PRAY & STUDY
WITH RABBI DIANE
WITH RABBI DIANE
FRIDAY MORNING HEALING CIRCLE
every Friday morning
8:30 - 9:10 AM Pacific Time
by donation
Prepare for Shabbat through chant, movement, and healing prayers – designed to calm the nervous system and cultivate kindness, compassion, and healing energy in this challenging time. You’ll have an opportunity to share the names of specific people and places you’re holding in your heart for healing; we end by speaking the mourner’s Kaddish prayer, to support those who are mourning the loss of loved ones.
Get the zoom link here ~ Donations welcomed here
THE TORAH OF SUMMER: THE SPIRITUAL LESSONS OF FAILURE
The Aquarian Minyan Yeshiva
Mondays June 15, 22, 29 & July 6, 13, 20, 27
12 noon – 1 PM Pacific Time
Classes are supported by donation ~ no pre-registration required
During the summer months Jews observe two fast days. The 17th of Tammuz commemorates both the sin of the golden calf, the people’s first major failure of faith after the exodus from Egypt, and the sin of the spies, a second failure, that ultimately dooms our biblical ancestors to wander in the wilderness for another 38 years. Three weeks later, we observe the “black fast” of Tisha b’Av, the 9th day of the month of Av, a day of national mourning. On this date, tradition tells us, both the first and second Jerusalem Temples were destroyed, and many other catastrophes befell the Jewish people through the ages. How are we to understand these archetypal failures of our people? How have they shaped our psyches, and what do they have to teach us about the significance of failure in our own life paths and in our society? Can God be found even in failure? In this class, we’ll address these questions through chant and meditation, text study and conversation, as we seek to uncover the spiritual lessons of failure offered to us in the months of summer.
Get more information, the zoom link, and make donations here
TISHA B'AV WITH TAPROOT
MOVING IN AND THROUGH GRIEF
July 29th & 30th
Facilitated by the Taproot Stewards: Adam Horowitz, Rabbi Diane Elliot, David Bronstein, Reb Eli Herb, Reb Irwin Keller, Rachel Milford, & Rachel Plattus
Tisha B’Av is our ancient day of mourning for the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. This day also holds the collective grief we have inherited and the grief we are experiencing afresh – the overlapping sorrows of injustice, pandemic, environmental catastrophe, and personal loss of every kind. How do we begin to move grief and to be moved by it? To honor it and let it live in us? To let it inspire and grow our work? This is the spiritual opportunity of Tisha B’Av.
Join us for one or, preferably, both of these Taproot Tisha B’Av events:
Honoring the Grief
Wednesday, July 29th, 6-7:15pm PT/9-10:15 EST
We come together in ritual to chant from Eychah, the Book of Lamentations, and to offer our own words and melodies of lament. We will give voice and body to our grief, longing, and hope, raising it up as a holy response to suffering. It is customary to arrive quietly without joyful greeting and to depart the same way. We also invite you to dim the light as much as possible in the room you'll be joining us from, bring a candle to light, and sit in a low chair or on the floor if that's comfortable for your body.
RSVP for Zoom Link here
Sweetening the Suffering
Thursday, July 30th, 8-9am PT/11-12pm EST
We come back together the following morning for processing and integrating as we learn and practice embodying the Baal Shem Tov’s process for moving through pain, a 3-part grief practice we can incorporate into our lives throughout the year.
RSVP for Zoom Link here
EMBODYING YOUR JEWISH PRACTICE
Dates: August 2, 9, 16, and 23
Time: 4 - 6 pm EDT (1 - 3 pm PDT)
Cost: Pay-what-you-can (100% of donations go directly to supporting ALEPH)
In this class we'll be exploring ways to grow a full-bodied Jewish practice that helps us grow the resilience, presence, compassion, and spiritual flexibility we need to move through these awesome and mind-shattering times. We'll begin each session by opening the body as a vessel for prayer and learning, and experientially exploring one or two prayers from the traditional Jewish morning liturgy. We'll then creatively engage with a piece of the week's Torah or haftara (prophetic) reading. Our tools for the journey: breath, movement, body awareness, drawing, written and spoken words. Our hoped-for destination: the beginning or deepening of a meaningful, doable, strengthening, faith-filled spiritual practice, sourced in the the Divine, the riches of Jewish tradition, and the richness of our inner lives. The only prerequisites–a curious mind, an open heart, and a willingness to move (in your own time and way). This program is designed for those who can attend all four sessions.
Get more information and register here
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WITH RABBI DIANE ELLIOT
Spiritual Direction is an evolving discipline built on the art of holy listening. Together, the director and the directee listen deeply and with compassion for the currents of truth, of wisdom, and of the sacred held in suspension in even the most challenging experiences. In the process of Body-Mind Spiritual Direction, Rabbi Diane will help you to focus your awareness on your inner space, listening for kol d'mamma, the soft, murmuring voice of Spirit within and around you. You will feel companioned, heard, and encouraged to open your heart to G~d's loving presence amidst the fullness of your own life.
Spiritual Direction sessions with Rabbi Diane generally last one hour and can happen by phone or in her office. For more information or to schedule an appointment click here
every Friday morning
8:30 - 9:10 AM Pacific Time
by donation
Prepare for Shabbat through chant, movement, and healing prayers – designed to calm the nervous system and cultivate kindness, compassion, and healing energy in this challenging time. You’ll have an opportunity to share the names of specific people and places you’re holding in your heart for healing; we end by speaking the mourner’s Kaddish prayer, to support those who are mourning the loss of loved ones.
Get the zoom link here ~ Donations welcomed here
THE TORAH OF SUMMER: THE SPIRITUAL LESSONS OF FAILURE
The Aquarian Minyan Yeshiva
Mondays June 15, 22, 29 & July 6, 13, 20, 27
12 noon – 1 PM Pacific Time
Classes are supported by donation ~ no pre-registration required
During the summer months Jews observe two fast days. The 17th of Tammuz commemorates both the sin of the golden calf, the people’s first major failure of faith after the exodus from Egypt, and the sin of the spies, a second failure, that ultimately dooms our biblical ancestors to wander in the wilderness for another 38 years. Three weeks later, we observe the “black fast” of Tisha b’Av, the 9th day of the month of Av, a day of national mourning. On this date, tradition tells us, both the first and second Jerusalem Temples were destroyed, and many other catastrophes befell the Jewish people through the ages. How are we to understand these archetypal failures of our people? How have they shaped our psyches, and what do they have to teach us about the significance of failure in our own life paths and in our society? Can God be found even in failure? In this class, we’ll address these questions through chant and meditation, text study and conversation, as we seek to uncover the spiritual lessons of failure offered to us in the months of summer.
Get more information, the zoom link, and make donations here
TISHA B'AV WITH TAPROOT
MOVING IN AND THROUGH GRIEF
July 29th & 30th
Facilitated by the Taproot Stewards: Adam Horowitz, Rabbi Diane Elliot, David Bronstein, Reb Eli Herb, Reb Irwin Keller, Rachel Milford, & Rachel Plattus
Tisha B’Av is our ancient day of mourning for the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. This day also holds the collective grief we have inherited and the grief we are experiencing afresh – the overlapping sorrows of injustice, pandemic, environmental catastrophe, and personal loss of every kind. How do we begin to move grief and to be moved by it? To honor it and let it live in us? To let it inspire and grow our work? This is the spiritual opportunity of Tisha B’Av.
Join us for one or, preferably, both of these Taproot Tisha B’Av events:
Honoring the Grief
Wednesday, July 29th, 6-7:15pm PT/9-10:15 EST
We come together in ritual to chant from Eychah, the Book of Lamentations, and to offer our own words and melodies of lament. We will give voice and body to our grief, longing, and hope, raising it up as a holy response to suffering. It is customary to arrive quietly without joyful greeting and to depart the same way. We also invite you to dim the light as much as possible in the room you'll be joining us from, bring a candle to light, and sit in a low chair or on the floor if that's comfortable for your body.
RSVP for Zoom Link here
Sweetening the Suffering
Thursday, July 30th, 8-9am PT/11-12pm EST
We come back together the following morning for processing and integrating as we learn and practice embodying the Baal Shem Tov’s process for moving through pain, a 3-part grief practice we can incorporate into our lives throughout the year.
RSVP for Zoom Link here
EMBODYING YOUR JEWISH PRACTICE
Dates: August 2, 9, 16, and 23
Time: 4 - 6 pm EDT (1 - 3 pm PDT)
Cost: Pay-what-you-can (100% of donations go directly to supporting ALEPH)
In this class we'll be exploring ways to grow a full-bodied Jewish practice that helps us grow the resilience, presence, compassion, and spiritual flexibility we need to move through these awesome and mind-shattering times. We'll begin each session by opening the body as a vessel for prayer and learning, and experientially exploring one or two prayers from the traditional Jewish morning liturgy. We'll then creatively engage with a piece of the week's Torah or haftara (prophetic) reading. Our tools for the journey: breath, movement, body awareness, drawing, written and spoken words. Our hoped-for destination: the beginning or deepening of a meaningful, doable, strengthening, faith-filled spiritual practice, sourced in the the Divine, the riches of Jewish tradition, and the richness of our inner lives. The only prerequisites–a curious mind, an open heart, and a willingness to move (in your own time and way). This program is designed for those who can attend all four sessions.
Get more information and register here
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WITH RABBI DIANE ELLIOT
Spiritual Direction is an evolving discipline built on the art of holy listening. Together, the director and the directee listen deeply and with compassion for the currents of truth, of wisdom, and of the sacred held in suspension in even the most challenging experiences. In the process of Body-Mind Spiritual Direction, Rabbi Diane will help you to focus your awareness on your inner space, listening for kol d'mamma, the soft, murmuring voice of Spirit within and around you. You will feel companioned, heard, and encouraged to open your heart to G~d's loving presence amidst the fullness of your own life.
Spiritual Direction sessions with Rabbi Diane generally last one hour and can happen by phone or in her office. For more information or to schedule an appointment click here