Bringing Our Own Lives Into Torah, Haftarah, and Festival
Rabbi Waskow will be teaching a four-day class at the ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal Kallah this summer! Join him and others from July 3 – 9 in West Chester, Pennsylvania for an unforgettable and immersive experience into the magic of Jewish Renewal. There are still spots left in the class, but registration will be closing soon, on May 31st.
Kallah is the largest Jewish Renewal gathering in the world, bringing together hundreds of participants from all across the globe for a week of learning, singing, dancing, and gathering with one another. Seekers of all ages and levels of Jewish experience will join for immersion in learning, prayer, art, dance, yoga, meditation, social justice, and earth-based programs. With extraordinary four-day classes and one-day workshops in the mornings and afternoons, incredible musicians and performers in the evenings, exceptional davvenen services throughout the week, and a breathtaking full-group Kabbalat Shabbat on Friday evening, Kallah is truly an experience like no other.
About the course
PM215: Bringing Our Own Lives Into Torah, Haftarah, and Festival
Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Ph.D.
Join master teacher Rabbi Arthur Waskow in exploring his innovative way of guiding Torah study which links our personal and societal life experiences with a Torah passage addressing a similar problem. Explore his equally innovative approach to living each Jewish festival, which likewise becomes not only about the past, but a immediately relevant “actifest”: an activist festival that seeks to transform the future of society toward Jewish values of eco and social justice.
Our “life-in-Torah process” begins each class, followed by an exploration of “actifest,” to create a lively discussion drawing on our own life experiences as well as the accompanying daily Torah passage.
The course will concentrate on four festivals: Fourth of July, Yom Kippur, Hanukkah, and Pesach. The first festival—actually on the day of July 4—will be focused on the Torah roots of the Declaration of Independence found in the Torah passage called Perek haMelekh—limits on powers of the king. While exploring Yom Kippur, we may determine that an “actifest” might become a demonstration at Congressional home-district offices for Federal laws to end hunger or homelessness in America. Small groups of students will work together to plan an “actifest” for the festival being explored that day and bring those ideas home to inspire Torah and Festival-based activism.
Best for folks who are: looking for a deep dive into the topic, sparking conversation (edgy topics), looking for embodied experiences, no experience required
CATEGORY: SOCIAL JUSTICE
Registration for this memorable week will CLOSE on May 31. Learn more and register today at www.aleph.org/kallah