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Pardes Levavot

Pardes Levavot, “Orchard of Hearts,” was formed in the spirit of creating conscious holy community. Our name expresses the spiritual blossoming of each individual heart within an inspiring and nurturing orchard.

For information on our congregation please call (303) 530-4422 and leave a message or send email to info@pardeslevavot.org. To join our congregation, please print a copy of our membership form, fill it out, and send it to our Synagogue.


Pardes Levavot gratefully acknowledges Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado for their support of our Circle of Family Education program. Thank you!


Below are the July 2007 ALEPH News Service articles. We hope you run one or both of the following articles, and look forward to hearing from you if you do. This release contains:

1. 2007 ALEPH Kallah Brings 721 Jewish Seekers to Albuquerque
2. ALEPH Endorses October 8 Fast to end the Iraq War

Take good care everyone!
Shabbat Shalom,
Deb


2007 ALEPH Kallah Brings 721 Jewish Seekers to Albuquerque

The 12th International ALEPH Kallah brought creative prayer, learning, healing, joyful song, meaningful dialogue and spirited community to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque for one magical week at the beginning of July. As the premier event for Jewish Renewal, the Kallah has always been a showcase for some of the most dynamic, inspiring and thoughtful innovations in the Jewish world. This year was no different.

For a week participants immersed themselves in almost 50 courses as diverse as the morning “Torah Trek” in the Sandia Mountains led by Rabbi Mike Comins, and the afternoon “Peacebuilding 101 with ALEPH Rodef Shalom Directors, Eliyahu McLean and Ruth Broyde-Sharone. Over 150 participants chose to study in advanced level courses, where rabbis, cantors, academics, students and life long learners gathered to engage meaningfully with original texts from the Bal Shem Tov, Levinas, kabbalistic and Hasidic masters. The range of master teachers reflected the best from all streams of Judaism, with Orthodox Rosh Yeshivas leading classes along side those trained in Conservative, Reconstructionist, Renewal and independent seminaries, not to mention talented and learned lay leaders.



Evening highlights included a conversation with EvE: a One-Woman Show with brilliant performer Rima Miller, Dances of Universal Peace with Tui Wilchenski, Ecstatic Devotional Chant with the innovator of Kabbalah Kirtan: YofiYa, the Tent of Sacred Tales with master writer, teacher and Maggid Yitzchak Buxbaum and an Eshet Hazon ceremony led by Rabbi Hannah Tiferet Siegel, where four long time leaders in Jewish Renewal were chosen to “honor the light of Sheckhina that shines through devoted women artists, organizers, teachers and healers.”



Once again the Kallah Cabaret highlighted some of the most powerful storytellers, musicians, composers and theatre artists in the Jewish world. Participants had the privilege of experiencing Cantor Linda Hirschorn, song mistress Consuelo Luz, Rabbis Joe Black, Hanna Tiferet Siegel, Shawn Zevit, Shefa Gold and award winning story-tellers Mark Novak and Renee Brachfeld.



More than any prior year this Kallah saw extensive leadership from our Kesher aged community-with people in their twenties and early thirties performing, running significant portions of the Kids Kallah, teaching classes and workshops, holding significant volunteer positions and of course experiencing the Kesher program itself.



To find out more about ALEPH and its upcoming events visit www.aleph.org <http://www.aleph.org/> . ALEPH’s next week-long retreat will be sponsored by Ruach HaAretz and will be held in Oregon in July 2008. See http://ruachhaaretz.org/for details.

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ALEPH Endorses October 8 Fast to end the Iraq War


Joining The Shalom Center, the Office of International Affairs & Peace of the National Council of Churches, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Buddhist Peace Fellowship amongst others, ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal voted to sign onto the October 8 fast to call for an end to the Iraq War.

Joining people of faith around the country, ALEPH is urging Jewish Renewal spiritual leaders and communities to act as catalysts to transform Columbus Day into a day of reverence for life and generosity at home and in the world.

This fall, in an unusual convergence, many faith traditions share a season of sacred self-assessment and self-transformation. This holy season includes the month of Ramadan and the Night of Power (Islam); the High Holy Days and Sukkot (Judaism); the Feast Day of Francis of Assisi and Worldwide Communion Sunday (Christianity), Pavarana/Sangha Day (Buddhism) and Mahatma Gandhi's birthday. Some communities of the First Nations have already begun to observe Columbus Day itself with practices that transform its meaning.

On Monday, October 8th we join in a call to both fast and attend a public vigil in cities like New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington DC, where religious leaders will both fast together and engage in a public action to draw attention to the nation-wide events taking place that day. At sunset: We will break bread in public places as a sign of our commitment to work together for peace and an end to violence.