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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) 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!



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                      

CONTACT:    Debra Kolodny, Executive Director, ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal
DATE:           April 28, 2009   
Phone:         301-565-0719
Email:          DebraRuth@mac.com
Web site:     www.aleph.org

Below is the April 2009 ALEPH News Service. We hope you run the following articles and look forward to hearing from you if you do. This release contains:

1/         Pan-Denominational Acclaim for Rabbi Goldie Milgram’s New Book: Living Jewish Life Cycle

2/         Am Kolel Sanctuary & Renewal Center Welcomes Dr. Judith Plaskow for STANDING AGAIN       
            AT SINAI – A Shavuot/Shabbat Retreat May 28-31, 2009

Debra Kolodny

Pan-Denominational Acclaim for Rabbi Goldie Milgram’s New Book: Living Jewish Life Cycle

With wedding season approaching, ALEPH is pleased to announce Rabbi Goldie Milgram’s fourth book, Living Jewish Life Cycle: How to Create Meaningful Jewish Rites of Passage at Every Stage of Life (Jewish Lights Publishing). A former ALEPH director, Reb Goldie is currently an ALEPH Ordination Program, Kallah and Elat Chayyim faculty member.

Reb Goldie explains that her fourth book seeks to advance klal yisrael/Jewish unity, while opening up the portals to higher consciousness that our sages placed in each of the symbols, blessings and sacred sequences of these rituals, simultaneously respecting the full array of gender identity issues.

When she received a book blurb from Blu Greenberg declaring it, “A wise work of holiness and practicality that shares Reb Goldie’s knowledge of history, halakha and tradition, and also her understanding of diversity, in-group sensitivities, and boundaries. What a blessing!” and then an email from Kerry Olitsky, founder and leader of the Jewish Outreach Institute declaring “This book is not a nostalgic trip down shtetl Judaism’s memory lane. It is not for those who shy from spiritual exploration... It is not merely a book to read; it is a book to live,” only then did Reb Goldie dare to believe “the high goal set for this manuscript might have been reached!”
 
In addition to step-by-step guides to creating meaningful and memorable Jewish rites of passage, Reb Goldie includes unforgettable vignettes from her international travels as a teacher of Torah and Jewish practices. From a profound account of Reb Goldie taking a man to an ocean mikvah prior to his wedding to another man, to a vignette with Goldie’s innovative, traditionally based get/Jewish divorce ritual, setting healthy boundaries with compassion, she respectfully, deftly and with integrity expands what is possible. Rachel Levine, (University of Chicago student book reviewer) notes: “… anecdotes featured in the book are at times so moving that that they will make the book worth reading even if the reader has no life cycle event to plan in the near future.”

There is a substantial section in Living Jewish Life Cycle of Reb Goldie’s newest, carefully tested innovations for bar/bat mitzvah preparation, ritual, celebration and appreciation. Youth, parents and educators will sit up and wow at how meaningful and motivating the model is. Reb Goldie is offering a Family Bar/Bat Mitzvah Retreat at Elat Chayyim the week of August 10th reflecting her best practices. Educators will receive personal “meta-mentoring” sessions.

Each chapter teaches how to be fully, deeply and even joyfully present to the most blessed and most challenging of times. Reb Goldie even takes us to the nursing home where her mother dwells in end-stage Alzheimer’s. Her guide to the Shema for those who have a terminal diagnosis teaches how to grow spiritually as we let go with integrity and dignity. By the end of the volume, when we see how the words, symbols and sacred sequences of every step of Jewish life cycle fit together into a meta-sacred sequence, we feel Reb Goldie’s awe echoed as our own.

In the words of Reb Zalman, Reb Goldie’s Reclaiming Judaism Trilogy offers: “The Jewish education you might have wished for—rich in meaning, relevance and spirituality. Reb Goldie is a skillful guide into the heart of Judaism.”

Author revenues from copies bought at Kallah or through https://www.aleph.org/author_milgram.htm
go to ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, in appreciation from Goldie.

Am Kolel Sanctuary & Renewal Center Welcomes Dr. Judith Plaskow for STANDING AGAIN AT SINAI – A Shavuot/Shabbat Retreat May 28-31, 2009

Please join us for Shavuot and Shabbat, May 28-31, 2009, at beautiful Am Kolel Sanctuary & Renewal Center near Washington DC, for an intimate retreat of sacred study and joyous practices with Dr. Judith Plaskow.

Judith is the author of Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective – a ground breaking work that brought twenty years of feminist theological reflection to bear on the transformation of Judaism.

The retreat begins on Erev Shavuot, Thursday, May 28 at 7 pm. There are options for 2 or 3 nights, or commuter rates. Contact Gilah for more information. 301.349.2799 or gilah@am-kolel.org.