ALEPH and Or Tzafon Celebrate Two-Year Partnership
About ALEPH: ALEPH acts as the headquarters of the Jewish Renewal movement
by organizing and nurturing communities, developing spiritual leadership,
ordaining rabbis, cantors and rabbinic pastors, creating liturgical and
scholarly resources, holding retreats and festivals and working for social
and environmental justice.
ALEPH has attracted and energized thousands of seekers returning to Judaism
and thousands who are deeply engaged but looking to elevate their current
practice. ALEPH has 42 affiliated communities and its projects include two
biennial gatherings: the Kallah and Ruach HaAretz; the Sacred Foods Project,
C-DEEP: The Center for Devotional, Energy, and Ecstatic Practice, the Bet
Midrash (producing siddurim, publications, videos and CDs from our founder
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and other Jewish Renewal teachers) and Kesher
(supporting twenty and early thirty year old leaders). In addition to its
projects, ALEPH also produces one-day Jewish Renewal festivals in
communities around the US and Canada called Caravans. It is home to Ohalah:
The Association of Rabbis for Jewish Renewal and a Rabbinic Studies Program,
educating future rabbis, cantors and rabbinic pastors.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like
additional information. ALEPH looks forward to working with you,
Debra Kolodny /s/
Sacred Foods Project Welcomes Three New Advisory Council Members, Plans
National Conference
The interfaith Sacred Foods Project works with communities of faith,
environmental and agricultural advocates and the food industry to define and
promote sustainable and healthy food and improve the quality of our land,
air, water and the treatment of agricultural workers. Housed in ALEPH:
Alliance for Jewish Renewal, the project works in partnership with the
National Catholic Rural Life Conference, Chicago based Faith in Place (an
interfaith organization that is a pioneer in delivering Eco-Halal meat for
the Muslim community) and Seattle based Food Alliance (creators of
sustainable food standards).
Three new members joined the Sacred Foods Advisory Council in November:
Andrew Kang Bartlett of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Mohammad Mazhar
Hussaini of the Islamic Society of North America and Dr. Joe Regenstein of
Cornell University.
Andrew Kang Bartlett is an associate for the Presbyterian Hunger Program
(pcusa.org). For the past 17 years, Bartlett has worked in sustainable
agriculture, community and rural development, advocacy and national
campaigns, grants management, program coordination, resource development and
educational outreach. He earned a Master of Arts studying progressive
approaches to community-based rural development, largely based on work with
small farmers and communities in Latin America.
Mohammad Mazhar Hussaini is the Director of Islamic Society of North
America's Halal Certification Program. He served as the Regional Nutrition
Coordinator of the Department of Public Health of the City of Chicago for 24
years. He has Master's degree in Food and Nutrition and is a Licensed
Dietitian in the State of Illinois. He is a published author, nutritionist,
and a respected leader in Halal education.
Dr. Regenstein is a Professor of Food Science in the Department and
Institute of Food Science at Cornell University. He leads the Cornell Kosher
Food Initiative, which provides extension services to the kosher and halal
foods sector and was a columnist for many years for KASHRUS Magazine. Dr.
Regenstein was recently the keynote speaker at the 5th International Halal
Food Conference in Chicago and is a technical advisor to the Islamic Food
and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA). He is the co-founder of the
Institute of Food Technologists' Religious and Ethnic Foods Division.
The Sacred Foods Project's first national conference will be held in June
2006 in New York. It will bring leaders in the food industry and religious
institutions together with clergy and nonprofit organizations to discuss
dietary and related ethical advice of the nation's major faith traditions
and their relevance to modern concerns about food safety, security and
sustainability. The conference also will provide practical advice for
faith-based institutions to improve their purchasing practices. Inquiries
about sponsoring or exhibiting at the conference should be directed to Arlin
Wasserman ( arlin@mac.com).
ALEPH and Or Tzafon Celebrate Two-Year Partnership
On October 31, 2005 ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal and the Northern
Michigan Retreat Center, Or Tzafon capped their two year grant funded
collaboration with a powerful retreat in Traverse City. This was their
seventh joint event designed to invigorate and deepen the spiritual lives of
Jews in the Midwest.
Visiting Rabbi David Zaslow and Or Tzafon's Director, Rabbi Chava Bahle were
joined by maggida (storyteller) Debra Zaslow and ALEPH's Executive Director,
Debra Kolodny to lead over forty participants through a heart, mind, and
spirit drenched journey in the weekend entitled: "Breishit: In the
Beginning."
Ms. Kolodny said, "The partnership between Or Tzafon and ALEPH embodies the
best that Judaism has to offer. Through Torah study, prayer, meditation,
joyful exploration of story, tradition and our own inner lives we renew our
souls and our commitment to do justice in the world. ALEPH looks forward to
many more wonderful years of collaboration with the creative and talented
Rabbi Chava Bahle and her Midwestern treasure, Or Tzafon."
This event was the second retreat co-produced by the partners, building upon
Or Tzafon's strong three-year track record. In addition to these retreats,
the partners took the Jewish Renewal experience on the road with three
one-day Caravan festivals filled with teaching and prayer. The tour began in
May of 2004 at the Jewish Renewal community of Makom Shalom in Chicago. It
moved to the Reform Temple, Congregation Sinai in November of 2004 and ended
in March of 2005 at the Jewish Renewal affiliated Pardes Hannah in Ann Arbor
Michigan. All events met with rave reviews, like this one from a participant
at the Chicago event: "I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed today's
Caravan. I was awed, amazed and inspired. I did not believe a shul like
this existed. When I walked into Makom for the first time I felt a sense of
peace and calmness that I have never experienced before in a shul. Thank
you. Thank you. Thank you."
Clear that producing events would not sustain the necessary infrastructure
for the long term work of inspiring Jewish practice and communal engagement,
Or Tzafon and ALEPH also hosted two technical assistance trainings for
Jewish Renewal communities, focusing on board development and financial
sustainability. All told, over 350 people were inspired in their personal
practice, and the communities involved have been delighted with the long
lasting positive impact of the Caravans and the training on their
congregations.
