prayer, by our own Rabbi Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi with Joel Segel, with a forward by Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, won the Contemporary Jewish Life and Practice Award.

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi is regarded as one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal movement. Known as Reb Zalman by his many students and followers around the world, he was born in Poland in 1924 and raised in Vienna; he was ordained as a Chabad rabbi in 1947. In the 1960s he founded B’nai Or, the Jewish Renewal congregation of Boston, Massachusetts.

Schachter-Shalomi has held the World Wisdom Chair at The Naropa Institute; he is Professor Emeritus at both Naropa and Temple University. He was among the group of rabbis who traveled to India to meet with the Dalai Lama and speak with him about the Jewish people’s secret to survival in Diaspora. That journey is chronicled in Rodger Kamenetz’s book The Jew in the Lotus.

Schachter-Shalomi is author of several books, among them My Life in Jewish Renewal: A Memoir (Albion-Andalus, 2012) and From Age-ing to Sage-ing: A Profound New Vision of Growing Older (Grand Central, 1997).

OHALAH, the Association of Rabbis for Jewish Renewal, includes more than 200 rabbis from a wide spectrum of the Jewish people who participate in the transformation and renewal of Judaism and the Jewish people.

As the longest-running North American awards program in the field of Jewish literature, the National Jewish Book Awards recognizes outstanding books of Jewish interest. Additional information is available at www.JewishBookCouncil.org.

Contact: Rabbi Stan Levy, 310-312-4379

“As the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Academy for Jewish Religion, California (AJRCA), a transdenominational Rabbinical, Cantorial and Chaplaincy School based at The Yitzhak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life at UCLA, I take tremendous pride in announcing the groundbreaking appointment of Dr. Tamar Frankiel as President. In this position, Dr. Frankiel will become the first Orthodox woman in the nation to lead a Rabbinical School.

“After an exhaustive national search, the Board chose Dr. Frankiel for her superior intellect, impressive leadership skills, and tremendous dedication to the ideals and mission of our innovative and exceptional institution. Commenting on her appointment, Dr. Frankiel said “I am delighted to become the new leader of this unique, forward-thinking seminary. The fact that our Board and community chose an Orthodox woman as President is testimony to AJRCA’s deep commitment to pluralism. Indeed, differences in personal practice and religious philosophy can actually strengthen our work together.” AJRCA alumni are leading Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, Renewal and Nondenominational synagogues, serving as the spiritual leaders of Jewish day schools, directing religious schools, serving as chaplains at hospitals and Jewish homes for the aging, or teaching at universities nationwide.

“Dr. Frankiel received her PhD in History of Religions from the University of Chicago. The author of numerous books and scholarly articles, she has taught at Claremont School of Theology, Stanford and Princeton Universities, and UC Berkeley and Riverside. She previously served as AJRCA’s Provost and Professor of Comparative Religion and has been one of the major forces behind Claremont Lincoln University (CLU), the Academy’s landmark collaborative initiative with Claremont School of Theology and the Islamic Center of Southern California. CLU is an interreligious institution of graduate studies.
Under Dr. Frankiel’s leadership, we have every confidence that AJRCA will continue to go from strength to strength.” — Jacob Zighelboim, M.D.

Rabbi Stan Levy, an ALEPH ordainee, founding member of OHALAH and former counsel for ALEPH is a co-founder and former Chair of the Board of AJR CA where he serves on the faculty.

OHALAH has many members who are graduates of AJR California, including Immediate Past President Rabbi Yocheved Mintz, former Membership Chair Alicia Magal, former Ethics Chair Paula Marcus and outgoing Fundraising Chair Min Kantrowitz.

To learn more about AJRCA, visit www.ajrca.org. For Dr. Frankiel’s brief bio, visit http://ajrca.org/faculty/dr-tamar-frankiel/

Rabbi Ed Stafman is now serving on the Montana Advisory Board to the United States Civil Rights Commission.

The US Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan, fact-finding federal agency, established in 1957 by the Civil Rights Act.

Their mission is to inform the development of national civil rights policy and enhance enforcement of federal civil rights laws. They pursue this mission by studying alleged deprivations of voting rights and alleged discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin, or in the administration of justice.

In addition to this advisory work with the civil rights commission, Rabbi Stafman serves as rabbi of Congregation Beth Shalom in Bozeman, Montana. He is chair of the Tikkun Olam committee of OHALAH.

Bruchim Ha’baim/Opening Welcome and Setting   

Kavvanah  for the Smicha Ceremony

Rabbi Dan Goldblatt, OHALAH President

2:30–2:50 pm            Doors open for Smicha/ordinationceremony                                    (Interlocken B/C/D)

All should be seated by 2:55 PM to welcome the musmachim!!

3:00–5:00 pm            Ordination of ALEPH Cantor, Rabbinic Pastors, Rabbis            (Interlocken B/C/D)

5:00–6:00 pm            Smicha Reception and Freilach Celebration                                                (Interlocken B/C/D and Foyer)

5:30–6:30 pm            Shuk open for your shopping pleasure!                                                            (Centennial F)

6:30–7:45 pm            Dinner and benching                                                                                                            (Interlocken A)

8:00–8:30 pm            Conference Greetings, Introductions, and Honorings                        (Interlocken B)

Rabbi Jan Salzman, Chair, Program Committee

Rabbi Dan Goldblatt, OHALAH President

Joe Laur, Chair of ALEPH Board

Honoring Reb Leah Novick on her 80^th birthday and the addition of her archives to the

Jewish Renewal Archives at the University of Colorado, Boulder

Professor David Shneer, Director of Jewish Studies,

University of Colorado, Boulder

Introducing Keynote Speaker and Visiting Scholar, Rabbi Rachel Adler, Professor of

Modern Jewish Thought, and Judaism and Gender, Hebrew Union College-JIR

8:45–9:15 pm            Ma’ariv Davvenen– “Getting to Know You”                                                (Interlocken B)

Rabbi Alicia Magal

9:30–10:30 pm            “What Was the Sin of Sodom?”                                                                        (Interlocken C/D)

Late-night study with Rabbi Rachel Adler

Monday, January 14, 2013

All Day                                    Registration/information materials                                                            (Interlocken A/B Foyer)

7:00–8:00 am            Shacharit Davvenen                       

• Traditional Torah service                                           (Alder)
• Movement and meditation                                          (Spruce)
• Interpretive                                                            (Birch)

7:45–9:00 am            Breakfast                                                                                                                                    (Interlocken A)

Private breakfast meeting, OHALAH/ALEPH ethics committees            (Aspen)

9:15–11:30 am            Plenary Session                                                                                                                        (Interlocken B)

• ALEPH Presentation
• Visiting Scholar Rabbi Rachel Adler

“What is Tradition, and How Do We Learn from It?”

11:30–1:00 pm            “Jewish Feminist Thought . . .                                                                                    (Interlocken A/B Foyer)

A Visual Timeline-Artist’s Book”

Rabbinic  Pastor Sandra Wortzel

Like Miriam wandering the desert with the Israelites, divining for water, finding wells of rejuvenation for a parched peoples…  Jewish Feminists were and are diviners of thoughts, words, actions and deeds.  This one-of-a-kind artist’s book visually embraces many changes over 60 years including the redefinition of feminism and what it means to each generation that has had the privilege of experiencing the evolution of Judaism through the bold and brilliant excavations and reconstructions of feminist theologians, scholars and every day women.  This book reflects the ingenuity, grace, holy chutzpah and chesed that are Jewish Feminism.

12:00–1:00 pm            Lunch                                                                                                                                                (Interlocken A)

Private lunch meeting, ALEPH VAAD                                                                        (Boardroom)

1:15–2:15 pm            Plenary Session                                                                                                                        (Interlocken B)

“Ecstasy and Ethics:  Knowing the Dangers,

                                           Integrating the Gifts”

OHALAH Ethics Committee represented by

Rabbi Richard Simon, Chair, and Rabbi Shefa Gold

In Jewish Renewal, we are notorious for our creativity and courage in transforming ordinary prayer into experiences of bliss through music, movement, and daring direct encounter with the Mystery.  Many of us were drawn to Renewal because of our sense of adventure.  We love to cross the boundaries of normal, discursive consciousness into expanded states of ecstasy.  And yet we have learned (sometimes the hard way) of the dangers of ecstatic practice (inflation, dissociation, addiction, the unhealthy dissipation of energy).  In this hour-long plenary, we will explore some of those dangers, as well as the rewards of ecstasy in prayer.

2:30–4:00 pm            Workshops—90 Minutes                                    “From All My Teachers I Have Learned”

Living and Completing Life Well:  A Workshop in Bioethics                    (Birch)

Teacher—Rabbinic Pastor De Herman

In our rapidly advancing biotechnology world, we have the capacity to screen our DNA for genetic diseases and forestall future medical maladies.  Research studies since the Genome Project hold great promise for prevention and cures.  Yet without knowledge of history and understanding of our capacity to do harm, these “advances” have the potential to bring about unforeseen disaster.  Legislation can’t keep pace.  As clergy, we are called upon to serve on ethics committees to grapple with ethical questions never before posed to doctors, caregivers, patients, families, and those who want to be parents.  This workshop opens with a brief history of bioethics through a Jewish lens. Then, in small groups acting as mini-ethics committees, participants will be presented bioethics cases, challenged to develop responses, and invited to           share with the class.

Telling Stories of Our Teachers and Our Teachings                              (Aspen)

Teacher—Rabbi Chava Bahle

Rabbi Nachman says that when one tells stories of the tzadikkim, the eternal impression created by their service of God is aroused, and its vibration awakens the heart to G-d with powerful longing and yearning.  In this participatory workshop, we will share stories of our teachers and of our most luminous teachings in holy chevrutah.  By taking the time to craft and share our stories, we grow in wisdom, deepen our connections to each other and awaken the soul-impressions of our teachers. Using opening ritual and chant to create a sacred, trusting space, story sharing will be the vehicle through which we bring honor to our teachers and our best teachings and open our hearts to one another’s teachers.

Organic Torah:   How to Read Texts as Eco-Systems and                         (Spruce)

Bring them to Life

Teacher—Rabbi Natan Margalit

We have mostly been taught to read and analyze by breaking things down, dissecting into smallest parts. Jewish texts like Torah, Mishnah, Midrash, and Gemara don’t work like that. They are organic and need to be understood as whole, interactive, non-linear webs of meaning. They are organic and follow the same rules as an eco-system.  In this workshop, we’ll learn to read texts as eco-systems. We’ll practice shifting our mode of thought, getting out of our normal left brain analysis and learn to look at the whole, perceive patterns and bring out the life in the texts. We will use some experiential warming up exercises to shift our perception, and look together at some classic texts with new eyes: gal eyai v’abita nifla’ot mi’torateikha (open my eyes and I’ll see wonders in your Torah).

A Sacred Trust:  Creative Jewish Values-Based Approaches to Leading          (Alder)

Sacred Community

Teacher—Rabbi Shawn Zevit

We can’t lead in a vacuum – the work of leadership is done within a larger system. Whether you are on the rabbi, hazzan, pastor, or lay leader, working within a well-defined governance structure can help to clarify roles and responsibilities. This session will highlight in study, interactive exercises and discussion effective models and tools, Jewish texts and values, the psycho-spiritual kabbalah for managing congregational and organizational life as well as explore the key elements to effective Jewish leadership.

4:10–4:35 pm            Healing Minchah                                                                                                                        (Private Dining Room)

Rabbinic Pastor Shulamit Fagan,

Rabbinic Pastor Stephanie Tivona Reith

Settle into breathing and being, healing and wholeness in all four worlds.

4:45–5:45 pm            Workshops—60 Minutes                                                “From All My Teachers I Have Learned”

Healing One’s Hisaron:  Tikkun Olam, Tikkun Halev, and the Work     (Aspen)

of the Rabbinate in the Light of Izhbitzer Teachings

Teacher—Rabbi David Seidenberg

We’ll study selected texts from Mei Hashiloach that describe hisaron, how to identify one’s hisaron, and how to heal it, and the relationship between one’s hisaron and the unique gift one has to offer the world.

B’nei Mitzvah Journey                                                                                                                                    (Spruce)

Teacher—Rabbi Chaya Gusfield

With the pressures of the b’nei mitzvah curriculum, it is sometimes easy to lose sight of some of the underlying goals of the journey; to connect with God, take responsibility for self, care for our community, develop a love and respect for Torah, and learn how to really pray.  I will share how I used intuition, Spiritual Direction, group facilitation, and ritual leadership skills to help create our 7th grade into a caring community filled with depth, reflection, and davenning.  We will have an opportunity to share with each other and brainstorm ways to redefine success within this age group.  We will not specifically explore how to design b’nei mitzvah curriculum but hopefully you will come away with some ideas for how to enhance your own programs.

Clergy Internet Toolkit                                                       (Birch)

Teachers—Rabbi Rachel Barenblat, rabbinic student David Markus

What does it mean to minister to people online? How can Jewish clergy best use Facebook and G+,Twitter, and blogs to reach out to our communities and to stay connected with our chevre and those to whom we tend…and what is the shadow side of all of these technologies; what are the challenges and potential pitfalls of being plugged-in? Is it possible to provide pastoral care via Skype? or Facebook? How careful do we need to be in monitoring our own online presences? What messages do we send when we are (or are not) available digitally 24/7? What are the unexpected blessings of being clergy in this brave new networked world? Can cultivating online presence tangibly support brick-and-mortar communities, and if so, how?  We will moderate a roundtable in which participants around the room can share their best practices and their experiences and their resources.

T’hillim                                                                           (Alder)

Teacher—Cantor Jalda Rebling

The  ta´amei ha mikra for  Mishli and T´hillim are lost. The ancient poetry doesn’t fit into our modern musical system.   We have only few descriptions how the t´hillim were sung.  Is it possible to renew the old way to praise the source of life? Based on my work with Maria Jonas and Ars Coralis Coelln , Catholic women scholars, and  Miriam Amer, a female Qur´an teacher, we women of three different traditions walked a path to our sources. Singing together we found a path to renew the old experience of the treasure of ancient poetry. A path which is astonishingly, radically modern.  You are invited to walk our path singing and praising the source of life. A joyful musical experiment. Hallelu Yah!

6:00–7:00 pm            Dinner and benching                                                                                                            (Interlocken A)

Private dinner meeting, OHALAH/RPA boards                                                            (Spruce)

Private dinner meeting, RP students with RP Shulamit Fagan                  (Aspen)

6:30–8:00 pm            Shuk open – Last Call!                                                                                                (Centennial F)

8:00–8:30 pm            Ma’ariv Davvenen                                                                                                            (Interlocken B)

8:45–10:15 pm            Film and Discussion—“A Fire in the Forest”                                                (Interlocken B)

Rabbi Marc Soloway

Filmmakers Chuck Davis, Netanel Miles-Yepez

“A Fire in the Forest” is a new documentary on the life and legacy of the Ba’al Shem Tov (Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, 1698-1760), which explores how the Besht’s teachings can be applied to our lives today.  The film tells the story of an extraordinary journey to Ukraine in search of the Besht with the film’s narrator and host Rabbi Marc Soloway and is interspersed with inspiring interview segments with rabbis, scholars, and teachers of Hasidism, including our own Reb Zalman and others including Reb Mimi Feigelson, Rabbi Arthur Green, Dr. Susannah Heschel, Grand Rabbi Yitzhak Aharon Korff, Dr. Ada Rapaport-Albert, and many others.

The film is produced and directed by Chuck Davis and Netanel Miles-Yepez, bot of whom will join Rabbi Marc for a talkback and discussion following the screening of the film.

10:15–11:30 pm            Affinity group gatherings                                                                                                (Rooms TBD)

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

All Day                                    Registration/information materials                                                            (Interlocken A/B Foyer)

7:00–8:00 am            Shacharit Davvenen                       

• Traditional– bring your own siddur                               (Aspen)
• Movement and meditation                                          (Spruce)
• Interpretive                                                            (Birch)

7:45–9:00 am            Breakfast                                                                                                                                    (Interlocken A)

9:15–11:30 am            Plenary Panel on Halachah                                                                                    (Interlocken B)

12:00–1:00 pm            Lunch                                                                                                                                                (Interlocken A)

Private lunch meeting, RPA members                                                                        (Alder)

1:15–2:30 pm            OHALAH/RPA Membership Meeting                                                            (Interlocken B)

Presenters

Description

2:45–4:15 pm            Workshops—90 Minutes                                                “From All My Teachers I Have Learned”

Maggidut:  The Service Leader as Storyteller/Troubador                                                (Alder)

Teacher—Maggid Steve Klaper

The Jewish Maggidim of the 18th century traveled from town to town, telling stories and preaching to Jewish peasants in language they could easily understand – the language of story and song. Though the maggidim were often highly educated, their way of connecting with the masses stood in sharp contrast to the Torah scholars and rabbis of the day.  Before the term rebbe caught on, many early chassidic rabbis were known by the title of maggid. This is an overview of the maggid’s role in Jewish history and an exploration of how we might utilize these traditional methods for revitalizing worship and invigorating a congregation in new ways.  We’ll explore different categories of story –– midrash, parable, chassidic tale –– as well as the use of melody, nusach and neo-chasidic chant as away to blend the modern and traditional in creating an overall liturgical experience. Handouts will include stories and midrash on prayer and a list of resources to find more.

Tachunun                                                                                                                                                                        (Spruce)

Teacher—Rabbi Elyssa Joy Auster

Through chevrutah text study, guided private prostrated practice, and group discussion we will explore the meaning and beauty of Tachanun in modern Judaism.  Participants should bring a tallit or shawl with which to cover themselves during the private practice. Bring your yoga mats, if you have one; if you don’t, large towels will be provided on which we will practice our Tachanun.

Real Name of G!d                                                            (Birch)

Teacher—Rabbi Wayne Dosick

We will explore the fascinating account of the revolutionary discovery of the Name of the Whole, Complete, G!d, and coming to know the grand G!d of the vast universe and the Inner G!d of breath and soul.  This will be a journey on pathways of mind and spirit that will bring each one of us into deep, personal, intimate, loving relationship with G!d, and ever-closer to a world of Oneness.

Joy of Sage-ing                                                                 (Alder)

Teachers—Rabbi Malka Drucker, Rabbi Ori Har DiGennaro

During Ohalah 2009, Reb Zalman invited us to engage in the Sage-ing work. Out of that call-to-action, we formed the first cohort of the Sage-ing Mentorship Training. Each one of us has taken upon ourselves the practice of sage-ing, and we are very enthusiastic teachers and presenters of Reb Zalman’s book:  From Age-ing to Sage-ing.  We are creatively engaged in the changing world of Jewish and non-Jewish boomers and non-boomers, offering knowledge and powerful contemplative tools for gathering and giving expression to the wisdom of our ripening lives. Sage-ing is a journey toward becoming a conscious elder, an awake human being who can bring about the great shift towards expanded consciousness and Mashiach times. “Limnot Yameinu…teach us to treasure each day that we may have a heart of wisdom.” (Ps. 90:12). Come and have a taste of this delicious work.

4:25–4:45 pm            Minchah Davvenen                                                                                                            (Private Dining Room)

Service leader

5:00–6:00 pm            Workshops—60 Minutes                                                “From All My Teachers I Have Learned”

Eco-Food Production                                                                                                                                                (Aspen)

Teacher—Rabbi Elisheva Brenner

If people in your congregation are asking about environmental and ecological issues, this workshop is for you!  One of my greatest challenges as a rabbi has been to move away from the academic and intellective approach to teaching and into an experiential, fun approach.  I have developed a unified theory of Eco-Judaism and some rituals and techniques that are working very well for getting groups of all kinds excited about this new interpretive lens for text study, lifecycle and community events, and involved in their food system on both a micro and macro level. In this workshop, we will discuss an original, integrated theory of Eco-Judaism as a system of sustainability centered on the holiness of our food system. Then we will experiment with some techniques for teaching and moving the teaching into our lives in our synagogue communities and beyond.

Zikr and Chant                                                                                                                                                            (Spruce)

Teacher—Rabbi Pam Frydman

The Sunni practice of Zikr is an embodied form of prayer which includes chanting and simple movement that deepens our experience of the Holy One. This form, traditionally an Islamic devotional form, typically involves the recitation of the Names of G!d. We will have a short discussion of Zikr in Jewish practice, and then open ourselves to this form of deep prayer.

Reb Zalman, the Ba’al Shem Tov, and the Roots of Davvenology          (Birch)

Teacher—Rabbi Burt Jacobson

In this workshop we will examine the influence of the Ba’al Shem Tov on Reb Zalman’s life and thought, particularly on Zalman’s creative way of renewing the practice of davennen. Rabbi Burt will also discuss Zalman’s personal influence on his own life. The class will be taught through lecture, text study, guided visualization and davvenen practice.

Leading Effective Worship Services                                             (Alder)

Teacher—Rabbi Bob Freedman

The responsibility for guiding worshipers through the liturgy, creating a space in which worshipers can attain prayer-mind, belongs to the leader of prayer. The skills required enable the leader both to remove the barriers to worshipers’ involvement and to involve worshipers in activities that deepen and illuminate the prayer experience, bringing the prayers out of the prayerbook and into the heart. It’s a skill set that can be taught and learned. With experience and interaction between participants, this workshop introduces the concepts of being an effective service leader that are in my recently published book, Lens, Mirror, Spark, and Lamp. For many it will be a different perspective and an enhancement of what they have learned in Davvenen Leadership Training Institute (DLTI).

6:00–7:15 pm            Dinner and benching                                                                                                            (Interlocken A)

Private dinner meeting, OHALAH/ALEPH boards                                                            (Spruce)

7:30–8:00 pm            Ma’ariv Davvenen                                                                                                            (Interlocken B)

8:15–10:00 pm            Cabaret, hosted by Rabbi Mark Novak                                                            (Interlocken B)

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

7:45–8:45 am            Breakfast                                                                                                                                    (Interlocken A)

9:00–9:45 am            Shacharit Davvenen – Rabbi David Ingber                                                (Interlocken B)

10:00–11:00 am            Closing Shiur — “Divine Sparks from Our Zaide”                                    (Interlocken B)

We are privileged, once again, to receive an illuminating message from

our beloved Zaide, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi.

11:00–11:15 am            ClosingCircle                                                                                                                        (Interlocken B)

11:00–12:00 pm            Box Lunches available                                                                                                (Interlocken A)

N’siyyah Tovah / L’hitraot!

 Have a safe journey home.  See you next year, B”H.

Post-Conference Events:

12:00 – 5:00 pm       ALEPH Vaad  (Lunch noon – 2:15)                                                 (Boardroom)

1:00 – 11:00 pm        OHALAH Board Retreat                                                                       (Fir)

OHALAH, the association of clergy for Jewish Renewal, is delighted to announce that Rabbi Rachel Adler will be our keynote speaker at the OHALAH conference in Broomfield, CO, January 13-16, 2013. Click here for conference registration.

The theme for the 2013 conference is Mikol Melamdai Hiskalti, “From all of my teachers, I have learned.” Each annual OHALAH conference includes davenen (worship), plenary sessions on topics of interest to Jewish clergy, teachings, workshops and discussions held in small groups; delicious kosher meals; time to get to know one another, schmooze with friends and share praxis and chevreschaft; and a shuk (bazaar) where Jewish artisans sell their wares.

Rabbi Rachel Adler is Associate Professor of Modern Jewish Thought and Judaism and Gender at the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion and at the Los Angeles campus of the University of Southern California School of Religion. She was one of the first theologians to integrate feminist perspectives and concerns into Jewish texts and the renewal of Jewish law and ethics. She was ordained as a rabbi in 2012.

Rabbi Adler will lead a text study on Sunday night, and will offer her keynote address on Monday morning. In addition to Rabbi Adler’s plenary sessions, the conference will also feature sessions and workshops led by OHALAH members. (The schedule is currently being finalized and will be published on the OHALAH website soon.) Evening activities will include a trip to Boulder, the screening of A Holy Fire (a new film about the Baal Shem Tov), and a cabaret.

The OHALAH conference takes place in Colorado each year. OHALAH welcomes ordained rabbis from all denominations of Judaism as well as cantors, rabbinic pastors, chaplains and current students of those professions who are invited to apply to attend the OHALAH conference. Attendees sign a statement agreeing to abide by the OHALAH ethics code. 

By Sue Fishkoff.

The whispers became a rumor, then news that traveled excitedly through Bay Area Jewish Renewal circles: Reb Zalman is coming to town.

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, the 87-year-old granddaddy of Jewish Renewal — the New Age, neo-Chasidic movement he founded three decades ago — is considered one of the few Jewish sages alive today. In the 1970s he fused the mystical traditions of his Lubavitch background with modern sensibilities concerning the environment, technology and psychology in an effort to reinvigorate a Judaism he found stultifying.

Without dismissing Jewish rituals, he told his followers not to be content with surface observance. Look deep inside yourselves, he said. Dance, sing, find the joy within Judaism — don’t be spiritually lazy.

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Born in Poland, a survivor of the Holocaust, an ordained Lubavitch rabbi and a Sufi shaykh, Reb Zalman (as he is known to his followers) has never been afraid to cross boundaries. He’s sure to cross some more next week when he delivers four talks in Oakland — three at the Islamic Cultural Center and the last at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland. They will be the foundation of his next book, he says.For 60 years, Reb Zalman has lectured and written widely on subjects including Hasidism, Jewish law and Jewish practice. A promoter of ecumenical dialogue, his conversation with the Dalai Lama was documented in the book “The Jew in the Lotus.” His most popular book, “Jewish with Feeling,” published in 2007, is an introduction to Jewish practice, Reb Zalman–style.

While he continues to mentor students all over the world, Schacter-Shalomi rarely travels anymore, telling j. in a Skype interview from his home in Boulder, Colo., “I’m going to be 88, baruch HaShem, and I’m working with a battery that doesn’t hold a big charge.”

He’s coming here, he says, because of his affection for Ibrahim Farajajé, his friend, fellow Sufi shaykh and provost of the Starr King School for the Ministry, a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Berkeley, which is offering Reb Zalman an honorary doctorate.

Reb Zalman shrugs off the suggestion that it’s unusual for a rabbi to speak at an Islamic center. He’s spent decades building relationships with followers of other faiths, looking to find commonalities that strengthen the contributions each can make to the world.

“Every religion is a vital organ of the planet,” he says. “It would be stupid to have a triumphalist view that the whole body should be liver, or the whole body should be lungs. The whole planet has to be a healthy planet, and we Jews are a vital organ of the planet — Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists as well as all the forms of indigenous religions. Each one of us has to be the healthiest we can be. If the liver is healthy, then the heart will be healthy and the brain will be healthy.”

That’s what Jewish Renewal is about, he explains — making Judaism more healthy. “If a thing doesn’t renew itself, it grows old and dies. The body has to renew itself. So Judaism has renewed itself.”

Many of the innovations Reb Zalman developed in the 1970s and ’80s have caught on beyond Renewal circles, from rainbow-striped prayer shawls to eco-Judaism, a term he coined to describe the Jewish values underlying environmental sustainability. These ideas, and others like them, considered radical at the time, are now mainstream in many congregations.

“We have been copied so wonderfully, from frum [observant] Orthodox to Reform,” he says.  “Everyone wants a shtickel  [little bit] of what works, of what gets people to experience energy in what they’re doing.”

On one hand, Reb Zalman insists that he is stepping back from leadership of his movement. “My death is going to come up not too long from now,” he says. “I’m not scared about it. And I’m not the one who has to worry about Judaism. I think God, the way he used me, he’s going to use other people now.”

On the other hand, he’s just published a new translation of the daily siddur, or prayerbook, designed to help Jews access the spiritual essence of the act of davening, or praying, the way it’s practiced in Renewal-inspired congregations. In the best synagogues, he says, “The shul begins to live and breathe, and people dance in the aisles, and people can cry when they need to cry. And when they pray, they not only recite the words — they pray for what they really need and from the heart.”

Reb Zalman says his talks next week, which he calls his “swan song,” will be a distillation of what he’s learned in his life.

“My thesis is that there is an ultimate reality,” he says, “and I will try to make the case for that through religion, transpersonal psychology and quantum mechanics.” He says he also will “point to that place where every religion addresses its divinity in symbols and myths, scriptures and liturgies accessible to their cultures.”

The visit will be a homecoming as well. In 1974, Reb Zalman led a month-long Kabbalah workshop in Berkeley that gave birth to the still-active Aquarian Minyan, considered one of the world’s first Renewal congregations.

“I remember with great relish the days when there was a meeting of the ways in Northern California (at which many spiritual teachers participated), where we all got together and celebrated, and [Rabbi] Shlomo [Carlebach] was singing and everybody was dancing,” he recalls.

“And there still is a little bit of that flavor left in the Bay Area.”

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi will speak at 4 p.m. Aug. 21, 10 a.m. Aug. 22 and 9:45 a.m. Aug. 23 as part of the Starr King School for the Ministry “Living in the Differences” symposium, at the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California, 1433 Madison St., Oakland. Conferral of honorary degree, closing ritual and Reb Zalman teaching, 6-8:30 p.m. Aug. 23 at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St., Oakland. All events involving Reb Zalman are free and open to the public. RSVP required at http://www.sksm.edu.

(Original article at JWeekly.)

Rabbi Novick’s writings, papers, and photographs will be archived at the University of Colorado in Boulder (where there is already an established archive of materials from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi.)

The signed contract was announced this summer at a Jewish Studies meeting by Prof. David Schneer, Chair of the Department. All of Reb Leah’s materials will be made available students and faculty, as well as to visiting scholars and historians with interest in the Jewish Renewal Movement. This gift coincides with Reb Leah’s twenty-five years in the rabbinate and celebration of her recent eightieth birthday. In conjunction with the gift, Reb Leah will be presenting a special Shekhinah seminar at U.C. on Thursday January 17th, 2013.

Ordained in 1987, Leah has served alternative and conventional congregations. In recent years, she has traveled extensively in the U.S, and Israel presenting her teachings and meditations on the Tree of Life in many venues. She is a devoted student and teacher of Zohar who has focused on conveying the understanding of Shekhinah to Jewish and inter-faith groups. She synthesized those insights into her book On the Wings of Shekhinah, Rediscovering Judaism’s Divine Feminine (Quest 2008) and  CD of her guided meditations – recorded with Desert Wind. Her other writings (and a performance piece entitled “The Peaceful Maccabee”) are focused on Jewish women of other historical periods who broke through cultural barriers to become great spiritual leaders and teachers.

Reb Leah, who was honored as an Aleph “Pathfinder” for her pioneering work, was a founder of Ruach Ha Aretz retreat group and two renewal congregations; Beit Shekhinah in Berkeley, CA (1980′s) and Shabbos in Carmel, CA (1990′s.) She now serves as President of Spirit of the Earth (non-profit education) which is currently focused on convening a meeting of the women rabbis of Northern California (of which there are almost 80 now) October 28-30 2012.

Reb Leah lives on the Central Coast of California and draws inspiration for her creative work from the ocean and the redwoods. (She also hopes it contributes to her longevity as she is the oldest woman rabbi within the Reconstructionist, Reform, and Renewal Movements.)

The historic ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act(ACA) is a victory for those who believe, as we do, that health care is a fundamental human right. The ACA has the chance to help the nearly forty million currently uninsured Americans receive coverage and the millions of underinsured who will see their situation improved. It is our hope that this decision will help remedy and heal the injustices and inefficiencies in the United States health care system, by guaranteeing preventative and emergency care, affordable prescription drugs, and insurance despite pre-existing conditions, among other benefits. We are also pleased that the Medicaid expansion stands, helping lower-income individuals get the health care they deserve. The ACA can now bring the health insurance system closer to reflecting our highest spiritual aspirations.

It is also our hope and prayer that this decision, although decided by a divided court, will begin to allow for healing of the deep divisions in the United States that this issue has caused, and allow us as a nation to work together towards our common goals and solving our common challenges.

— by Rabbi Edi Stafman and Rabbi Pam Frydman

(Original article at the PJ Voice.)