Below are the three press releases comprising the April 2007 ALEPH News Service. We hope you run one or more of the following articles in your newsletters or email tranmittals or web sites, and look forward to hearing from you if you do. This release contains:

1. July ALEPH Kallah Registration is Booming
2. First ALEPH Israel tour returns
3. ALEPH participates in Rabbinic student retreat

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/
Executive Director
ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal
DebraRuth@mac.com

July ALEPH Kallah Registration is Booming

The city of Albuquerque and this year's remarkable Kallah program are proving to be a significant draw for those interested in Jewish Renewal learning and community. Several classes have already reached capacity or come within one or two of their limit. Those interested in attending should make sure to send their registration in before May 15 to avoid a late fee and to ensure the class they want is still available.

Whether it is cultural programming (a star studded Wednesday night Cabaret, a late night showcase, a film festival, story telling venues) meaningful davenning (10 daily morning prayer services ranging from meditative to traditional to ecstatic to shul-tune laden and Shabbat services led by some of the most compelling rabbis and cantors in the Jewish world), community (thoughtful, engaged, creative, compassionate Jewish professionals, lay leaders, scholars, activists, intellectuals, first timers and old timers from around the world), learning (classes taught by some of the most acclaimed Jewish teachers in the county) family fun (children's programming that gets rave reviews year after year) or the urge to try something new and different, the ALEPH Kallah has something for you!

A few of the many classes for which you can still register:

"Sage-ing in Joy and Holiness: An Initiation," with Rabbi Shaya Isenberg and Bahira Sugarman, for elders, elders in training and their families.

"Bi Chol Nafshecha-B'Chol M'odecha-With All Your Breath-With All You Have in You: A Master Class in the Art of the Hazzan," taught by Cantor Jack Kessler, for those called to serve as a sheliach tzibur, with special coaching for advanced students and practicing cantors

"Psycho-Halacha to the Rescue! Building Community One Person as a Time," led by Rabbi Daniel Siegel, exploring the balance between individual needs and community observance

"The Tent of Abraham, Hagar and Sarah," with Rabbi Arthur Waskow and Imam Ibrahim Kazerooni, on engaging deeply across the Muslim and Jewish traditions and finding opportunities to create meaningful social action together

"20 Minute Kabbalah: The Daily Spiritual Practice that Weaves Mystical Pathways to G!d, Your Soul and Your Heart's Desires," with Rabbi Wayne Dosick and Ellen Kaufman Dosick

The Kallah program, along with information about selling at the shuk, being a healer or a performer, participating in the Kesher Program for young adults and more can be viewed at www.aleph.org/kallah.html.

First ALEPH Israel tour returns

Nachshon Da-vid Mahanymi

After three weeks in Israel I am back home in Philadelphia but the friendships, images, fragrances and peak moments of the first Jewish Renewal Pilgrimage to Israel still echo in my heart, mind and soul. In 12 days we traveled south to the Judean deserts; north to the mountains of the Galilee and completed our trip in aliyah la-regel (ascent to the gathering) in Yerushalayim. We returned home tired, with stories for a life-time. Participant Ora Weiss said, "I cannot imagine a trip to Israel with a more intimate, spiritual and insightful view on the land and the people. Pesach, Kabbalah, Judaism, history and the energetics of holy places, all came alive under the skillful teaching, guidance and music of Reb Marcia, Chazzan Jack and Nachshon David. My heart is cracked open."

We began in the desert oasis of Ein Gedi, initiating our pattern of balancing the spiritual uplift of Torah with soaking our physical selves in water. The unique climate conditions on the shores of the Dead Sea and the time in the hot sulfur pools resulted in a quick adjustment from jet leg. The sensual oasis landscape evoked the palpable presence of our ancestors. Sitting by the water we read from the Song of Songs:

"While the King was on his couch, my nard gave forth its fragrance. My beloved to me is a bag of myrrh lodged between my breasts. My beloved to me is a spray of henna blooms from the vineyards of Win gedi"

On to Tzfat, where we studied with artists David Friedman and Abraham Lowenthal who demonstrated the powerful creativity evoked by the study of Kabbalah on the hills above the Galilee. After our ascent to Tzfat we boarded a sunset boat ride on the Kineret (Sea of Galilee). We danced joyfully to the music and drumbeats of our hip Israeli hosts.

Jerusalem was our final destination. Local peace activists taught us about the vast array of peace and justice efforts that rarely make it to American media outlets. Rabbi Arik Ascherman from Rabbis for Human Rights led us on an inspiriting and challenging tour, communicating the complexity of the political and economic realities of Israel with great compassion and clarity. Rodef Shalom (Pursuer of Peace) Eliyahu Mclean told us about his achievements and challenges in bringing together religious leaders in Israel. We were honored to meet one of his allies, the Sufi sheik Abdul aziz El-Bukhari.

The Passover Seder with Rabbi Marcia Prager and Jack Kessler, was Jewish Renewal at its best. In a remarkable room overlooking the walls of the old city of Yerushalayim we gathered to celebrate personal and collective stories of liberation. We declared our practices of placing the olive and the orange on the Seder plate as well as using Miriam's cup as minhag America/American custom, happy to bring them to Yerushalayim.

Our pilgrimage in the land of Israel was complex, intense and exquisitely beautiful. For me, as an Israeli American, bringing Renewal friends to the landscape of my early years signaled a move from despair and frustration towards hope and healing. We were part of the manifestation of Zionism's vision of creating an exemplary society in the land of Israel. That vision included the spiritual revival that this trip embodied and that Jewish Renewal manifests in all of our work. For others, like participant Miriam Pollack, the spiritual component was the key. She said, "This was my 6th trip to Israel. For the most part, none of the places we visited was new to me, but the spiritual journey that we were immersed in throughout our travels, fused with the power and wonder of Israel, was more than new. Its potency was of a magnitude that I never could have dreamed. It was all that I was seeking and so much more. Dayenu!"

May the merit of our fulfilling the mitzvah of pilgrimage to Yerushalayim this Pesach accrue to the manifestation of an exemplary society in the land of Israel, speedily and in our days.

ALEPH participates in Rabbinic student retreat

Two students from the Aleph rabbinic program participated in an interdenominational rabbinic student retreat created by Panim: the Center for Communal Jewish Renewal.

The retreat was co-sponsored by, and included students from, Hebrew Union College (New York, Cincinnati, and Los Angeles branches), the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, the Rabbinical School at Hebrew College, the Academy for Jewish Religion, the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, ALEPH, Drisha, and the Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School.

The retreat -- led by rabbis Sidney Schwartz, Jill Jacobs, and Or Rose -- focused on the theme of Spirituality, Social Justice, and the Rabbinate. "The sources of Judaism are filled with references to the values of din/judgement, emet/truth and shalom/peace or wholeness and more," the organizers note. "All of these values point to the need for Jews to attend to the most vulnerable in our midst through acts of chesed/loving kindness, and tend to the social injustice we see in the world through acts of tzedek/righteousness. How do these principles shape our respective rabbinates?"

The weekend featured learning, sessions focused on the retreat theme of social justice, time for conversation and connection, and thrice-daily prayer led by, and for, students. "We could have spent all weekend just learning about each other's programs and movements," said Rachel Barenblat, one of the ALEPH delegates. "People had a lot of questions about Jewish Renewal!"

"The formal programming was terrific," Barenblat added, "though I personally got the most out of the transdenominational prayer -- both the prayer itself, and our conversations about the various compromises many of us made in order to pray together as a community -- and out of the chance to connect with students from other programs. I truly feel I've gained beloved teachers and colleagues across the Jewish spectrum."

Learn more about Panim www.panim.org and about the ALEPH Ordination programs www.aleph.org/ordination.html