| 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 All: Below is the July 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. ALEPH Kallah Realizes its Vision of “Living in the Light of G~d” 2. ALEPH Affiliate Ohel Hachidusch in Berlin Celebrates First Anniversary with the Beth Jacob Torah FYI: I’ll be out of the office next week, and I’ll be available again on August 10. Shabbat Shalom! Deb Kolodny ALEPH Kallah Realizes its Vision of Living in the Light of G~d At the end of June over 400 gathered at the campus of Ohio Wesleyan for ALEPH’s 13th biennial Kallah. This year’s theme – Living in the Light of G~d – became a reality for participants. “Kallah was a week of bliss, of G-d's radiant light shining through," said Ilan Glazer. First time attendee Andrew Gaber said, “The energy at Kallah was transformative and made me refocus on what Judaism is truly about.” As in other years, new friendships were formed and old friends came together from across North America, Israel, Australia, and Europe. With an array of classes offering deep text study, guidance for spiritual practices, and the opportunity to create one’s own storybook, there was something for everyone. The Torah Trek class led by Rabbi Mike Comins brought twenty men and women to a nearby hiking site to experience nature, meditative practice, and personal reflection in a Jewish context. Evening programming was particularly powerful this year. The introductory program on Monday told stories of how Jewish Renewal and ALEPH came to be. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday participants enjoyed a cabaret of Jewish Renewal performers, Hebrew Kirtan chanting, an Eshet Hazon and a Red Heffer ritual – and those were just some of the planned activities! Two beautiful Erev Shabbos services welcomed the community into a day of the sweetest time away from time. First time knock out, ALEPH affiliate Nava Tehila, brought a chanting, dancing taste of Jewish Renewal Jerusalem with them, led by Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan. Jewish Renewal founders Rabbi Hanna Tiferet Siegel, Rabbi Yitz Husbands Hankin and friends reminded everyone why Jewish Renewal became such a sensation to begin with, with their lyrical service. Then a calm came over the campus as Kallah participants and Shabbat guests, many dressed in white, sat down to dinner. The sound of tables saying motzi and making kiddush rang throughout the gymnasium, which was transformed to a dining room for the occasion. The quiet didn’t last for long, as exuberant conversation swelled into rousing zmirot and dancing to cap off the night. Spontaneous drumming and dancing, an unscheduled staple of Kallah, juiced the gathering again, lasting late into Saturday night. Participants were primed after a beautiful havdallah service, a deeply meaningful memorial concert for Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield and Cantor Susan Wehle and performances by Cantor Linda Hirshorn’s choir, Cantor Richard Kaplan’s class and Sharon Alexander’s Jospel choir. Shacharit on Shabbat included a spirited service with music and chanting for kids and their families; a contemplative service that incorporated guided meditation; a service rich with music and dance; a traditional Renewal-style service; and at least two services that featured a special haftorah reading of the Declaration of Independence. As in previous years, some attendees found the need to kvetch at Sunday morning’s closing program. Their complaint? So many amazing activities – it was impossible to do them all. ALEPH Affiliate Ohel Hachidusch in Berlin Celebrates First Anniversary with the Beth Jacob Torah On November 28th, 2009 at 7:30 pm Ohel Hachidusch will welcome Rabbi Arnie Sleutelberg and other representatives from Congregation Shir Tikvah in Troy, Michigan to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the gifting of this special Torah to their fledging community. On the 13th of December 2008, the 17th of Kislev in the year 5769, Ohel Hachidusch in Berlin obtained the Beth Jacob Torah from Congregation Shir Tikvah. Shir Tikvah first received the torah as a donation in its early years. Today, Shir Tikvah is a large and active community with a new torah, the Blumenstein-Family Torah, written by Soferet Jen Taylor Friedman. Instead of leaving the Beth Jacob Torah unread in the community‘s Aron Hakodesh, their members decided to donate it to a young community without a sefer torah of its own. Nine communities from the USA, Europe, South America and Israel asked if they could be recipients of this generous donation. The Board of Trustees of Congregation Shir Tikvah selected Ohel Hachidusch in Berlin. A lovely component of this cross-Atlantic shidduch is that both Shir Tikvah and Ohel Hachidusch are affiliates of ALEPH: Alliance For Jewish Renewal. During the past year, the Beth Jacob Torah was used frequently, helping Jewish learning and joy flourish in the small, creative Jewish community in Berlin. The sefer torah was a key component in services and teachings throughout the year, where much learning, discussing, singing, cooking and celebrating took place. Anna Adam, President of Ohel Hachidush and ALEPH ordained Hazan Jalda Rebling, Cantor of Ohel Hachidusch invite you to join them at this joyous occasion in the prayer room of the Ehemaliges Jüdisches Waisenhaus Berlin Pankow, Breite Strasse 120/121 Entry Hadlichstrasse, 13187 Berlin-Pankow For more information go to: www.ohel-hachidusch.org <http://www.ohel-hachidusch.org/> or www.shirtikvah.org. |