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Location:
Santa Cruz, CA
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Categories:
Conflict Resolution, Dance, Earth-Based Judaism, Embodiment, Feminism, Health and Wellness, Kabbalah/Mysticism, Meditation, Mindfulness, Poetry, Ritual, Sexuality, Writing, Yoga
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Retreats:
Connecting the Wisdom of Judaism and Permaculture; Return to the Wild Woman
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Gavrila Nikhila is a mindfulness and embodiment educator whose work has been developed from a diverse background of teachers and cultures. Originally certified in Osho Active Meditation, Gavrila worked with spiritual communities around the world to invite people into the radical space of awareness, liberation, and self-acceptance. Thirsty with a passion to intimately understand the human experience, she went on to become a certified yoga teacher, meditation facilitator, and mediator. Gavrila participates in extended, silent meditation retreats to deeply study the techniques of mindfulness and how they lead to joy and contentment. In reclaiming her Jewish lineage, Gavrila works intimately with the moon cycle and in finding the earth-based roots of Judaism. Additionally, she is interested in pioneering new ways to honor the grieving process and tending to unresolved trauma. Based in California, she teaches mindfulness to teenagers, in collaboration with Spirit Rock and Inward Bound Mindfulness Education, and is training now to become a somatic therapist. Gavrila uses dance, poetry, mindfulness, and play to invoke exploration.
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Location:
Denver, CO
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Categories:
Community Organizing, Conflict Resolution, Dance, Earth-Based Judaism, Embodiment, Entrepreneurship, Environmentalism, Experiential Education, Feminism, Food/Drink, Health and Wellness, Hebrew Language, Holidays, Israel, Jewish Values, Kabbalah/Mysticism, Meditation, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Outdoor Education, Ritual, Sexuality, Shabbat, Writing
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Retreats:
Techless Adulting; Self Care and Judaism; Kavanah: Thriving as Jewish Educators
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Stefanie Adler is a Holistic Nutritionist, Women’s Health Expert, Birth Doula, Hormone Guru and Nourishing Experience Creator. She is a womanprenuer through and through.
She is an avid community builder, and she is constantly inspired by her community to create an open space for individuals to explore their connection to the Jewish world.
She is passionate about the intersection of physical and spiritual wellness, believing that nourishing the body and soul through whole foods, self-love, and community, and is essential to wellness. She absolutely loves making Jewish wisdom, applicable to everyone and digestible to those who are not as familiar with Jewish Learning. She believes that by breaking down texts and ideas collectively, and using engaging and creative modalities, the group gets to wrestle with the universe, history and our culture, in a meaningful and productive way!
She has been the educator or chef-educator at several retreats, among them: Judaism and Self Care, Techless Adulting, Return of the Wild Woman, Garden of Eden, while additionally having planned her own retreat, Ancient Wisdom: Modern Wellness. Cooking, yoga, educating, reading/book club, running and walking barefoot are her passions!
Ask me about meal planning to maximize your retreat experience, creative hosting, all things women’s health and how to make rituals your own and meaningful to your community!
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Location:
Cambridge, MA
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Categories:
Earth-Based Judaism, Embodiment, Experiential Education, Health and Wellness, Meditation, Mindfulness, Yoga
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Retreats:
Re-Treat-Yo'Self
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Sophia is a passionate yogi who spends most of her time in Jewish spaces, as a Jewish teen educator and a resident at Moishe House! She graduated with a degree in Psychology from Macaulay Honor’s College at Queens College before heading into the Jewish Education field. She is heavily involved in her own Jewish community in Boston, including completing a fellowship with Serve the Moment Boston, volunteering in community engagement as a resident of Moishe House Cambridge, and chairing a committee of the Young Adult task force at Boston’s CJP Federation. She is passionate about mindfulness, sustainable living, good reads, and is a long-term beginner guitar player.
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Location:
Brooklyn, NY
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Categories:
Community Organizing, Embodiment, Entrepreneurship, Experiential Education, Food/Drink, Health and Wellness, Holidays, LGBTQ+, Storytelling
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Retreats:
Cooks in the Kitchen
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Liz Alpern is co-founder of The Gefilteria and co-author of The Gefilte Manifesto: New Recipes for Old World Jewish Foods. She is passionate about the ways in which food creates meaningful gatherings, builds identity and strengthens community. In 2017, she created the international party and fundraising series, Queer Soup Night. She is also a food systems consultant for national non-profit Fair Food Network. Liz has spent the pandemic leading dozens of virtual workshops and is shocked by the power of food to leap through the screen.
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Location:
Israel
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Categories:
Anti-Semitism, Art, Community Organizing, Experiential Education, Feminism, Holocaust, Israel, Jewish Values, Outdoor Education, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Zionism
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Retreats:
Young leadership in the city
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Guide training for Holocaust journeys to Poland, Federation of Israeli Youth Movements.
B.Ed, Informal Education, Beit Berl Academic College.
– National Service Corps – volunteer coordinator
– Community coordinator, Na’amat (The Movement for the Advancement of the Status of Women) – Regional director, NOAL (Working and Learning Youth) youth movement
– Founder and director of “tzeva acher” – a cooperatively owned business for educational graffiti workshops.
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Location:
Jerusalem, Israel
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Categories:
Art, Community Organizing, Dance, Embodiment, Entrepreneurship, Experiential Education, Hebrew Language, Holidays, Improv, Israel, Jewish Values, LGBTQ+, Masculinity, Meditation, Mindfulness, Prayer, Ritual, Sexuality, Shabbat, Storytelling, Theater, Writing, Zionism
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Retreats:
Seeking My Soul's Love; Seeking My Creative Voice
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Yonatan Arnon was ordained as a Rabbi by Hebrew Union College in May 2023.
Graduated with an MBA in social entrepreneurship and nonprofit management from the Morton Mandel Social Leadership Program at Ben Gurion University in 2018.
Yonatan graduated from working as a Chaplain Resident at Columbia New York Presbyterian Hospital caring for aging and sick people as well as accompanying patients on their deathbed.
For the past ten years, Yonatan have served Jewish communities in New York and Israel, including Columbia/Barnard Hillel, Romemu, Lab/Shul, Navah Tehila, Beth Emeth Albany, JDC Entwine and Kehilat Zion with a focus on Jewish & Hebrew education, community building for young adults and alumni, program direction, facilitating rituals, prayer services, and more.
Yonatan is a trained dialogue facilitator, working for over 10 years with multicultural groups including Jews, Palestinians, Christians and Zen Buddhists.
In 2017, Yonatan founded his signature “MoveMeant – Embodying Sacred Texts” workshops integrating spiritual and movement practices. MoveMeant reimagines what is possible within ritual spaces regardless of spiritual affiliation. MoveMeant explores the intersection of sacred and ancestral texts, ritual, live music, mindfulness, breath, and vocal exercises as well as movement techniques.
Yonatan currently works as an online Jewish educator ( specialising in Israel studies, Jewish Mysticism, Jewish-Zen relationship ) a spiritual director through Institute of Jewish Spirituality and a business consultant to individuals and to nonprofits and lead MoveMeant workshops.
Yonatan was raised in Jerusalem, Israel, will be residing in the Fall at the Zen monastery of Plum Village in France
and will be back in the US in the spring of 2025.
For more information please contact Yonatan through
https://www.yonatan-arnon.com
https://www.embodymovemeant.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yonatanarnon/
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Location:
Los Angeles, CA
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Categories:
Conflict Resolution, Feminism, Film, Health and Wellness, Hebrew Language, Kabbalah/Mysticism, Masculinity, Meditation, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Music, Poetry, Ritual, Sexuality, Storytelling, Tanakh/Torah, Writing, Yoga
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Retreats:
Spark Your Light: A Self-Care Retreat; The Getaway - Escape from the city on a Journey of Mindfulness
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Spiritual Mentor integrating sound, BioAcoustics, NLP/HiTea to reclaim your power.
Artist, Radio Host
iLan is a certified Sound Therapist who embraces the divine power of words and Kabbalistic meditation in the healing process and certified in Reiki, Solution Focused Coaching and NLP and BioAcoustics.
Through heart guided Kabbalistic meditation, sacred names, musical instruments, Tibetan bowls, and HiTea™ custom tea mix, (www.facebook.com/hiteamix), you will be guided on a journey inwards, cultivating healing to your body, clearing energy blocks, releasing toxins.
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Location:
Brookline, MA
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Categories:
Health and Wellness, Holidays, Jewish Values, Jews of Color, Kabbalah/Mysticism, Prayer, Rabbinic Literature, Ritual, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Tanakh/Torah
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Retreats:
Hip Hop, Text, and Judaism 2.0
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Rabbi Tiferet Berenbaum is the Rabbi of Congregational Learning and Programming at Temple Beth Zion in Brookline, MA. She received Rabbinic Ordination and a Master’s in Jewish Education from Hebrew College in 2013. She is originally from Brookline, MA and has served congregations in Milwaukee, WI and Mt. Holly, NJ before returning home to TBZ. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in Educational Leadership at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA.
In her multifaceted career, she has had a front seat at the intersection of race, racism and religion, giving her valuable insights into how different groups of people see the world and refining her powers of empathy. She teaches, “None of us can control what happens in the world, but we each have the power to control how we respond. We need to access our spiritual core and fearlessly acknowledge our dark places, both as individuals and a society, in order to shift what we see going on around us. The shadows serve to remind us that there is also light.”
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Location:
Jerusalem, Israel
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Categories:
Community Organizing, Dance, Entrepreneurship, Music, Prayer, Ritual, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Yoga
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Retreats:
Sacred Movement Sacred Music; Shemita - Retreat and Release; Returning Rains; Receiving our Torah
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I grew up between the fields and orchards of a Kibbutz
Singing since I remember myself
Loving music and people of all flavors
Looking for experiences with supporting frameworks that are loose enough to step out of
Full of contradictions and harmony, loving to fill what is lacking
Creating musical garden gatherings in all seasons
Preferring a little darkness with gentle lighting
I feel most at home inside the complexity of Jerusalem
Intuitive exploration of the world of prayer
Active member of an innovative, bourgeois and egalitarian Jewish community
Producing cultural events, singing in ensembles
Shy Baal Tefillah with a yet developing voice
Student of movement, mountain runner and practicing Yogi
Israeli-Palestinian peace activist dreaming of shared land and life
Stares at cats with wonder and scatters solar street pianos around that world that bring happiness to people’s lives
Meir Berman, Baka, Jerusalem, Married with two daughters, a garden and two cats
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Location:
Ashville, NC
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Categories:
Agriculture/Farming, Anti-Semitism, Art, Community Organizing, Earth-Based Judaism, Embodiment, Entrepreneurship, Experiential Education, Feminism, Health and Wellness, Hebrew Language, Holidays, Jewish Law (Halacha), Jewish Values, Kohenet, LGBTQ+, Meditation, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Music, Outdoor Education, Poetry, Prayer, Ritual, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Writing
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Retreats:
Passover Retreat
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Rena Branson (they/she) is a Jewish composer, ritual leader, and educator who uplifts personal and collective healing through song. They founded A Queer Nigun Project (aqueernigunproject.org), which organizes singing events for LGBTQIA+ folks and offers spiritual care to Jews in NYC jails. They previously served on the Cultural Organizing Team at Linke Fligl, a queer Jewish farm, and studied in the Mitsui Collective Kollel for Jewish somatics practitioners. An alum of the Rising Song Institute Residency, Rena writes music for prayer and action that accompanies people through vulnerable moments. They live on Cherokee land in Asheville, NC. You can check out their original album, “Love Is the Ground,” on all streaming platforms. Learn more at renabranson.com!
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Location:
Miami, FL
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Categories:
Art, Community Organizing, Entrepreneurship, Jewish Law (Halacha), Judaism in Pop Culture & Media, Kabbalah/Mysticism, Literature (Stories, Novels, Poetry), Midrash, Music, Poetry, Prayer, Rabbinic Literature, Ritual, Storytelling, Talmud, Tanakh/Torah
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Retreats:
Operation Care-itude; The Hip Hop Haggadah; We Will Dance Again
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Location:
Lisbon, Portugal
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Categories:
Conflict Resolution, Embodiment, Entrepreneurship, Meditation, Mindfulness
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Retreats:
SLR: Mindfulness Intensive Retreat
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My highest values are connection & growth.
The workplace is rife with distraction, confusion, and destructive conflict. I help individuals and teams transform that into focus, clarity, and constructive conflict.
As a consultant, I apply evidence-based principles & practices to help values-driven organizations infuse growth, learning, & excellence into everything they do. Working on the individual, team, and organizational levels, I integrate system design with personal transformation.
As a coach, I help individuals shift back into clarity and connection so they can act the way they choose to, not just the way they’re used to. This “choicefulness” helps folks experience an immense sense of freedom and energy and align their lives with their values.
I have consulted, facilitated, and coached individuals and teams at both startups (e.g. Rippling, First Round, Blend Labs, Truework, Galvanize, Imperfect Produce) and established organizations (e.g. Microsoft, World Economic Forum, Johns Hopkins University).
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Location:
Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD
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Categories:
Conflict Resolution, Dance, Embodiment, Ethics, Experiential Education, Feminism, Health and Wellness, Holidays, Jewish Values, LGBTQ+, Meditation, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Outdoor Education, Poetry, Prayer, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Storytelling, Tanakh/Torah, Writing
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Retreats:
Kindling the Flame Within; Kindling the Flame Within: A Self and Communal Care Shabbat
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As a young adult, Alison was desperate for guidance on how to navigate her tumultuous, overwhelmingly empathetic internal landscape, not to mention the world. Through attending Jewish and Buddhist meditation retreats, she realized that through intentional practice it was possible to develop a toolkit for lovingly riding the wild waves of being human. A former public high school teacher and mindfulness program director, Alison incorporates trauma-informed practices into her coaching, leadership, and racial justice work in school communities. She also mentors in Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield’s Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training Program, and offers workshops and one-on-one sessions that focus on supporting the well-being of givers across fields. Alison has trained with the Jewish Meditation Center of Brooklyn, the UMass Center for Mindfulness, Mindful Schools, and Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield. A few years ago, she felt called to contribute more time and energy to Jewish communal contexts and now teaches at sixth & i, on Jewish retreats, and virtually. Alison loves any/all opportunities to integrate community-building, contemplative practice, transformative Jewish ritual, social justice, and joy.
Alison’s website: www.twowingsmindfulness.com
On the most recent Peer-Led Retreat Alison taught on, she facilitated:
– Self-care and Communal Care through a Jewish Lens
– Conscious, Compassionate Communication Infused with Jewish Wisdom
– Hitbodedut: An introduction to Jewish Meditation Practice in Nature
– Kabbalat Shabbat & Havdallah rituals
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Location:
Philadelphia, PA
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Categories:
Art, Ethics, Experiential Education, Improv, Israel, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Rabbinic Literature, Storytelling, Tanakh/Torah, Theater, Writing
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Retreats:
Camp Nai Nai Nai Co-MC; Retreatology
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Andrew Davies is an improviser and facilitator based in South Philly where he lives with his wife Molly Wernick and tiny dog Ducky. Andrew received a B.A. in English Literature from Brandeis University, went on to study Improvisation at The Magnet Theater, and received a certificate of Facilitation from Georgetown University.
In 2011 Andrew Co-Founded The Bible Players, a comedy team which is Improv-ing Jewish Lives. The Bible Players have toured to 25 states, visiting hundreds of camps, schools, and synagogues teaching Jewish Values with a sense of humor. He walks softly and carries a big Shtick!
In 2016 Andrew Co-Founded the Non-profit CharacTours, an interactive theatrical walking experience where the past visits you. He is the Executive Director of both The Bible Players and CharacTours. Andrew can be reached at Andrew@TheBiblePlayers.com
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Location:
Minneapolis, MN
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Categories:
Community Organizing, Embodiment, Environmentalism, Ethics, Experiential Education, Feminism, Health and Wellness, Holidays, Inclusion/Disability Awareness, Jewish Values, Kabbalah/Mysticism, LGBTQ+, Meditation, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Outdoor Education, Prayer, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam
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Retreats:
An Exploration of TRANSFORMING DOUBT - Jewish Wisdom for Life's Big [and small] Questions.
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Julie Dean specializes in Mussar learning and Soulful Facilitator Development. She is the Founder of Twin Cities Mussar, the largest citywide Mussar initiative in the country. twincitiesmussar.org She has over 30 years of experience as a group facilitator and combines her background in experiential education with a passion for Jewish spirituality. She provides a six month training course for people in advanced facilitation through her innovative course: Cultivating a Wise Heart. Julie’s workshops and retreats are dynamic, engaging and meaningful. She empowers people to connect with Jewish spirituality in ways that are relevant, uplifting and community building. LGBTQIA+ sensitive.
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Location:
Bethesda, MD
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Categories:
Community Organizing, Entrepreneurship, Ethics, Experiential Education, Health and Wellness, Holidays, Jewish Law (Halacha), Jewish Values, Kabbalah/Mysticism, Meditation, Midrash, Mikveh, Mindfulness, Prayer, Ritual, Sexuality, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Talmud, Tanakh/Torah
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Retreats:
A Lived Jewish Life
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Rabbi Aderet Drucker is an innovative spiritual leader, inspired educator, social entrepreneur, relationship-based community organizer, and serves as Executive Director of the Den Collective. Since her adolescence she has expressed a love of meeting new people as well as an interest and instinct for gathering people together in sacred community to learn, connect, celebrate, heal, and to create impactful change in our world.
After receiving her rabbinic ordination and a concentration in pastoral care from the Jewish Theological Seminary, Rabbi Aderet served as senior rabbi for a congregation in Northern California. She has also served as the Campus Rabbi for Hillel at the University of Maryland, where she was part of UMD’s Interfaith Campus Chaplaincy and a co-founder of UMD’s first Interfaith Student Fellowship.
Rabbi Aderet holds a certificate in Mindful Leadership in Higher Education from NYU’s Of Many Institute For Multifaith Leadership, is an AJWS Global Justice Fellow, and a fellow of RRC’s Campus Chaplaincy for a Multifaith World. She is an alumnus of the Gladstein Fellowship in Entrepreneurial Leadership, the Rabbis Without Borders Fellowship, and the Clergy Leadership Incubator. Rabbi Aderet loves traveling to different places, spending time by the water, cooking and coming up with new recipes, and having spontaneous dance parties with her husband, Brett, and two incredible daughters.
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Location:
Olympia, WA
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Categories:
Anti-Semitism, Art, Community Organizing, Conflict Resolution, Earth-Based Judaism, Embodiment, Entrepreneurship, Ethics, Experiential Education, Feminism, Film, Food/Drink, Health and Wellness, Holidays, Inclusion/Disability Awareness, Jewish Values, Kabbalah/Mysticism, Kohenet, LGBTQ+, Literature (Stories, Novels, Poetry), Meditation, Mental Health, Mikveh, Mindfulness, Prayer, Ritual, Sexuality, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Storytelling, Writing, Yoga
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Retreats:
Queer Mikveh
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Rebekah Erev ha Kohenet is an artist, teacher, feminist, queer, dream worker, and healer living with disabilities. They are of Ashkenazi and Celtic Isles ancestry, living on the occupied lands of the Squaxin, Chehalis, and Nisqually people in Olympia, WA. In 2014 they self published the Moon Angels/ Malakh Halevanah Oracle Deck. They are joyfully working on Queer Mikveh Project – collaborating with the transformative power of water towards healing, liberation and justice from settler colonialism, assimilation and white supremacy and, The School of Letters – a class, oracle deck and book using the Hebrew letters and connections to plants, animals, the stars and hidden stories of diaspora. Their activist work includes leadership as a core member of SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice) and nationally they work with JVP (Jewish Voice for Peace). Learn more at: www.RebekahErevStudio.com
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Location:
Mitzpe Ramon, Israel
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Categories:
Community Organizing, Conflict Resolution, Entrepreneurship, Ethics, Experiential Education, Feminism, Health and Wellness, Holidays, Inclusion/Disability Awareness, Israel, Jewish Values, Meditation, Midrash, Mindfulness, Outdoor Education, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Storytelling
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Retreats:
SeminaReshet
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Hi! I’m Jacklina – a Consultant, Igniter, and Facilitator. I started my professional journey in the world of social activism, I was surrounded by brilliant people, incredible ideas, and tons of motivation, but something didn’t work. I often found myself lacking the tools to work well together. And I knew I could do something so much more awesome…
And then, I found PARTICIPATORY LEADERSHIP, a set of theories and methodologies that enable me to create fun, genuinely participatory, and productive spaces. Spaces where magic is co-created, and people thrive.
In the past two decades, I worked and volunteered in social and activist organizations, ignited social startups, co-founded my own company – BEINCO, and consulted for corporates, municipalities, humanitarian organizations, and education systems. In 2017, the United Nations program e4sc, entrepreneurs for social change, identified BEINCO as a global impact venture.
I have vast experience in facilitation (on and offline), project design and management, leading participatory processes, capacity development and training, and empathic communication. From TikTok to the UN, I love guiding companies, teams, and individuals in creating a creative, passionate, agile, and inclusive environment for them to connect, navigate through complexity, and co-create effective change.
I am a member of the Ashoka changemakerXchange global community and facilitation team, where I currently facilitate the Changemakers for Democracy program, and I am the lead facilitator for the Unitar She Leads for Peace program. I was the lead facilitator for the Kofi Annan Foundation Changemakers Program, and facilitated the UN’s RISE for Change program for social entrepreneurs.
I am also a pianist and a licensed tour guide with expertise in Christianity & Jerusalem :).
I was born in Bulgaria, currently based in Israel, and I have three children – Yarden, Naveh, and Rania.
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Location:
Walnut Creek, CA
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Categories:
Embodiment, Experiential Education, Health and Wellness, LGBTQ+, Meditation, Mindfulness, Music, Poetry, Prayer, Yoga
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Retreats:
Self-Care and Judaism
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Kendra Fried is the founder of Neshamah Yoga & Wellness.™ She is a yoga therapist, educator, and facilitator of embodied Jewish devotion.
She is a board-certified holistic health counselor, and a graduate of the Yoga and Jewish Wisdom Teacher Training offered by Jewish Learning Works in San Francisco. In April 2025 Kendra will be a graduate of the Kol Dodi Spiritual Direction Program, offered by the Institute For Jewish Spirituality. She is honored to hold the role of spiritual companionship as you navigate life’s most meaningful questions, and explore your unique relationship to spirituality.
Kendra has been a specialist in the field of mind/body/spirit for 25 years. She leads Jewishly inspired classes and wellness retreats, independently and through organizations such as Moishe House, Camp Nai Nai Nai, and the Grief and Growing™ retreats offered by the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center. She has provided ECE courses for the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, to support self-regulation for teachers and their students. Kendra has also established a staff and clergy wellness initiative at Temple Isaiah in Lafayette, California, and has extended that to the Women’s Rabbinic Network.
Her soul’s passion and calling are to guide people inward on a journey toward healing, transformation, and a deeper connection to themselves and the Divine.
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Location:
Toronto, ON
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Categories:
Earth-Based Judaism, Environmentalism, Experiential Education, Jewish Law (Halacha), Literature (Stories, Novels, Poetry), Midrash, Music, Outdoor Education, Storytelling, Talmud
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Retreats:
Jews in Canoes; Jews in Canoes II; Zmanim: Winter Camping
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Tamar Goldberg is a talmud-toting tree hugger. Her work in trees in Toronto’s public and private sector and her years of experience leading canoe trips for Camp Ramah have led her to the inevitable conclusion that the best place to be is outside. Tamar has studied in many institutions of Jewish learning, including TanenbaumCHAT, Associated Hebrew Schools, Pardes, and Urban Adamah. She draws on her diverse experiences in the Jewish and natural world to help others to become students of the wilderness. As a founding resident of Moishe Pod Toronto, she is dedicated to creating and facilitating Jewish community gatherings focused on ritual, song, and nature connection, with the ultimate goal of building a just society.
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Location:
Bay Area, CA
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Categories:
Agriculture/Farming, Art, Community Organizing, Conflict Resolution, Dance, Earth-Based Judaism, Embodiment, Environmentalism, Experiential Education, Food/Drink, Health and Wellness, Hebrew Language, Holidays, Kabbalah/Mysticism, Masculinity, Meditation, Mindfulness, Mizrahi Culture, Outdoor Education, Poetry, Ritual, Sephardi Culture, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Storytelling, Writing
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Retreats:
Building Brotherhood Through Vulnerability; Re-Wilding Judaism; Men's Deepening Virtual Retreat; Kinhood
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Ophir Haberer is a Men’s Retreat Facilitator and MenschUp Facilitator/coordinator for the Jewish Center for Domestic Abuse. Ophir, along with his brother Dor, has facilitated over 7 retreats and numerous workshops focused on creating immersive experiences for men to intimately relate to one another, claim more authentic expressions of themselves, and position themselves as better allies. Ophir has facilitated and consulted with numerous Jewish organizations around masculinity, Earth-based Judaism, and Sephardi/Mizrahi culture.
He is also a permaculture, culinary, rites-of-passage, and wilderness enthusiast/educator, self-published poet, and Esalen Massage practitioner. He is teaching currently an online series on ReWilding Judaism.
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Location:
Pittsburgh, PA
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Categories:
Art, Earth-Based Judaism, Embodiment, Feminism, Health and Wellness, Holidays, Jewish Values, Jews of Color, Kohenet, LGBTQ+, Mikveh, Music, Prayer, Ritual, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Storytelling
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Retreats:
Wominyan 2019; Aligning with Stars, Aligning with Self: An Astrology Teshuvah Virtual Retreat; In Living Color: Celebrating our full selves as Jews of Color
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Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife (she/they) sprinkles sparkles, disrupts expectations, and offers blessings wherever she goes. She serves as Founding Kohenet of Kesher Pittsburgh and Program Director of beloved, inaugural Faculty Fellow with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, and also enjoys working with the Jewish Learning Collaborative, Kirva, the Avodah Institute for Social Change, and other Jewish organisations. Additionally, she delights in serving as a shlichat tzibbur, life spiral ceremony/ritual creatrix, teacher, facilitator, liturgist and songstress. Her work in these realms is informed by her lived experience as a queer, bi-racial, child-free Jewish person, her belief that Book, Body and Earth are equal sources of wisdom, the quandaries she has encountered as a scholar of the Orphan Wisdom School, and her deep commitment to a thriving, liberatory Jewish future. Keshira received Kohenet smicha in 2017 and earned her BS 2000 and MS 2001 at Carnegie Mellon University. Though both the lands of the Osage & Haudenosaunee people (aka Pittsburgh, PA) and the Gadigal people (Sydney, AUS) feel like home, Keshira and her beloved have been in an extended period of travel since January 2023.
www.keshirahalev.com
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Location:
Washington, DC
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Categories:
Embodiment, Feminism, Holidays, Jewish Law (Halacha), LGBTQ+, Mikveh, Rabbinic Literature, Ritual, Sexuality, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Talmud, Tanakh/Torah, Writing
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Avigayil Halpern is studying toward rabbinic ordination as a member of Hadar’s Advanced Kollel. She holds a BA in Judaic Studies from Yale University, where she completed a senior thesis exploring Talmudic narratives of women engaged in Torah discourse and the implications of such stories for feminists committed to the study of Talmud today. Avigayil is trained as a Mikveh Guide through Rising Tide, the national network of community mikvaot, and is an alumna of the Drisha Institute and Midreshet Ein HaNatziv. She has written on issues of Judaism, gender, and the left in Jewish and other media, and has been an opinion columnist for the Yale Daily News. Currently, Avigayil is writing a weekly dvar Torah on the parsha incorporating queer and feminist insights through her newsletter, Approaching (avigayil.substack.com).
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Location:
Tel Aviv, Israel
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Categories:
Agriculture/Farming, Art, Community Organizing, Environmentalism, Experiential Education, Food/Drink
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Retreats:
The Holy City of Tel Aviv
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Heela lives and works in Yaffo, Tel Aviv. Coming from an orthodox background in Jerusalem, Heela is a graphic designer (working at Eretz Nehederet tv show, among others), a cultural creator of colorful events around the city (notably, through collaborations with TEDER.FM and others), a member of Onya collective, the Florentine community garden, and a managing partner in CTLV urban tours, focusing on Tel-Aviv’s notorious central bus station and Neve Sha’anan neighborhood . Heela is an urban activist and community organiser, taking part in most of the significant community struggles of recent years against the municipality’s unbalanced development plans for south Tel Aviv. In the past few years she’s been studying local edible flora and botanicals and leads seasonal urban foraging tours.
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Location:
New York, NY
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Categories:
Food/Drink, Holidays, Shabbat
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Retreats:
From Seed to Stomach: A Foodie Retreat; Diversities of Israel; Noshes for the Neshama
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Jonathan Hartig is the executive chef/owner of J2Food, a full-service, Kosher catering company serving the New York Metro area and Philadelphia. Jonathan is also a cooking instructor, MHWOW host, Jewish history and storyteller, and host of the semi-monthly “Pop Up Foodie Shabbat” dinner series for NYC young professionals.
Jonathan was raised in a Conservative Jewish NYC household, attended modern Orthodox day school, and enjoyed summers at UJA or USY affiliated camps and programs. He attended the Columbia University/Jewish Theological Seminary joint program and then received his MA in Sociology and Education from Columbia University Teacher’s College. Since moving back from Philadelphia in late 2016, Jon has dedicated himself to J2Food and working with the local Jewish community.
Jonathan and J2Food frequently collaborate with many local NYC organizations including Moishe House, JCC, Hazon, JDC Entwine, Tribe12 in Philly, and Edlavitch DCJCC in Washington, DC. His “Entwine and Dine” and “Edible Education” programs focus on Jewish food history and culture and feature relevant text study, interactive discussions, and communal cooking. Recent sessions have featured the Jewish community of Morocco, a “Who Owns Falafel?” workshop, and a multi-part Shabbat cooking series for Moishe House UWS.
Jonathan not only is creative with menus and recipes, but he aims to infuse unique and fun Jewish texts and learning into his events. He has hosted a dinner on the concept of Jewish Food Ownership, Jewish Food and Memory, The History of the Matzah Ball, and Establishing Jewish Identity through Food. Other topics that have been discussed have included Kashrut, holidays and rituals, the Shabbat table, and of course food prep, catering, and hosting.
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Location:
Boston, MA
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Categories:
Experiential Education, Health and Wellness, Jewish Values, Mental Health, Outdoor Education
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Retreats:
Base DNVR BaMidbar Back Country Immersive
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BaMidbar takes a wellness lens on Judaism. We envision a Jewish community that actively supports its members in cultivating mental health and wellness, and work to ensure that Jewish youth and young adults have the confidence, skills, and community support to navigate life’s challenges and thrive in the face of adversity. BaMidbar offers clinical services and educational programming that integrates experiential learning, clinically-informed frameworks, and Jewish tradition and aims to strengthen well-being and foster resilience.
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Location:
Austin, TX
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Categories:
Conflict Resolution, Health and Wellness, Mental Health, Mindfulness
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Retreats:
Weekend of Mindfulness and Reflection; Before I Do: Jewishly Setting Intentions for Life Partnership
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Emma Howitt is a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor and a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor. Originally from Houston, Emma earned her Bachelor’s in Psychology at Texas State University and her Master’s in Mental Health Counseling at Yeshiva University. Prior to working at Shalom Austin Jewish Family Service (JFS), Emma was a therapist at several non-profit behavioral health and substance abuse agencies in the Austin area. Emma brings more than ten years’ experience as a professional in non-profit organizations. Her counseling and therapeutic focus covers a range of needs, including individuals, couples and families dealing with issues such as depression, anxiety, self-esteem, substance abuse, relationships, and life transitions.
As a therapist and community educator with Shalom Austin JFS, Emma has facilitated many psychoeducation workshops and group therapy sessions that incorporate Judaism in mental health and substance abuse treatment. She has created programming specifically at the intersection of mental health and Judaism, including a community storytelling event which highlighted Austin Jews in recovery, an ongoing Mood and Mindfulness workshop, and Shalom Village, a supportive social group for new Jewish parents. Emma is also a Gottman Institute-trained facilitator for the renowned couples’ workshop, The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work.
https://shalomaustin.org/jfs-staff/#howitt
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Location:
Kittery, ME
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Categories:
Art, Dance, Earth-Based Judaism, Embodiment, Experiential Education, Feminism, Food/Drink, Health and Wellness, Holidays, Jewish Values, Kabbalah/Mysticism, Kohenet, Meditation, Mindfulness, Ritual, Shabbat
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Retreats:
Entering the Temple: A Jewish Women's Retreat; The Art of True Belonging; Vermont Chalet -- Jewish Identity, Assimilation, and Resistance;
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Naomi Azriel Izen is an ordained Hebrew Priestess through Kohenet and the Creative Director of her own Jewish lifestyle design business. Naomi’s biggest passion is in creating beautiful sacred space, tangible and intangible, and she teaches on how to use ritual, aesthetics and Jewish frameworks for welcoming and transformation. Naomi infuses all of her teachings with earth-based Jewish practices and Mysticism. Naomi incorporates Jewish arts practices and Jewish herbalism and loves creating spaces for in-depth and hands-on learning that are well-held and aesthetically pleasing. If you are seeking a retreat that holds participants in a gentle container with deep attention for details, thoughtful and modernized ritual that leaves your participants with a changed sense of self and Jewish Identity then feel free to reach out. Naomi has taught on numerous Moishe House retreats (virtual and in-person) as well as Camp Nai Nai Nai. She has been an educator at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center as well as Hillel Conferences, Hebrew Day Schools and her own curated Jewish retreats and workshops.
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Location:
San Francisco
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Categories:
Community Organizing, Ethics, Experiential Education, Feminism, Holidays, Jewish Law (Halacha), Jewish Values, LGBTQ+, Midrash, Mizrahi Culture, Poetry, Prayer, Rabbinic Literature, Ritual, Sephardi Culture, Sexuality, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Storytelling, Talmud, Tanakh/Torah, Yiddish
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Retreats:
Feminism All Day; Jewish Music and Songwriting Intensive Retreat; Queer Talmud at Sadeh
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Yiddish teacher, song leader, diaspora culture proveyeur – all with a queer/trans and radical lens. Binya speaks 4 languages, is Sefardi and Ashkenazi and a student of her cultures. She can lead music workshops, Talmud learnings, Jewish holiday and spiritual experiences, political education and more.
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Location:
Los Angeles, CA
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Categories:
Earth-Based Judaism, Embodiment, Entrepreneurship, Environmentalism, Inclusion/Disability Awareness, Kabbalah/Mysticism, Meditation, Mindfulness, Music, Prayer, Ritual, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam
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Retreats:
In Harmony: A Mountain Singing Retreat!
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Legally blind from Retinitis Pigmentosa, Charlie Kramer unites, magnetizes and
elevates those around him. Recently featured in USA Today, Charlie is a life coach for
the Disabled, helping his clients gain vital self advocacy skills, independence,
acceptance, and guides them in effectively accomplishing their relationship and career
goals.
An international touring speaker, performer and musical artist, Charlie has traveled
across North America, Israel and Australia sharing his talent and powerful message.
He utilizes his blindness as a tool to educate people on the importance of inclusion,
equality and radical self-acceptance.
To learn more about Charlie, his offerings and to work with him, visit
www.charliekramervision.com.
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Location:
Brooklyn, NY
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Categories:
Community Organizing, Entrepreneurship, Experiential Education, Feminism, Health and Wellness, Mental Health, Mikveh, Shabbat
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Retreats:
Jewish Food and How We Gather; House of Love and Bragging
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Arielle Krule is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, community organizer, and student in Yeshivat Maharat’s Core Semikha program. She is the founding director of Selah, a spiritual community of people in recovery and those who love them, grounded in Jewish tradition. Arielle also teaches and learns Mishnah at Luria Academy of Brooklyn in its middle school.
Previously, Arielle has served as Rabbinical Fellow at the Prospect Heights Shul, Scholar-In-Residence at At The Well, consultant for Hillel International’s Springboard Fellowship, and Fellowship Manager at Atra: The Center for Rabbinic Innovation. Arielle was the Director of the Jewish Learning Fellowship, the largest educational provider on college campuses in North America through the Office of Innovation, and the Director of the NYC CUNY Hillel Social Work Fellowship.
Arielle has her BSW, MSW, SIFI certification, and certificate in Spirituality and Social Work from NYU and a certificate in Experiential Education from M2: The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education. She is a Wexner Graduate Fellow and UJA-Federation of NY Fellow. She can be found in Brooklyn with her husband and dog inviting you over for Shabbat.
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Location:
Portland, OR
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Categories:
Earth-Based Judaism, Environmentalism, Experiential Education, Meditation, Mindfulness, Outdoor Education
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Retreats:
SLR: Wanderings: Judaism and Nature Retreat
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Nature is a tremendous well-spring of Jewish spirituality as well as a source of many of our Jewish traditions and Mitzvoth. Josh brings nature and Judaism alive on walks, hikes, canoe trips and multi-day adventures. Creation is at the Beginning of the Torah because nature and all its elements are the building blocks that Abraham, Sara, Miriam, Moses and all our ancestors used to experience God and spirituality. Nature connects us to our true inner neshamas, as well as our friends and community. Josh uses nature to build connections to our traditions, ancestors and descendants as well as create bridges to having a good time outdoors! From building forts, making one-match fires and general bushcraft activities, Creation comes alive in fun and meaningful ways for participants in Josh’s programs.
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Location:
Pardes Hannah, Israel and Bay Area, California
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Categories:
Art, Dance, Earth-Based Judaism, Embodiment, Experiential Education, Feminism, Health and Wellness, Hebrew Language, Holidays, Improv, Inclusion/Disability Awareness, Israel, Jewish Values, Kabbalah/Mysticism, Kohenet, Meditation, Mental Health, Midrash, Mikveh, Mindfulness, Poetry, Prayer, Ritual, Sexuality, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Tanakh/Torah, Yoga
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Retreats:
Ani Ldodo VDodi Li; Align with your Lineage
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Nechama Shaina is an expressive arts therapist that utilizes dance, visual arts and drama in her therapy practice with both groups and individuals. Nechama also has a strong background as a Jewish educator, inspired by mystical teachings and traditions. Nechama is an artist and Hebrew scribe. She is passionate about integrating spirituality and personal, trans personal and interpersonal growth. Nechama also has training in dream work, meditation, mindfulness and “Avodat haLev’ song/prayer leading.
She has worked with organizations as an educator such as Hazon the contemporary Jewish museum of San Francisco and local synagogues and schools.
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Location:
Philadelphia, PA
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Categories:
Hebrew Language, Israel, Jewish Law (Halacha), Jewish Values, Midrash, Rabbinic Literature, Shabbat, Talmud, Tanakh/Torah, Yiddish, Zionism
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Retreats:
The Vilna Club; The Vilna Club 2.0; The Vilna Club 4.0
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Sholom Licht is a student at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. A native of Queens, N.Y., Sholom studied at a number of Yeshivas in both the U.S. and Israel before attending Bar-Ilan University and Yeshiva University, where he received a B.A. and M.A. respectively, in Jewish studies. Sholom served as an editor and translator for the Koren English Talmud Bavli project, as a teacher, and as the Director of the Executive Office of the Orthodox Union, before pursuing a legal career. In his free time, Sholom greatly enjoys the outdoors; skiing in the winter, hiking and camping in the summer, and biking all year round.
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Location:
Oakland, CA
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Categories:
Feminism, Holidays, LGBTQ+, Music, Ritual, Shabbat, Theater
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Retreats:
Jewish Mothers + MEmory; Kol Isha
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Kiki Lipsett is a musician, educator, performer, and prayer leader. Her work meets at the intersection of social justice and music. She is a professionally trained vocalist, pianist, and guitar player and has a background in musical theater performance. Kiki uses her music and arts training to support youth experiencing homelessness to develop their unique voices and to elevate their songs and stories. She also regularly leads music for Shabbat and High Holiday services and is involved in musical projects for community-building and for individuals who are ill or grieving.
Kiki is known in the Bay Area for writing, directing, producing, and performing in “Irreverently Yours, The Shushan Queens,” an annual, politically satirical, feminist, musical comedy for Purim all in rhyme. She and her cast have performed to sold out Bay Area audiences each year for the past 3 years. While on a fellowship in Israel/Palestine, she created and performed an original one-woman show called, “The Land is Shaking,” exploring the relationship between land and identity.
Kiki is also a creative consultant and musical content creator. She works with individuals, organizations, and companies to create original or parody songs for events, marketing, or just for fun.
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Location:
Ithaca, NY
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Categories:
Earth-Based Judaism, Ethics, Feminism, Food/Drink, Health and Wellness, Holidays, Inclusion/Disability Awareness, Jewish Law (Halacha), Jewish Values, LGBTQ+, Mental Health, Midrash, Music, Poetry, Prayer, Ritual, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Writing
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Retreats:
Wine for the Wise: A Study of Wine & Judaism
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Cantor Abbe Lyons is dedicated to enhancing the spiritual and emotional power of music and Jewish learning in everyday life as well as in sacred spaces. She is the Assistant Program Director for the ALEPH Cantorial Program, where she received smicha as Hazzan (Cantor) in 2010, and on the faculty for the Davennen Leadership Training Institue. She is Jewish Chaplain at Ithaca College, where she received a B.Mus. in voice performance in 1987.
Cantor Lyons is an innovative liturgist and composer whose published work includes Jewish Liturgy: A Guide for Everyone, poetry, alternative social justice haftarot, and original music on the album Listen! with her multifaith band, Resonate, and solo album Household Chores. She is a dynamic SpeakChorus Torah group midrash facilitator, and offers Contemplative Torah groups and presentations/performances on Jewish Communities Around the World Through Music. Current projects include multigender and nonbinary liturgy and Torah translations.
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Location:
NYC Metro Area
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Categories:
Art, Earth-Based Judaism, Embodiment, Feminism, Health and Wellness, Mindfulness, Music, Prayer, Ritual, Shabbat, Storytelling, Theater, Yiddish
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Retreats:
SLR: Mindfulness Story Slam
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Dr. C. Tova Markenson loves exploring the mystery of the present moment with individuals and groups.
Her work grows out of 10+ years of experience in the fields of collaboration, communication, and creativity. She aims to restore joyful connection to our inherent goodness through practices that are mindfulness-based and trauma informed.
Tova has designed and taught courses on mindfulness, storytelling and communication to non-profit professionals, spiritual leaders, young adults, and life-long learners.
She has guided teams of rising artists and professional creatives in co-creating performances that address urgent communal needs. She has published poems, essays, and peer-reviewed articles. Tova has received several awards for her work in the fields of Jewish studies, theatre studies, and sexuality studies.
PhD Northwestern University, BA Carleton College.
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Location:
Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Categories:
Anti-Semitism, Art, Community Organizing, Ethics, Experiential Education, Film, Health and Wellness, Holidays, Israel, Jewish Values, Judaism in Pop Culture & Media, Literature (Stories, Novels, Poetry), Mental Health, Music, Outdoor Education, Prayer, Rabbinic Literature, Ritual, Shabbat, Storytelling, Talmud, Tanakh/Torah, Zionism
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Retreats:
Sucot: La fragilidad del tener; La obsesión del judaísmo con las velas; Shavuot y Jag Hacatzir Retreat; Oh hell, Lejaim! la comida y la alegría en el pueblo judío
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Manuel is an experienced educator with a long trajectory in both formal and non formal educational settings. He has wokred as Madrij for 8 years in Macabi and Masorti movements (tnuot), where he led and trained other educators for their roles. He has been a student at Atheret Tzvi Ieshiva since 2017 where he studied jewish texts such as Jumash, Tanaj and Talmud. He holds a degree in psychology, specialized in education and currently works in consulting as a training and educational experience and curriculum designer.
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Location:
Amherst, MA
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Categories:
Art, Experiential Education, Holocaust, Kabbalah/Mysticism, Literature (Stories, Novels, Poetry), Midrash, Music, Poetry, Rabbinic Literature, Ritual, RSJ: Russian Speaking Jews, Storytelling, Talmud, Writing
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Retreats:
SLR: Shabbat and Creative Arts Retreat
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Jake Marmer is a poet, performer, and educator. He is the author of three poetry collections: Cosmic Diaspora (Station Hill Press, 2020), as well as The Neighbor Out of Sound (2018) and Jazz Talmud (2012), both from The Sheep Meadow Press. He also released two klez-jazz-poetry records: Purple Tentacles of Thought and Desire (2020, with Cosmic Diaspora Trio), and Hermeneutic Stomp (Blue Fringe Music, 2013). Jake is the poetry critic for Tablet Magazine. Born in the provincial steppes of Ukraine, in a city that was renamed four times in the past 100 years, Jake lives in Amherst, MA. For more information, see https://linktr.ee/jakemarmer
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Location:
Chicago, IL
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Categories:
Ethics, Feminism, Health and Wellness, Holidays, Jewish Law (Halacha), Jewish Values, Mental Health, Mikveh, Music, Prayer, Rabbinic Literature, Ritual, Sexuality, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Talmud
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Retreats:
Elul in Eden
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Rav Sarah serves as the Rabbi of Base LNCLN, opening her home and her heart to students and young adults in Lincoln Park, Chicago. She passionately believes that Torah matters and that Judaism can enrich human life and better society.
Sarah grew up in Murray, Utah, and is the descendant of Jewish pioneers, Congregationalist ministers, and at least two different signers of the Declaration of Independence. Having discovered a new relationship to her Yidishkeit in college and several times since, she is especially excited to support you as you figure out what your Jewishness means for you!
Sarah is also a nationally-regarded adult education teacher. Particular areas of interest are reading Jewish legal texts as a source of wisdom, feminist and gendered perspectives on Judaism, and exploring questions of economic justice. She is also a serious Shabbat stan.
Sarah most recently led the Created Equal Project at the Shalom Hartman Institute, and is committed to building a Jewish community which upholds the human dignity of people of all genders and uses its power ethically. Previously, Sarah has worked as a Rabbi and Jewish Educator in a variety of settings, including pulpits, social justice organizations, mikvaot, hospitals, and in formal and experiential education. Sarah has been involved in the leadership of several independent minyanim and is a lover of singing inflected traditional-liturgy davening.
Sarah was ordained by the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College and received private rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Daniel Landes. She also earned a Masters in Jewish Education from Hebrew College. She is an alumna of Brandeis University, Yeshivat Hadar, Pardes Institute, Drisha Institute, Beit Midrash Har El, the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, and the David Hartman Center Fellowship.
Sarah has been learning Torah and building Jewish community with Rabbi William Friedman for 15 years, and happily they also got married and became the parents of two amazing kiddos, Liana and Shimon. Sarah can be reached at sarahemulhern@gmail.com
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Location:
Columbus, OH
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Categories:
Ethics, Feminism, Hebrew Language, Jewish Law (Halacha), Jewish Values, Midrash, Prayer, Rabbinic Literature, Ritual, Sephardi Culture, Sexuality, Shabbat, Talmud, Tanakh/Torah
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Retreats:
Baraita: Outdoor Learning
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Rabbi Yoni Nadiv is a passionate educator who invites discussion focused study around texts, bringing the ancient and modern world into conversation. He has a passion for making material accessible to learners of all skill levels through skills based learning and modern technological approaches.
Sample lessons include:
– Talmud Skills Crash Course – Forgotten Holidays: What did Shavuot and Shemini Atzeret used to be? – A Model of Modern Prayer: How Hannah’s Prayer Inspired the Development of Tefillah
– Torah and Talmud 101
– Advanced Critical Methods of Torah and Talmud
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Location:
Cincinnati, OH
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Categories:
Community Organizing, Experiential Education, Food/Drink, Holidays, Jewish Values, Mikveh, Mizrahi Culture, Ritual, Sephardi Culture, Shabbat
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Retreats:
Koach: Finding Your Strenth; Tekiah: Creating My Own Sound in the Jewish Community
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“Who is wise? One who learns from all”, these are the words that ring truest to Danniell. Through her work with the disability community, interfaith dialogue, and adult and family programming, Danniell excels at establishing connections and building relationships. Danniell is committed to cultivating mindful immersive opportunities for individuals to explore their Jewish identity and build community. Born and raised in Metro-Detroit, Danniell has also lived in Seattle where she helped individuals delve into their heritage through education and experiences, as the Jewish Life and Learning Professional at the SJCC, and currently lives in Atlanta serving as the Senior Director of Jewish Journeys, Places, and Welcoming and the Jewish Federation. Danniell loves bold flavors, deep conversations, and anything with peanut butter and chocolate.
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Location:
Toronto, Canada
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Categories:
Agriculture/Farming, Earth-Based Judaism, Environmentalism, Experiential Education, Health and Wellness, Jewish Values, LGBTQ+, Mikveh, Outdoor Education, Prayer, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Talmud
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Retreats:
Parchment Making Shabbaton; Leather Working Shabbaton
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Tiferet is a Jewish environmental educator and community builder. She holds a Masters in Education and a B.A. in Diaspora and Transnational Studies with a focus on relationships between diasporic and indigenous communities. Tiferet completed the Wild Deer wilderness skills training, and is a recipient of the David Suzuki Award for environmental educators. She has worked with the TDSB, the Toronto Parks Forestry and Recreation Department, the University of Toronto’s Multifaith Centre and is founding resident of Moishe Pod Toronto. Tiferet’s current role is the Co-Director of Shoresh, a Jewish nature connection organization in Southern Ontario.
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Location:
Jerusalem, Israel
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Categories:
Art, Conflict Resolution, Earth-Based Judaism, Embodiment, Ethics, Experiential Education, Feminism, Food/Drink, Health and Wellness, Holidays, Holocaust, Jewish Law (Halacha), Jewish Values, Kabbalah/Mysticism, Meditation, Mental Health, Midrash, Mikveh, Mindfulness, Music, Outdoor Education, Poetry, Prayer, Rabbinic Literature, Ritual, Sexuality, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Storytelling, Talmud, Tanakh/Torah, Yoga
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Retreats:
Yoda & Jewish Meditation Weekend in Berlin
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Rabbah Dr. Mira Neshama Weil helps people find connection to their Jewish Soul through meaningful encounters with texts, rituals and meditative practices from the Jewish tradition.
A certified Jewish Experiential Educator (Pardes), Certified Jewish Mindfulness Teacher (IJS), Mindfulness Instructor (MTI) and Yoga Teacher (Sira RYT 200), Mira’s work focuses on helping people build and sustain Jewish fluency, spiritual practice (through Hasidic Torah Learning and Indigenous Jewish Meditation) and Ethical discipline (Musar), through retreats, courses and workshops.
The cofounder with her husband Matan Weil of Neshima.co, the first Jewish Meditation mobile App, she lives in Israel from where she teaches in person and online internationally since 2013. She also writes and speaks on Jewish Wisdom, and Paint illustrations for French Jewish media (Tenou’a, L’Eclaireur, Akadem, Shofar).
Mira received her Ph.D in Sociology of Religion at the EHESS in Paris and her Orthodox Rabbinic Smikha from Prof. Rabbi Daniel Sperber at Beit Midrash Har’El in Jerusalem.
When she isn’t teaching, writing or painting, Mira can be found in her favorite yoga studio in Tel Aviv, baking challah, or looking at God through the leaves of the trees.
A firm believer that making the world a better place starts with each of us, she thrives to embody what she teaches every day: living ethically, opening the heart.
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Location:
Tel Aviv, Israel
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Categories:
Experiential Education, Israel, Mizrahi Culture, Music, Poetry, Sephardi Culture, Zionism
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Retreats:
The Diversities of Israel: Build your own Relationship
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Dr. Dikla Rivlin Katz is a social historian who deals with Sephardi and Mizrachi Jewish identity in the Zionist movement and the modern Middle Eastern context. After a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Selma Stern Center for Jewish Studies in Berlin, she is now a Fellow at the Open University. As an educator, for the last 15 years, Dikla has been working with Jewish organizations such as Makom, The Jewish Agency, The Jewish Education Project, Hillel International, and more, developing programs and mentoring educators to include the complex reality of Israel in their teachings.
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Location:
North America
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Categories:
Agriculture/Farming, Environmentalism, Experiential Education, Food/Drink, Holidays, Jewish History, Jewish Values, Outdoor Education, Philanthropy, Tzedakah
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Retreats:
Jerusalem Mix: Cuisine and Cultures that Make up the Jewish Israeli Mosaic; Jews In Canoes; Jews In Canoes 2.0
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Avery Robinson is a culinary historian who has written over 100 pages on kugel, baked challah for 300+ on an open fire, and worked in bakeries in Tel Aviv and NYC. He led camping trips with Ramah Canada for a decade and has also guided trips for Moishe House and others. Avery is a co-founder of Rye Revival, a nonprofit promoting rye as a climate change mitigation strategy, and co-owner of Black Rooster Food, which makes 100% rye sourdough bread. He works in Jewish philanthropy and is the board chair of Hekdesh, a volunteer-run giving circle.
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Location:
Ramat Gan, Israel
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Categories:
Community Organizing, Holidays, Holocaust, Israel, Jewish Law (Halacha), Jewish Values, Midrash, RSJ: Russian Speaking Jews, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Storytelling, Talmud, Tanakh/Torah
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Educator, former MH staff, project director for RSJ-programs of Nadav Foundation. In the past overseed Jewish educational programs for teens and young adults, had huge experience in developing programs and creating edutainment formats. Over the past three years Leonid has spent extensive time working on the topic of modern Jewish identity, a topic which he is extremely passionate about.
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Location:
Portland, OR
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Categories:
Feminism, Film, Food/Drink, Jewish Values, RSJ: Russian Speaking Jews, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Writing
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Retreats:
Jewish Food Justice Retreat
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Sonya Sanford is a writer, chef, and co-host of the popular food podcast: Food Friends – Home Cooking Made Easy. Born in Seattle to Ukrainian-immigrant parents, Sonya spent her early professional life working in the film industry in Los Angeles before pivoting to a career as a chef and moving back to the Pacific Northwest to open her Jewish restaurant, Beetroot Market & Deli. Specializing in Ukrainian and Soviet food, Jewish diasporic food, and Pacific Northwest seasonal cooking, her writing has been featured in Eater, the Nosher, and
Tablet Magazine and her recipes have been nationally syndicated in Jewish media outlets. She recently published her debut cookbook: “Braids: Recipes From My Pacific Northwest Jewish Kitchen,” and you can find more of her work at www.sonyasanford.com and follow her on Instagram @sonyamichellesanford
Sonya’s main categories are culinary/diasporic Jewish food/Jewish food history/Ukrainian and Soviet food.
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Location:
Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Categories:
Ethics, Film, Holidays, Holocaust, Israel, Jewish Values, Judaism in Pop Culture & Media, LGBTQ+, Literature (Stories, Novels, Poetry), Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Storytelling, Writing
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Retreats:
El registro de la naturaleza como un hecho artístico y espiritual; Los ciclos en la vida judía y en la naturaleza; De la naturaleza a tu plato, Los valores judios sobre la mesa.
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Alejandro Schonfeld (1986) es guionista y docente. Estudió Historia en la Universidad de Buenos Aires y Artes Audiovisuales en la Universidad Nacional de Artes. También curso estudios judaicos en diversas instituciones judías de Argentina y en el Majón LeMadrijim Jutz La’Aretz en Israel (2005). Como guionista escribió series documentales sobre temas varios para Canal Encuentro y la productora Nudo Colectivo Audiovisual.
Alejandro Schonfeld (1986) is a screenwriter and teacher. He studied History at the University of Buenos Aires and Audiovisual Arts at the National University of Arts. He also studied Judaic studies in various Jewish institutions in Argentina and at the Machon LeMadrichim Chutz La’Aretz in Israel (2005). As a screenwriter, he wrote documentary series on various topics for Canal Encuentro and the production company Nudo Colectivo Audiovisual.
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Location:
Portland, OR
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Categories:
Anti-Semitism, Art, Community Organizing, Conflict Resolution, Dance, Earth-Based Judaism, Embodiment, Ethics, Experiential Education, LGBTQ+, Meditation, Mental Health, Mikveh, Mindfulness, Music, Outdoor Education, Poetry, Prayer, Ritual, Sexuality, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Storytelling, Theater
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Retreats:
L'dor v'dor
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Caryn Shebowich is a social worker, a youth worker, a Jewish ritual song leader, an organizer, and a former Teva educator. They are currently doing work around the carceral state and Shabbat rest as a radical practice. They love creating individualized Jewish ritual, will talk your ear off about the difference between anti zionism and anti semitism, and they are a total geek about mikvehs, facilitation, swing dancing, and cheese.
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Location:
Tel Aviv, Israel
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Categories:
Community Organizing, Embodiment, Entrepreneurship, Ethics, Experiential Education, Feminism, Food/Drink, Hebrew Language, Holidays, Israel, Jewish Values, Judaism in Pop Culture & Media, Kabbalah/Mysticism, LGBTQ+, Literature (Stories, Novels, Poetry), Meditation, Midrash, Mindfulness, Outdoor Education, Poetry, Prayer, Ritual, Sexuality, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Storytelling, Tanakh/Torah, Writing, Yoga, Zionism
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Retreats:
Elul Retreat; Lag B'Omek (Lag B'Omer In-Depth); Retreatiyul
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Mor Shimonie is a Jewish culture and community entrepreneur. Leading “Kehilat Bina Tel Aviv” – a young adult community, creating Israeli-Jewish life in the city. Founder of “The Chavura” – a hub for community leaders, and a bible, Jewish philosophy and gender lecturer. Mor is a graduate of the Mandel Leadership Institute and has a BA in Jewish Philosophy from Tel Aviv University. Mor lives in Tel Aviv with her wife and dog and is an enthusiastic rooftop gardener.
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Location:
Stamford, CT
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Categories:
Embodiment, Health and Wellness, Meditation, Mindfulness
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Retreats:
SLR: Jewish Mindfulness Retreat
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Yael Shy is the CEO of Mindfulness Consulting, LLC, where she teaches and consults on mindfulness for universities, corporations, and private clients around the world. She is the author of the award-winning book, What Now? Meditation for Your Twenties and Beyond (Parallax, 2017), and the founder of Mindful NYU, the largest campus-based mindfulness initiative in the US.
Yael is a graduate of the IJS Jewish Mindfulness Teacher Training Certification and has over a decade of teaching and consulting experience and nearly 20 years of meditation practice experience. She is adjunct faculty at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality and the Or HaLev Center for Jewish Spirituality and Meditation, as well as MNDFL Meditation. She was an original co-founder of the Jewish Meditation Center of Brooklyn.
She has led workshops and retreats for the Jewish Education Project, One Table, Pardes Institute, Hebrew Union College, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, Limmud NY, Repair the World, Marlene Meyereson JCC, Hillel International, Moshe House, Honeymoon Israel, B’nai Jeshurun (NYC), Romemu (NYC), Beloved Brooklyn (NYC), Central Synagogue (NYC), as well as synagogues, Hillels, and day schools across the country. Yael lives in the Hudson Valley with her family. You can learn more about Yael at yaelshy.com and yaelshy1 on Instagram.
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Location:
Los Angeles, CA
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Categories:
Anti-Semitism, Community Organizing, Experiential Education, Food/Drink, Holidays, Holocaust, Israel, Jewish Law (Halacha), Jewish Values, Judaism in Pop Culture & Media, Rabbinic Literature, Ritual, Sexuality, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Storytelling, Talmud, Tanakh/Torah
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Retreats:
Retreatology; Diversities of Israel
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Alyssa Silva is the Programming Manager for the Office of Open Learning at American Jewish University whose passion is to reimagine and implement what Jewish community looks like by bringing a unique perspective on what is engaging and inspiring Jewish communities today. Prior to arriving at AJU, she was the Assistant Executive Director of Houston Hillel, the Programming and Operations Associate at Maryland Hillel, and is a proud Moishe House DC alumni. Alyssa has a Master’s Degree in Jewish Nonprofit Management from The Zelikow School, a BA in Religious Studies from The University of Arizona, and a certificate in Jewish Experiential Education from The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies.
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Location:
Tel Aviv, Israel
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Categories:
Agriculture/Farming, Jewish Values, Outdoor Education, Zionism
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Retreats:
The Holy City of Tel Aviv
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Abraham Silver was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York.
After receiving a B.A. in History and Philosophy from S.U.N.Y. Binghamton, Abraham moved to Kibbutz Ketura, a socialist pioneering settlement in Israel’s Negev desert, where he spent nineteen years as a date farmer. He received his army training in the Israel Nachal Paratrooper Corps and continued to serve in a front-line combat unit as a reservist in the IDF until retirement in 2003, serving in Lebanon and during both Intifadas.
Abraham completed an M.A. in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. His architectural emphasis is on the design of Jewish Space in Israeli and modern American Jewish architecture. As Project Manager at the firm of Butler, Rogers, Baskett in New York, he was responsible for the design and construction of high-end office projects including the offices of Dewey Ballantine.
In addition to practicing architecture, he is a licensed tour guide and senior Jewish/Israel educator. He has devoted the last thirty years to creating and implementing innovative informal Jewish and Israel education. In his role as educator, he has helped people of all ages and backgrounds understand their connection to the land of Israel and the Jewish people. As Educational Director of the Dorot Fellowship in Israel, he was part of a team that designed new concepts of peer-led education. In his role as Educational Director of Israel Interactive, he provided educators with inventive, attractive, DVD and Internet based instructional programs for Israel education. Abraham is co-founder of the Israel informational website, Access Israel.
Abraham’s background has led him to a unique understanding of Tel Aviv as the most Jewish city in the world: its development, its architecture, its impact on the Jewish world and Jewish Identity and the implications for the global family of nations. He provides specialty tours of Tel Aviv.
Abraham is also a lecturer on the Architecture of Jerusalem at Hebrew University.
He is co-author of the book “Living the Dream: Israel at 50” as well as “Israel at 60: People, Places and History”, a three-volume set of DVDs.
Abraham and his wife Elissa live in Tel Aviv with their two thirteen-year-old daughters, Shiri and Libi.
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Location:
Cleveland, OH
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Categories:
Dance, Environmentalism, Jews of Color, Mindfulness
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Retreats:
Moishe gets Muddy; Maine Roots 2020; In Living Color: Celebrating our full selves as Jews of Color
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Yoshi Silverstein facilitates connection to body, nature, and spirit through movement, design, play, exploration, & Jewish tradition. Also a 2nd degree blackbelt, CrossFit coach, and movement teacher, he holds over sixteen years of experience in both Jewish and secular outdoor, food, farming, and environmental education. Yoshi is an alumnus of the Selah Leadership Program, the Dorot Fellowship, and the PresenTense NYC Accelerator for Social Entrepreneurship. He is a member of the UpStart Alumni Advisory Council and a founding member of the Repair the World NYC Advisory Board.
A Pacific Northwest native, Yoshi has resided in roughly thirteen different places since his eighteenth birthday – including the Olympic Mountains, central and northern Idaho Rockies, Berkshire Mountains, and the Arava Valley – and now lives in the Bushwick Plains of Northern Brooklyn with his wife, daughter, and pup. He makes a mean Chinese Roast Duck.
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Location:
Deerfield Beach, FL
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Categories:
Anti-Semitism, Art, Community Organizing, Conflict Resolution, Earth-Based Judaism, Embodiment, Entrepreneurship, Ethics, Feminism, Food/Drink, Health and Wellness, Inclusion/Disability Awareness, Jewish Values, Jews of Color, Judaism in Pop Culture & Media, LGBTQ+, Ritual, Sephardi Culture, Sexuality, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Storytelling, Tanakh/Torah
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Retreats:
Be Outspoken, Speak Out: How Jewish Women Teach Us the Importance of Speaking Up
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Anise Simon is a reproductive health advocate and non-profit professional. She is an alumnus of the Brandeis Collegiate Institute program through AJU and a co-founder of the Triangle Moishe House (Chapel Hill, NC). As a racial and reproductive justice facilitator, she enjoys weaving Jewish themes to help “wrestle” with Jewish text and connect our values with our religious and cultural tradition. Anise grew up in Jewish communities in both the US and the Caribbean and currently lives between South Florida and Northern California with her partner and two dogs. Currently, Anise works as the Member Systems Manager at the National Network of Abortion Funds and renovates vacation rental properties near the beach. Anise enjoys community organizing, vegetable gardens, and live music. You can find her online @Aniseyy.
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Location:
Tel Aviv, Israel
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Categories:
Conflict Resolution, Entrepreneurship, Ethics, Feminism, Inclusion/Disability Awareness, Israel, Jewish Values, Jews of Color, Literature (Stories, Novels, Poetry), Mindfulness, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Storytelling
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Retreats:
The Holy City of Tel Aviv
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Consultant, University Lecturer, Cross Culturalist, Mediator, Urbanist and Entrepreneur. Ilyll has over a decade of experience in leading, training and guiding diverse groups and individuals in cross-cultural fields in English, Hebrew, French and Spanish. Ilyll has lived and worked in the USA, France, Spain and Argentina while researching cultures and initiating and leading entrepreneurial projects. Through international encounters she has gained knowledge and hands-on experience of how cultures shape business interactions and organizational norms. In one-on-one sessions, group trainings and workshops, Ilyll’s mediator skills allow her to bridge the challenging cultural gaps and transform them into strengths. Over the years she has developed elaborate models and tools for implementing the impact of cultures on the ways in which people think, feel and act. Ilyll holds an MA in Mediation & Conflict Resolution from Tel Aviv University.
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Location:
Bay Area, CA
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Categories:
Dance, Earth-Based Judaism, Embodiment, Feminism, Health and Wellness, Meditation, Mikveh, Mindfulness, Poetry, Prayer, Ritual, Sexuality, Storytelling, Yoga
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Retreats:
Dance with the Divine - A Sacred Rosh Chodesh Retreat
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Kyla Sokoll-Ward is the former Director of the Community Mikveh at American Jewish University in Los Angeles, CA, where she has been grateful to facilitate and witness nearly 1,000 journeys of transformation in the lives of those who immerse in sacred waters. Judaism and spiritual expression run deep in Kyla’s bones, and she finds holiness in the uncomfortable, the ugly, the delightful, and the ecstatic in all that life will inevitably offer us. She is passionate about Jewish ritual and holding ceremonial space that invites us back into right relationship with our bodies, the earth, and the ancestors who have made us who we are.
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Location:
Boston, MA
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Categories:
Dance, Embodiment, Experiential Education, Health and Wellness, Improv, Masculinity, Meditation, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Theater
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Retreats:
Retreatology
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Former Moishe House resident and Senior Director of House Programs, now a therapist with a specialism in holistic approaches, Joel is an accredited 5Rhythms® dance and movement meditation teacher, with additional background in mindfulness, facilitation, theater, and creative methods of Jewish education. He has taught at multiple Limmud conferences, Moishe House programs, and various retreats, and co-led the first Retreatology.
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Location:
Jaffa, Israel
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Categories:
Community Organizing, Conflict Resolution, Embodiment, Ethics, Experiential Education, Health and Wellness, Hebrew Language, Holidays, Israel, Jewish Law (Halacha), Jewish Values, Kabbalah/Mysticism, Masculinity, Meditation, Mental Health, Midrash, Mindfulness, Prayer, Rabbinic Literature, Ritual, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Storytelling, Talmud, Tanakh/Torah, Writing, Yoga, Zionism
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Retreats:
Seventh Day of Freedom
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Rabbi Micha received rabbinical ordination in 2017 and has since served various communities in Jerusalem and now in Jaffa. He is a community builder, who leads monthly Rosh Chodesh fires, learning groups and holiday events.
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Location:
Los Angeles, CA
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Categories:
Anti-Semitism, Community Organizing, Entrepreneurship, Film, Health and Wellness, Inclusion/Disability Awareness, Jewish Values, Judaism in Pop Culture & Media, Masculinity, Meditation, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Outdoor Education, Prayer, Ritual, Shabbat, Social Justice/Tikkun Olam, Storytelling, Zionism
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Retreats:
Jewish Seatreat
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Charles “Chaz” Volk is a passionate and open minded leader that is absorbed by his Jewish journey. Having his 3rd trip in Israel with AishLIT, he came home wanting to not just be Jewish but also DO Jewish. Since then, he has created a podcast called Bad Jew, where he discusses the nuances of Jewish ritual and practice by asking blunt and confrontational questions. He is affiliated with Aish HaTorah, Chabad, NFTY, and Moishe House. Chaz specializes in open dialogue, prayer, meditation, and is always learning more.
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