| 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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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Debra Kolodny, Executive Director, ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal DATE: October 31, 2008 Phone: 301-565-0719 Email: DebraRuth@mac.com Web site: www.aleph.org Below is the October 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. ALEPH and Ruach Ha’Aretz Winter Retreat 2. Register NOW! ALEPH Jewish Renewal Pesach Pilgrimage, Istanbul to Jerusalem is filling up! 3. Cactus Kallah 2009 Early Registration to close soon 4. Tuscon’s Ner Tamid Hosts You-bilation Celebration Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like additional information! Debra Kolodny /s/ ************************************************************************** ALEPH and Ruach Ha’Aretz Winter Retreat Cultivating the Garden of our Souls: A Mid-Winter Celebration of Life, Love, Peace and Torah Join ALEPH and CDEEP, Sage-ing, Rodef Shalom and the Institute for Contemporary Midrash, along with Eshet Hazon Rabbi Hanna Tiferet Siegel for a week of immersion in deep spiritual practice, beautiful prayer and wonderful community. This first time event features five all day courses with master teachers in magical Albuquerque, New Mexico from February 2-8, 2009. Two courses are associated with certification programs in the ALEPH Sage-ing Project and the Rodef Shalom School for Peace, but all courses are open to those attending only this week of training. The offerings are: Exploring the Landscape of Love Through the Song of Songs: A Workshop for Couples Rabbi Shefa Gold and Rachmiel O'Regan of CDEEP “The whole Torah is Holy, but The Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies…Had the Torah not been given, we could live our lives by the Song of Songs.” Rabbi Akiva What would it mean to place this erotic, sensual, sexually explicit and most beautiful poem at the center of our tradition? All committed couples are invited to enter the landscape of this Sacred Song and our path as Lovers through chant, meditation, and contemplation. Death As Homecoming: Life Is The Answer Rabbis Nadya & Victor Gross of Ruach Ha’Aretz “People have been dying ever since the world began and yet each one of us clings to the illusion that death is something that happens to other people but not to us.” Rabbi Jack Reimer When we recognize that life is finite we are challenged to live each moment fully and accept the gift of our soul’s breath as our most precious commodity. In this second part of ALEPH’s Sage-ing Mentorship Training, we focus on facing our mortality, reprioritizing and redefining the values in our lives. Seeking Shalom Bayit: Trouble in our Own Backyard, Eliyahu McLean and Ruth Broyde-Sharone of Rodef Shalom This course is designed to encourage intra-faith peace building within the Jewish community, especially when dealing with the contentious issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Participants will learn tools to engage this issue in a positive unifying way and will seek common ground by jointly confronting the challenges we all face: an endangered earth, water shortage, hunger, poverty, and injustice. Embodying Torah Through Bibliodrama, Rivkah Walton of The Institute for Contemporary Midrash Bibliodrama creates dynamic, living midrash through improvisational role-playing, where participants step into the shoes of our ancestral families and imagine their motivations, relationships, struggles and dreams. In this intensive entry-level training, you will develop your directorial skills through a sequence of carefully constructed exercises and you will take home lasting tools for midrashic inquiry in the classroom, the pulpit, or community settings. Va’ani Tefilati: I am My Prayer, Rabbi Hanna Tiferet Siegel, Eshet Hazon The body is a Temple for the prayers of our whole being. During this Shabbat Shira week we will open to the song/prayers that flow through each of us and witness how the freedom to express our inner truth unites us. Hatha yoga will help make the prayers of our bones and muscles accessible to us. We will study the hidden meaning of words of Torah and liturgy and journal our insights to nourish our minds. Space is limited so register early! Register at <http://www.ruachhaaretz.com/> and contact Rabbis Victor and Nadya Gross at info@ruachhaaretz.com with questions. ************************************************************************ REGISTER NOW! ALEPH Jewish Renewal Pesach Pilgrimage, Istanbul to Jerusalem is filling up! >From Monday, March 30th to Monday April 13th Rabbi Marcia Prager, Hazzan Jack Kessler and Rabbinic student Nachshon David Mahanymi will masterfully guide a Pesach spiritual adventure starting in Istanbul Turkey, one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities, and concluding at a star-lit Passover seder in Eretz Yisrael. Join us as we convene an extraordinary group of seekers. Our trip begins in Istanbul, where we will be guided by both Jewish and Sufi teachers. At the close of our journey we will hold our Passover Seder in a desert ‘Bedouin” tent under the full moon of the month of Nissan, powerfully evoking the early desert seders of our ancestors. Both those exploring Israel for the first time and experienced travelers will explore the country and Israeli society deeply and meaningfully, as the group travels gently with time for prayer, reflection, celebration, meditation, learning and sharing. Together we will grow an enduring spiritual connection to the land and to the inner meaning of Passover as a time for liberation into new possibilities. We will meet with Israeli grassroots peace builders, artists, musicians and teachers, as we cultivate hope, and nourish relationships through joyful prayer, dialogue and reflection. We will tour the landscapes where our ancestors lived, studied, dreamed and wrestled, and join contemporary Israelis and Palestinians to study, dream and wrestle with the new opportunities that call to us. We'll explore newly discovered archeological sites; share a song-filled Kabbalat Shabbat with Nava Tehila- the emerging Jewish Renewal community of Jerusalem; enjoy our own daily and Shabbat renewal-style chant and prayers; soak in the refreshing waters of hot springs, and delight in cheese and wine crafted by local artisan farmers.... and lots more! Our pilgrimage will culminate in extraordinary Passover Seder led by Rabbi Marcia, Hazzan Jack, Nachshon David...and YOU! The trip fee for this two-week tour is $3785 per person, airfare included, by credit card or $3685 per person by check. This is a fantastic value in current travel dollars. For more information or to register visit <http://www.aleph.org/>. *************************************************************************** Cactus Kallah 2009 Early Registration to close soon Early registration for this year's Cactus Kallah 2009 will close on November 10. Avoid the late fee by registering now! Last year's Cactus Kallah 2008 was a great success. Over 100 people joined on Shabbat, the culmination of the 5-day regional renewal gathering. This year, the theme is “Ushavtemayim Besason/Drawing Water of Joy.” We will be celebrating the joys of water in Tuscon’s high desert. We chose this theme to highlight that the intention of our gathering is a sacred one: l'shem shamayim/for the sake of heaven, and because being in the desert helps us see the importance of water (especially since we are 75% water) and joy in our lives. Join with teachers Chazzan Micha'el Esformes, Rabbi T’mimah Ickovits, Rabbi Thomas Louchheim, Rabbi James Stone Goodman, Ida Unger, M.Ed., Robert Litman, Melinda (Mindy) Ribner, Nina Amir, Dina Afek, Rabbi Itzchak Marmorstein, Rabbi Ivan Ickovits, Eli Shirim Lester, Rabbi Zev-Hayyim Feyer, Rabbi Stephanie Aaron, Tammy Lianu, M.A., Heather McLaughlin, Rabbi Carol Caine and Rabbi Shafir Lobb for a wonderful array of classes that you can review, along with other conference details, at www.cactuskallah.org Berta Brack, who attended last year said: "I loved loved LOVED the Magical Mystery Shabbat Walk! The blessing idea was my favorite part--so no-pressure and so intimately sweet. I hope to incorporate some of those very same ideas in my own practice. Very special!" Miriam Furst added: "Two years between ALEPH Kallahs is a long wait. It was wonderful having a mini-Kallah experience in between. The Cactus Kallah was marvelous!! It had the same flavor as the larger ones - great teachers, lots of ruach, wonderful food, interesting people. It moved smoothly." Whether you are a first time participant or someone who has been coming for years, come join us and see what Tucson's spirit has to offer and find out why 30% of last year’s registrants pre-registered for this year’s event! For more go to the website listed above or 520-247-4741. You can register on- line or by mail. ************************************************************************** Tuscon’s Ner Tamid Hosts You-bilation Celebration Join the Tucson Spirituality Center at Ner Tamid for its first “YOU-bilation Celebration.” From Friday, November 14 at 1pm until Sunday, November 16 at 3PM, you can immerse yourself in a weekend intensive with spirit, great teachers and incredible renewal davvening. The theme of the weekend is FREEING OUR SOULS -- something many of us could use after a major election year! Teachers include: Eli Shirim Lester, Rev Shayna Lester, Rabbi Stephanie Aaron, Rabbi Shafir Lobb, Carol S. Kestler and Jeff Fogel. For those traveling into Tucson, affordable housing is just a short scenic walk away at the Windmill Suites at St. Philip's Plaza - 4250 North Campbell - Tucson, AZ – 85718, just across the Rillito River. Some home hospitality is available upon request. Ner Tamid’s renewal events have been changing people's lives and providing life enhancing experiences to those who have participated. You will find that you are mentally, emotionally and spiritually engaged with great teachers and a great chevre. Take a 50-hour dip in the well of renewal and free your soul! Future celebrations include: Jan 28-Feb 1, 2009 Cactus Kallah 2009 April 2009: YOU-bilation Celebration - Cancer and Chronic Illness June 2009: YOU-bilation Celebration - Life after Grief. More details and to register: <http://www.tucsonspiritulaity.org/> or 520-247-4741 |