| 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) 563-2110 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!
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Dear Friends: I try not to send everything to all of our lists, because so many people are on more than one. But, for our monthly news releases I do send to everyone-to make sure all are reached. Please forgive this one a month inconvenience. Deb FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Debra Kolodny, Executive Director, ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal DATE: June 22, 2008 Phone: 301-565-0719 Email: DebraRuth@mac.com Web site: www.aleph.org Dear All: Below is the June 2008 ALEPH News Service. We hope you run one or more of the following articles and look forward to hearing from you if you do. This release contains: 1. OHALAH launches web page listing Jewish clergy who officiate at same sex ceremonies 2. ALEPH holds first Strategic Activation Leadership Retreat 3. ALEPH Ordained Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan Receives Mintz Family Foundation Award for Creative Jewish Education 4. Jack Kessler, Director of ALEPH’s Cantorial Program Tours France Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like additional information. But/and remember I’ll be on the road from Tuesday, June 24 until Wednesday, July 30, so email will be best and before July 16, when I’ll likely be out of touch altogether is even better! Shavua tov, Deb OHALAH launches web page listing Jewish clergy who officiate at same sex ceremonies On June 17, OHALAH: Association of Rabbis for Jewish Renewal went live with a web page that lists clergy from Israel and Germany to California and Nevada who will perform same sex ceremonies. As of this writing, 37 rabbis, cantors, rabbinic pastors and students of the same professions are listed on the web page. Others will be added in the coming weeks. OHALAH members Rabbi Lori Klein and Rabbi Paula Marcus have already begun performing ceremonies in California. Rabbi Klein said of the experience: “Yesterday, I left my job as a hospital chaplain early so I could officiate at four of the dozens of weddings conducted at the Santa Cruz County Clerk’s office. Amidst festive decorations, lace, flowers and other wedding regalia, we witnessed the groom in one couple tenderly wiping tears from his partner’s mustache and the private vows that another couple renewed to help each other grow. Each celebrant had been together for over a decade: 26, 17, 15, at least 13 years. At the end of each ceremony, I said the couple was now "married under the laws of the State of California." You never saw such dry words followed by such outbursts of joy. Twenty-three years ago, when I first came out as a lesbian, there was virtually no protection against employment or housing discrimination. Sexual conduct between same sex couples was illegal in many states. I sometimes got screamed at for holding hands in public with my girlfriend. Twenty-three years later, yesterday was an amazing day. Not the end of the journey, but a great step forward!” OHALAH is the professional branch of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, which has as part of its Statement of Principles: “We welcome and recognize the sanctity of every individual regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. We recognize respectful and mutual expressions of adult human sexuality as potentially sacred expressions of love and therefore we strive to welcome a variety of constellations of intimate relationships and family forms including gay, lesbian, and heterosexual relationships as well as people choosing to be single.” As of this writing The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada and the USA states of Massachusetts and California allow same sex marriage. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, France, Germany, Finland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Britain, and the states of Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Oregon, Maine, Washington, and Hawaii allow same-sex registered partnerships or civil unions or provide some form of spousal rights for gay and lesbian couples. The clergy listed will officiate at same sex ceremonies (as well as ceremonies for men and women) appropriate to the area where they live and practice. Many of the clergy have pledged to travel beyond the borders of their states and countries of residence to officiate at same sex ceremonies so long as their fee and travel costs are paid for. Everyone has expressed a willingness to travel at least a short distance. To find an officiant go to: http://www.ohalah.org/News/samesex.html. For more information contact Rabbi Pam Frydman Baugh, OHALAH Administrative Director at pbfrydman@yahoo.com or 415-261-3404 ALEPH holds first Strategic Activation Leadership Retreat >From Thursday, May 29 until Sunday, June 2, 65 professional and volunteer leaders from around the country celebrated 15 years of remarkable progress in ALEPH’s stewardship of the Jewish Renewal Movement. Discussions focused on how to improve the strategic integration of ALEPH’s projects, seminary, rabbinic association, and 41 communities, as well as expand the visibility, growth and impact of this cutting edge organization. Immediately following the retreat, community representatives participated in a workshop on financial sustainability that got rave reviews. The board of Ruach Ha’Aretz (one of ALEPH’s retreats) and the board of the Rabbinic, Cantorial, Rabbinic Pastor and Spiritual Direction (Hashpa’ah) programs met, integrating the work from the retreat into their deliberations. Among the most powerful decisions made at the retreat were to invest in outreach and organizing for young adults, engage ordained and student rabbis, cantors and rabbinic pastors more strategically and intentionally in supporting newer Jewish Renewal communities, improve the scope and interactivity of the web site, create tools and resources to help ALEPH leadership do more effective outreach, create a communication system to enhance the already extensive tikkun olam work of ALEPH and its communities, and create forums for doing more intentional theological development. Rabbi Yocheved Mintz, President of OHALAH, the Association of Rabbis for Jewish Renewal, said of the retreat, “I was so impressed by the sense of cooperation and collegiality and the well-facilitated and well thought-out workshops. OHALAH is already working on strategies to build a closer relationship with ALEPH Affiliated Communities. I am looking forward to better communicating with my own congregation about how Renewal Judaism is part of who we are and discussing how we can help in the forward growth of ALEPH.” Twenty leaders from ALEPH affiliated communities attended the event along with Project Directors from ALEPH’s Rodef Shalom School for Peace, the Sage-ing Project, the Kallah, the Center for Devotional, Energy and Ecstatic Practice (CDEEP) and Ruach Ha’Aretz. The boards of ALEPH’s core organization, Ruach, OHALAH, and the ordination programs also participated along with representatives from ALEPH’s Kesher program for young adults. Representatives from sister Jewish Renewal organizations, The Shalom Center and Elat Chayyim, were honored guests along with a representative from the Reconstructionist Federation. ALEPH Ordained Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan Receives Mintz Family Foundation Award for Creative Jewish Education Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan, a member of OHALAH: Association of Rabbis for Jewish Renewal and the spiritual leader of Nava Tehila, an ALEPH affiliated community in Jerusalem, was awarded the $5000 Mintz Family Foundation for Creative Jewish Education Award for 2007. The prestigious award was presented for her cutting-edge work in bringing together Jews from all backgrounds in a unique spiritual setting in Jerusalem. Nava Tehila infuses its services with song, dance and joy and is reaching a diverse demographic as a result. Rabbi Gan Kagan’s approach to building the community is multi-faceted. She is presenting a new template for Kabbalat Shabbat that is gender-inclusive, spiritually uplifting, and serves a spectrum of Israelis from spiritual secular to Orthodox. Gan Kagan is also creating a forum for leadership training for lay leaders, musicians, and rabbinical students, so they can facilitate and replicate this environment elsewhere. Finally, Nava Tehila serves as a laboratory for original, soulful melodies and songs that fit various settings and needs. The outcome has been surprising, rewarding, and meaningful. While she had set out to make a comfortable environment for secular Israelis by using musical instruments, it turns out that over 40% of her community is orthodox. In addition, Rabbi Gan Kagan says that, “We wanted to make a spiritually sophisticated environment for adults, yet our service attracts a growing number of children and teen-agers.” For further information on Nava Tehila – A Jewish Renewal Community in Jerusalem, please contact Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan at ruthgan@netvision.net.il or call her directly at 011-0720206716636. Jack Kessler, Director of ALEPH’s Cantorial Program Tours France Hazzan Jack Kessler, Director of ALEPH’s Cantorial Program will be performing five concerts in France this July with the MIDDLE EAST PEACE ORCHESTRA, the European version of his ensemble ATZILUT: CONCERTS FOR PEACE (Arab and Jewish musicians in concert together). The concerts are in BORDEAUX on Wednesday, the 9th of July, LA ROCHE SUR YON on Thursday, the 10th, Paris: Friday, the 11th, TOULOUSE on Saturday, the 12th, and CHALON-EN-CHAMPAGNE Sunday, the 13th. For more info you can contact Jack at <goldenmedina@comcast.net> |