Lengthening the Light: A Community Gathering for Rosh Chodesh Tammuz

Thursday, June 30, 2022
10am PST | 1pm EST | 8pm ISR [90 mins]

with Judy Fuhrer & Laura Hegfield

This month’s practice features Hebrew chanting with Laura Hegfield & mindful yoga with Judy Fuhrer, founder of Jazrun Yoga. Please bring a yoga mat, a chair and/or two blocks, and a strap and/or towel.

Judy Fuhrer, started her career with a BFA in Dance from The University of Illinois. The BFA curriculum is a rigorous and comprehensive program where she learned not only the study of anatomy, kinesiology, and dance history, but also the body-mind disciplines such as Alexander Technique and yoga. After that she was awarded entry into the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater scholarship program where she furthered her education in technique classes, performance and training. Judy began a daily practice of yoga in January 1997 and went on to attain many yoga teaching certifications. Coming from a dancer background, the yoga postures seemed natural, and Judy embraced the discipline of the postures and breath work. She specializes in yoga for care and healing, Gentle Yoga, Restorative Yoga and Hatha Yoga for beginning through intermediate level students. Judy's classes challenge her students to go deep and to allow the mind, body and spirit to express itself. Her classes are described as fun, freeing of pain, a relief of stiffness and stress while also relaxing and playful.

Laura Hegfield has been a Jewish educator since 2001. She founded Menuchat Ha-Lev, a bi-monthly Shabbat morning meditation circle in 2014. As a certified Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Teacher, she draws inspiration from Torah and brings each parashah into present-moment lived experience. She is also a Yoga and Jewish Spirituality Teacher and Reiki Master. Laura has always been a singer and started writing music and lyrics at age 11. She serves her community in NH as a lay leader during the Yamim Noraim and through Healing Services several times each year, lifting her voice in prayer, in song, and love.

From אבילות to אהבה (Pain to Love): Av/אב & the Full Spectrum of Feeling | July Community Gathering, Rosh Chodesh Av

Thursday, July 28, 2022
10am PST | 1pm EST | 8pm ISR [90 mins]

with Gail Rosenheim Gurewitz, Tracey Green & Scott Shalom Green

In preparation for the month of Av, Gail Rosenheim Gurewitz guides in a practice to open our physical, energetic, and emotional bodies and then allow our bodies to move more organically with music to assist us. Tracey & Scott Shalom Green offer embodied practices to open and close our session.

Please bring: a small hand towel, a yoga mat & any yoga props you need. Prepare a sacred space to move.

Gail Rosenheim Gurewitz is a therapeutic movement educator who teaches private and public yoga and meditation classes and workshops. A movement person since childhood, she launched into a professional ballet career at 15, dancing internationally with San Francisco Ballet, among other companies. After retiring due to injuries, she delved into more sustainable practices, training in and teaching Pilates, Yoga, and expressive dance. She teaches a style of movement meditation that helps people to open their emotional bodies through music and guidance to access and move toward deep connection, calm, and their true essence. Within synagogues and Jewish centers, Gail offers workshops which weave Jewish themes into gentle yoga, movement, meditation, and prayer; her passion for the past 5 years.

Hashem Ba-Sadeh, God is in the Field: An Elul Practice of Authentic Movement August Community Gathering, Rosh Chodesh Elul

Thursday, August 25, 2022
10am PST | 1pm EST | 8pm ISR [90 mins]

with Reb Simona Aronow

Authentic Movement is a practice of direct embodied knowing. We refine our skills of inner listening, receiving and expressing our authentic truth in the moment through body as sacred wisdom vessel. It is a gift to trust ourselves in this way, and to trust others to witness this authentic expression in a loving and supportive way. All experiences, feelings, thoughts and sensations, are received as sacred body wisdom. Come as you are. The dark and the light, the broken and the whole, the known and unknown, movement and stillness, are all sacred. Be delightfully surprised by the wisdom of your sacred being and what it is ready to share.

Practicing Authentic Movement within the special energy channels of Elul, we have the extra support of the Divine presence coming down into the material world, accessible to all. We have the opportunity to connect more directly to Source, and to embody Source. God walks amongst us "in the field", as friend and beloved, supporting us to reveal and unify the sacred and material worlds. Body and Soul can unite in this energetic field, to reveal and express more of our deep authentic essence for healing and inspiration. Please join us in discovering your personal Elul dance!

Reb Simona Aronow,( BC-DTR, CMA, NCC, BCTMB) is a Dance/Movement Therapist, student of Kabbalah, and educator for over 45 years. She is empowered by Reb Zalman, z"l, as Sacred Movement and Embodiment Guide, Sacred Minister, Morat Torah, and Ritualist. Weaving traditional Jewish learning and movement together for healing and transformation, she has taught through Aleph's Tikshoret program, the National Havurah Institute, Rabbi Diane Eliott's Embodying Spirit, En-Spiriting Body Program, The Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies Certification Program, and more. Her current passion is as director and faculty for ''Embodying the Great Mystery', a 2 year embodied Kabbalistic program, and leading ongoing Authentic Movement Retreats.

September Community Gathering | Rosh Chodesh Tishrei

Thursday, September 22, 2022
4pm PST | 7pm EST [90 mins]

with Kohenet Amanda Nube

Every month we join together around a theme for embodied practice to experience one another’s leadership. We share teaching gems for the current season; capture new themes; acknowledge methods that we have found to be especially inspiring for us and our students. Each session is led by a few members of the collective and includes time for gathering in smaller groups to deepen our connection over time. This month featured Restorative Yoga & Journaling with Kohenet Amanda Nube.

Arriving in Cheshvan: Resting in the Teva (טבע): October Community Gathering | Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan

Thursday, October 27, 2022
10am PST | 1pm EST | 8pm Israel [90 mins]

with Rabbi Laurie Matzkin

Every month we join together around a theme for embodied practice and to experience one another’s leadership. This month, Rabbi Laurie Matzkin will guide us in slow, floor-based yoga, restorative postures, chanting & community connection. We will share teaching gems for the current season; capture new themes; acknowledge methods that we have found to be especially inspiring for us as practitioners and teachers of Embodied Jewish Wisdom.

Please bring: a yoga mat, blanket & strap. Wear comfortable clothes to move in & clear a space for movement. Have water nearby so that you can be present for the entire session.

Rabbi Laurie Matzkin, RYT-200, EJW Advisory Council & Founding Member is the Chief Jewish Experience Officer at the Peninsula JCC in Foster City, CA. Rabbi Laurie has led and designed Jewish educational experiences for all ages. She studied Music (Flute Performance) and Jewish Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, and received both her M.A.Ed. and Rabbinic Ordination from the Ziegler School in Los Angeles. From 2009-2016, she served as Director of Lifelong Learning at Congregation Kol Emeth in Palo Alto. She founded her current role as the Mindful Jewish Journeys Educator at the Addison-Penzak JCC in Los Gatos in 2017. Rabbi Laurie continues to inspire others through her Makom Yoga classes, her seminars on Jewish liturgical music, insightful text study sessions and PJ Library Jewish family connection groups. She is a member of the Institute of Jewish Spirituality Hevraya clergy leadership program. With her rich background in creativity, spirituality, and mindfulness, Rabbi Laurie helps learners of all ages feel an increased sense of purpose, vibrancy and depth on their own Jewish journeys. For more on Makom Yoga and beyond, please visit www.rabbilauriematzkin.com.

Welcoming Kislev: Kindle the Inner Flame (להדליק): November Community Gathering | Rosh Chodesh Kislev

Thursday, November 17, 2022
10am PST | 1pm EST | 8pm Israel (90min)

Every month we join together around a theme for embodied practice and to experience one another’s leadership. This month's session will feature Hebrew chanting with Interfaith Minister Miriam Rubin, plus a dance journey & journaling practice guided by Network member Rebecca Sharzer. We will explore themes of the current season and welcome the new month together with embodied practice. Each session is led by a few members of the collective and includes time for gathering in smaller groups to deepen our connection over time.

Floating in the Mayim Chayim: מָּֽיִם חיים
December Community Gathering | Rosh Chodesh Tevet

EJW Network December Community Gathering (Tevet)
Thursday, December 15, 2022
4pm PST | 7pm EST (90 minutes) 

Copy+paste this link in your web browser to view:

https:/us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/Qdu76JA-jIjc6dBzWtZArWs5s-eo-DxaBduVHqkLPFXCMe28cCc1sPO8GyHJFKAl.wFPKNnMp2Z_pP8eH

Passcode: EJW_December22

Guided by Hazzan Dr. Evlyn Gould, Rinah Karson & Julie Emden

Beginning with the last lights of Channukah, Tevet plunges us into ever greater darkness and cold. Whatever last streaks of uncleanliness dampen our soul lights now clamor for release. Just as our Torah portions during Tevet lead down into stories of slavery, restriction, hunger and fear, the energies of this month provide an opportunity to heal unresolved conflicts stuck in the body. Through deep hibernative listening, we shall surrender to the inner wisdom of the body using breaths hovering over our inner waters to let go of constraint and move toward greater juiciness, flexibility, calm and joy.

What to bring: Please ready a warm, comfortable, and if possible, darkened space for moving freely. Place paper and art or writing materials within reach so that whatever comes up in your body can flow freely onto the page. Working on the floor is optimal, but a chair that allows unrestricted movement is also fine. It is a good idea to have water nearby, so that you can be fully present for this session.

Community Gatherings are offered monthly as part of the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network. Become a member to attend these events live, or to view after, and connect with our growing community!

Stepping into the 4 Worlds of the Etz Hayyim (עץ חיים)
January Community Gathering | Rosh Chodesh Shvat

EJW Network January Community Gathering (Shvat)
Thursday, January 19, 2023
10am PST | 1pm EST | 8pm Israel

Copy+paste this link in your web browser to view:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/OZWLLgNHUlqOeP_Vp2m7TgmFBt6kRJUg6beiUxTc1zDTWegqvG4a2k2ktyWoyYnw.y4eJ4tonAtqHTIHq

Passcode: EJW_January23

Guided by Rabbi Jeff Foust & Rachel Glazer

The focus of our session will be on experiencing the Kabbalistic Tree of Life in our own bodies as well as in interacting with each other and with the world. A short introductory overview will lead into a guided meditation through the Eitz Hayyim of our own bodies including tuning into and releasing some of the places where we feel constricted or blocked, and then tuning into our life flow through the sefirot and how the right and left sides can blend and integrate through the central channel which is also where the chakras are. This will be followed by an opportunity for feedback and questions, and then we'll move into a movement dance through the 4 worlds, focusing both inward and then outward to each other and to our surroundings. At the very end we'll raise the question (for our breakout rooms and beyond) of how we can take this embodied consciousness of the 4 worlds into our Tu B'Shevat Seders and into our ongoing lives.

What to bring: We will be engaged in movement for our main practice and in a mindful nourishment activity for our opening, showing gratitude for our bodies and their ability to turn food into energy. Please bring a small food item from the earth, a journal and clear a space for movement.

Community Gatherings are offered monthly as part of the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network. Become a member to attend these events live, or to view after, and connect with our growing community!

Discover Your Inner Esther (אֶסְתֵּר‎)

February Community Gathering | Rosh Chodesh Adar

EJW Network February Community Gathering (Adar)
Discover Your Inner Esther (אֶסְתֵּר‎)
Thursday, February 23, 2023
10am PST | 1pm EST | 8pm Israel

Copy+paste this link in your web browser to view:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/JR5DfYAsxgBUvqJCgL52ArJ5Xqg2eWPiUS0f_1eMKszwdjyQYeUHsxIoxS1HpqTj.o4G9WBUDxBTAgXY3 

Passcode: EJW_Feb23

*NEW* Listen to recording AUDIO HERE

Passcode: EJW_Feb23

Guided by Ilene Serlin & Rivkah Coburn

Our identities as Jewish women/people often come through role models of heroines. 
Esther was Persian: who were the role models in your family? 
What cultures, what music, what healing powers did they have? 

In this workshop, we will explore different cultures through movement and music to connect to the healing powers of our women ancestors.

What to bring: Please clear the space so that you have room to move freely.

Ilene A. Serlin, Ph.D, BC-DMT, EJW Advisory Council & Founding Member, licensed psychologist and registered dance/movement therapist in San Francisco and Marin county, is the past president of the San Francisco Psychological Association, a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Past-President of the Division of Humanistic Psychology. Ilene Serlin is Associated Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, has taught at Saybrook University, Lesley University, UCLA, the NY Gestalt Institute and the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich. She is the editor of Whole Person Healthcare (2007, 3 vol., Praeger), co-editor of Integrative Care for the Traumatized, over 100 chapters and articles on body, art and psychotherapy, and is on the editorial boards of PsycCritiques, the American Dance Therapy Journal, the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, International Journal: Creative Arts Education and Therapy. Arts & Health: An International Journal of Research, Policy and Practice, Journal of Applied Arts and Health, and The Humanistic Psychologist.

Rivkah Coburn is a Jewish Embodiment Facilitator through her studies with Rabbi Diane Elliot in ALEPH’s Embodied Spirit En-Spiriting Body Program. Currently in the ALEPH Ordination Program as a rabbinical student, Rivkah’s intention is to open the possibilities of Jewish embodied learning and practice to others through prayer and ritual practice, Torah study, and Jewish mysticism. Rivkah is a Mashpi’ah Ruchanit, a Spiritual Director, having graduated from ALEPH’s Hashpa-ah Program. She serves at Congregation Shir Tikvah and P’nai Or of Portland in spiritual leadership and Jewish education from brit mitzvah age to elders. Rivkah continues to study with Rabbi Diane both participating in, as well as occasionally leading, a weekly embodied healing circle which Rabbi Diane founded in 2020. Along with her movement education as a dancer (BFA in modern dance and choreography, Temple University) and as a yoga instructor and teacher trainer, Rivkah brings experience from her Jewish contemplative studies. Living in Portland, OR with her husband, Alan, and two kitties, Rivkah loves to garden, hike, and listen to classical music.

Preparing for Pesach פֶּסַח

March Community Gathering | Rosh Chodesh Nisan

EJW Network March Community Gathering (Nisan)
Preparing for Pesach פֶּסַח
Thursday, March 23, 2023
4pm PST | 7pm EST

Copy+paste this link in your web browser to view:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/ifYFTTGvQY7ybjVp8fJPvO_9X-tkIgwhOV52oI2YKFyHvwFow-De8hT72uhKqPnq.jglsUso4JzNdjqQH

Passcode:
EJW_March23

Guided by Julie Emden

Passover/ Pesach is approaching!

What will you be teaching, and what embodied themes are you exploring in your practice as a student and/or teacher?

In this unique Community Gathering format we will provide a space of exploration,. practice and discussion for EJW Network Members to share themes and methods that as a collective we have found to be inspiring to our communities or within our personal practice.

Join us as we gather the collective wisdom of our EJW Network Members, share your reflections, insights, creativity and new ideas for embodying themes from the Passover Holiday and plug into the energy of Pesach through the embodiment teachings currently flowing through our community.

What to bring: Please clear the space so that you have room to move freely. Bring a journal, writing utensils, and yoga mat/props if you have them.

Julie Emden, E-RYT-500, Halprin Practitioner, Founder of EJL & EJW Network infuses her work with exploration, spirit and joy. She is passionate about awakening the body as a gateway to deep inner knowing and guides others in somatic explorations of Jewish wisdom teachings as a resource for living in balance and wholeness. A graduate of five fellowship and teaching certification programs related to her work as a Jewish educator, Iyengar-based yoga instructor and movement/expressive artist, Julie has two decades of experience guiding others in exploring Jewish wisdom, text and practices via the body in a variety of settings. Julie offers classes, workshops, on-line learning, retreats, teacher trainings, individual coaching, and strategic consultation and guidance for Jewish Wellness Initiatives throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. To learn more about Julie and her work, visit www.embodiedjewishlearning.org

Chanting
the Sefirot סְפִירוֹת

April Community Gathering | Rosh Chodesh Iyar

EJW Network April Community Gathering (Iyar)
Chanting the Sefirot סְפִירוֹת

Thursday, April 20, 2023
10am PST | 1pm EST | 8pm Israel

Guided by Hadar Ahuvia

Copy+paste this link in your web browser to view:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/b2dhR3HbBtpjrBwwq8iKV9hMGxl-3OdMLIESpUd-hMpxMzMxm6JPGtlXDTYBNxph.p-PLLD5DLw79Mrik

Passcode:
EJW_April23

For this Omer practice, we will linger in the qualities of Sefirot through embodied sound practices that trace the consonants and vowels in the body and space, chanting the pair of sefirot 112 times, and moving between renewal and repetition.

What to bring: Clear a space for movement and where you can chant/make sound

Community Gatherings are offered monthly as part of the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network. Become a member to attend these events live, or to view after, and connect with our growing community!

Hadar Ahuvia facilitates ritual, performance, and education that delve deeply into Jewish heritage and are committed to transformation. Her work has been supported by Baryshnikov Arts Center, the 14th St. Y, Danspace Project, Yaddo and Gibney Dance among others. Her essay “Joy Vey” on choreographing a diasporic Israeli identity beyond Zionism is featured in the Oxford Handbook of Jewishness in Dance. Ahuvia is a recipient of a Bessie nomination for Outstanding Breakout Choreographer, was one of Dance Magazine’s ‘25 to Watch in 2019’, and a 2020 New Brooklyn Culture Fellow with collaborator Tatyana Tenebaum. She has performed with Trisha Brown Dance Company, Lucinda Childs Dance, Sara Rudner, among others and currently performs with Reggie Wilson/ Fist & Heel Performance Group, is a rabbinical student at Hebrew College, and is studying eastern European Jewish music with Hankus Netksy. Ahuvia has lead workshops on her research at AJS, ASU, UM, City College, Whitman College, and Yale University. hadarahuvia.com

Turning Towards the Beloved - July EJW Community Gathering

Monday, August 16, 2021
10am PST | 1pm EST | 8pm ISR [90 mins]

with Reb Simona Aronow & Julie Leavitt, Dmin

Turning Towards the Beloved: Elul is a time of going inward for Teshuvah. Sharing the practice of Authentic Movement, we invite a deepening relationship to the Beloved Divine ---within us, among us, and so within reach in Elul.

Reb Simona Aronow, (BC-DTR, CMA, NCC, BCTMB) is a Dance/Movement Therapist, student of Kabbalah, and educator for over 45 years. She is empowered by Reb Zalman, z"l, as Sacred Movement and Embodiment Guide, Sacred Minister, Morat Torah, and Ritualist. Weaving traditional Jewish learning and movement together for healing and transformation, she has taught through Aleph's Tikshoret program, the National Havurah Institute, Rabbi Diane Eliott's Embodying Spirit, En-Spiriting Body Program, The Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies Certification Program, and more. Her current passion is as director and faculty for ''Embodying the Great Mystery', a 2 year embodied Kabbalistic program, and leading ongoing Authentic Movement Retreats.

Julie Leavitt, Dmin, is a body-centered psychotherapist and spiritual companion. She has taught for 30 years at Lesley University and practices spiritual direction at Hebrew College and Hebrew Union College of Cincinnati. She has a Doctor of Ministry from the Graduate Theological Foundation, earning the Samuel Cohen prize for her dissertation project, G!d Danced the Day You Were Born. Choreography of Prayer was published in the book, Seeking Redemption in an Unredeemed World, ed. by Rabbi Avruhm Addison. Julie teaches Authentic Movement and Dance as Spiritual Practice in workshops across the US. She choreographed Imagining Talmud and is at work on Passage. https://www.bodyheartandsoul.net/

Embodying the High Holy Days - Advanced Learning

Tuesday, September 14th | [90mins]
10am PST | 1pm EST | 8pm Israel

with Scott Shalom Green

The Days of Awe leading up to Yom Kippur beckon us to wake up, return to what is essential, and to nurture our authenticity.Join us as we explore the possibility for moment to moment Tseuvah in our bodies. Through Mindful Qigong and Yoga infused with Jewish Wisdom, we will embody the compelling and transformative power of being present.

Scott Shalom Green
Scott has taught Jewish Yoga at the Aleph Kallah, for R'uach H'aretz, and with Rabbi David and Shoshana Cooper during their Days of Awe Retreat. With his wife Tracey he offers Embodied Jewish Learning Practices for the Jewish Holidays and leads contemplative hikes in the Redwoods through Shalem's Wellness program. Scott has studied Meditation at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, with Mindful Schools, and during a MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) Teacher Training. He is certified IYT (Integral Yoga Therapy) Yoga Teacher and has been teaching Yoga for 25 years. Scott is dedicated to living moment to moment connected to the ever-present presence and helping others discover that possibility.

A Time to Build - October EJW Community Gathering

Monday, October 4, 2021
10am PST | 1pm EST | 8pm ISR [90 mins]

With Kohenet Aliza Rivka, Kendra Fried, Idelle Packer, and Aaron Nankin.

With gesture, dance, and movement we will awaken our bodies to new possibilities for the coming year. Resources are the Hebrew letters themselves, holding and unfolding new meanings to the concept of ‘building’, offering clues, prods, and teachings to accompany the journey of our year ahead in unpredictable and delightful ways. Please bring a journal, pencil or pen, and a chair, stool, cushion or physiological ball (just one of these) to use as a prop for movement.

Torah Yoga: Seeing the Hidden Light November Advanced Learning

Thursday, November 18, 2021
10am PST | 1pm EST | 8pm ISR [90 mins]

with Diane Bloomfield

The light of the first day of creation was so great that one could see from one end of the world to the other. This great light was hidden in creation. On Chanukah this light is revealed. Through the study of Torah texts, together with the practice of yoga postures, we will seek out the hidden light in our candles and in ourselves.

In this session we will begin with the study of a Torah text for thirty minutes. We will then weave the Torah inspiration into a full yoga practice. The last 20 minutes we will gather for questions and reflections.

Diane Bloomfield is the author of Torah Yoga: Experiencing Jewish Wisdom through Classic Postures. She lives in Jerusalem where she teaches ongoing Torah and Torah Yoga classes live and on the web. As well, Diane teaches Torah Yoga retreats and workshops in the United States at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center and other venues. Diane has learned Torah in Jerusalem since the mid-eighties. She is a certified Junior level Iyengar Yoga Instructor and a Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist. She is currently working on her new book, Playing with Fire: Secret Torah Doorways.

Finding Light in the Darkness: December Community Gathering

Monday, December 6, 2021
10am PST | 1pm EST | 8pm ISR [90 mins]

with Meg Oberhand, Kohenet Aliza Rivka & Esther Sadie Brandon

Every other month we join together around a theme for embodied practice and to experience one another’s leadership. We will share teaching gems for the current season; capture new themes; acknowledge methods that we have found to be especially inspiring for us and our students. Each session is led by a few members of the collective and includes time for gathering in smaller groups to deepen our connection over time.

In this session, explore the balance between movement and rest, darkness and light. Through the practice of ecstatic dance, guided by Kohenet Aliza Rivka, reset and refresh from the inside out. Esther Sadie Brandon will close our session with "Hanukkah" Nidra practice to soothe our nervous systems and align us with the deep quiet of the season. GCal • More info

Please have your sacred space cleared and prepared to move in. For "Hanukkah" Nidra, bring a yoga mat, cushions, pillows, blankets and anything that helps you feel extra cozy. You may also want to have a candle nearby and some water.  

Esther Sadie Brandon has had a yoga and mindfulness meditation practice for some 35 years. During these years, she has integrated mindfulness into her teaching, coaching, and leadership practices. Esther is the owner of Esther Brandon Coaching and Consulting. Learn more here: www.estherbrandoncoaching.com/

Etz Hayyim Hi: The Torah of Trees January Advanced Learning

Thursday, January 20, 2022
10am PST | 1pm EST | 8pm Israel [90 mins]

with Rabbi Diane Elliot

Join Rabbi Diane Elliot for an embodied hevruta, a movement-based learning session, with trees as our teachers. In honor of Tu BiShvat, the birthday of the trees, which falls on January 17th, we’ll explore the potent imagery of the Tree in Jewish Torah and mystical traditions, in conversation with the “tree-ness” of our own bodies.

In preparation for this time together: please spend some time communing, either in body or imaginally, with a favorite tree(s). For our session, please have your sacred space cleared and prepared for movement.

Rabbi Diane Elliot is a spiritual teacher, ritual leader, and spiritual director. Based in the Bay Area, she has an extensive background in dance and somatics, holds a Masters Degree in Rabbinic Studies, and was ordained by the Academy for Jewish Religion, California, in 2006. She serves as a program director for the ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal and as a founding steward and faculty member for the Taproot Community. Diane is the author of three volumes of sacred poetry, most recently The Voice is Movement (Hakodesh Press, 2020). To learn more about her work, visit www.whollypresent.org.

Moving & Breathing Ahava אהבה (Love) February Community Gathering

Monday, February 14, 2022
10am PST | 1pm EST | 8pm Israel [90 mins]

with Aliza Rothman & Laura Hegfield

Every other month we join together around a theme for embodied practice and to experience one another’s leadership. We will share teaching gems for the current season; capture new themes; acknowledge methods that we have found to be especially inspiring for us and our students. Each session is led by members of the collective and includes time for gathering in smaller groups to deepen our connection over time.

In this session, explore moving and breathing Ahava אהבה (Love) through guided movement, chanting and blessing practices. Aliza Rothman will guide us in an experience of Ahava through dance. Laura Hegfield will open our session with a love-infused chant as we are breathed into being and close us out with a conscious blessing practice.

Please have your sacred space cleared and wear comfortable clothes that support your embodied practice.

Aliza Rothman is a movement teacher and therapist, a mother, a traveler, and a seeker who is deeply connected to the earth and the cycle of the moon . She holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology and expressive arts therapy and is an open floor movement teacher. Aliza is passionate about embodying the Hebrew calendar though conscious dance. She also worked as a jewish educator for many years, bringing expressive arts and embodiment into her work with children, teens and adults. Aliza has recently been given the Title of Eshet Chen, Chesed V’rachamim: Woman of Grace, Lovingkindness and Compassion. www.alizarothman.com

Laura Hegfield has been a Jewish educator since 2001. She founded Menuchat Ha-Lev, a bi-monthly Shabbat morning meditation circle in 2014. As a certified Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Teacher, she draws inspiration from Torah and brings each parashah into present-moment lived experience. She is also a Yoga and Jewish Spirituality Teacher and Reiki Master. Laura has always been a singer and started writing music and lyrics at age 11. She serves her community in NH as a lay leader during the Yamim Noraim and through Healing Services several times each year, lifting her voice in prayer, in song, and love.

Becoming an Embodied White Anti-Racist March Advanced Learning Session

Thursday, March 31, 2022
10am PST | 1pm EST | 8pm Israel [90 mins]

with Rabbi Myriam Klotz

But all our phrasing--race relations, racial chasm, racial justice, racial profiling, white privilege, even white supremacy--serves to obscure that racism is a visceral experience, that it dislodges brains, blocks airways, rips muscle, extracts organs, cracks bones breaks teeth.  You must never look away from this.  You must always remember that the sociology, the history, the economics, the graphs, the charts, the regressions all land, with great violence, upon the body.--Ta Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me.

Collective racialized trauma lives in our bodies no matter the color of our skin.  For those of us with the societal advantage of being in white bodies, the journey towards embodying antiracism includes awareness of how racism lives in our bodies, and how we can actualize the mitzvah of antiracist intentions through our embodied practice.   

In this session we will move between study and practice to reflect on the impact of racial trauma in our lives as white bodied Jewish people.  This session is intended as an introduction to embodied antiracist practice, or to support you in your continuing journey at the intersections of inner work and embodied practice in a racialized world. If you identify as someone who has white advantage, whether you identify as white or not, this session might be for you.

Rabbi Myriam Klotz, Senior Program Director for Somatics and Social Justice at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS), has been teaching yoga and embodied practice with IJS 18 years. They are the founding co-director of the Yoga and Jewish Spirituality Teacher Training at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. Myriam leads workshops and retreats on yoga, embodied practice and spirituality at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health and with congregations nationally, and has published writings and guided practice CD’s. Myriam is a spiritual director, and most recently served as overseeing of spiritual direction programming with the Bekhol Levavkha Jewish Spiritual Director training program at HUC-JIR in New York City.

Advanced Learning Sessions are offered bi-monthly as part of the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network. Become a member to attend these events live, or to view after, and connect with our growing community!

Pre-Pesach Community Gathering a Pop-Up Learning Session

Monday, April 4th
10am PST | 1pm EST | 8pm Israel (60min)

facilitated by EJW Network Founder Julie Emden

Pesach is approaching! What will you be teaching, and what embodied themes are you exploring in your practice as a student and/or teacher?

This one-hour gathering is intended to be a space of exploration for EJW Network Members to share themes and methods that as a collective we have found to be inspiring and useful to our respective communities or within our own practice. Join us to learn from other EJW Network Members, share your wisdom and plug into the energy of Pesach through the embodiment teachings currently flowing through our community.

This is a “pop-up” Community Gathering for EJW Network Members only intended to increase inspiration and strengthen our embodied teaching and practice.

Finding the Sacred Center in the Wilderness of the Unknown: Advanced Learning Session

Monday, April 11th
1pm PST | 4pm EST | 11pm Israel (60min)

facilitated by Yoshi Silverstein, founder of Mitsui Collective

This session will explore core embodiment principles at the heart of Mitsui Collective's framework for somatic Jewish experience with a focus on dynamic movement, resilience-building, balance, and centering in an ever-moving world. Framed particularly well by the approaching holiday of Passover in this Sabbatical year of Shmita, we'll move and play across multiple dimensions of the Jewish spacetime continuum, creating space for centering, emergence, and creative expression through locomotion and Kabbalistic metaphysical movement and a light introduction to breathwork and stillness practice. More info • GCal

Please clear your space for movement and wear comfortable clothing. If you have a preferred meditation cushion, please bring that as well.

Yoshi Silverstein is Founder and Executive Director of Mitsui Collective, which builds resilient community through embodied Jewish practice and somatic antiracism. Selected as a 2021 “Grist 50 Fixer” building a more just and equitable future, Yoshi’s work aims to nourish body and soul through meaning making, healing, purposeful connection, and creative expression. A Chinese Ashkenazi American Jew, Yoshi is also an active advocate and educator in the Jews of Color community. Formerly Director of the JOFEE Fellowship at Hazon, he is an adjunct faculty instructor at Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and program faculty at M² Institute for Experiential Jewish Education, Cornerstone Seminar (Foundation for Jewish Camp), Institute for Jewish Spirituality, and Avodah’s Institute for Social Change. Yoshi holds a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture and certificates in spiritual entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, permaculture design, and environmental education; is a Senior Schusterman Fellow; and is a student of Resmaa Menakem in the areas of embodied antiracism and somatic abolitionism. He lives in the Cleveland area in Shaker Heights, OH on Erie, Mississauga, and Haudenosaunee land.

Advanced Learning Sessions are offered bi-monthly as part of the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network. Become a member to attend these events live, or to view after, and connect with our growing community!

Masah (מַסָע): Journey through the Omer May Community Gathering

Thursday, May 12th
10am PST | 1pm EST | 8pm Israel (90min)

facilitated by Ellen Tobe & Dr. Lainie Sugarman

Every other month we join together around a theme for embodied practice and to experience one another’s leadership. We will share teaching gems for the current season; capture new themes; acknowledge methods that we have found to be especially inspiring for us and our students. Each session is led by a few members of the collective and includes time for gathering in smaller groups to deepen our connection over time.

This month’s main practice will be Otiyot Chayot, taught by EJW Network Member Ellen Tobe. With an opening and closing Jewish Mindful Movement practice taught by Lainie Sugarman.

Ellen Tobe is a practitioner of Otiyot Chayot (Living Letters). Otiyot Chayot is an embodied practice, consisting of Hebrew letter movements, loosely based on Tai Chi. This system was created by Yehudit Goldfarb, with whom Ellen has been blessed to study. Otiyot Chayot also includes movements for the vowels, mapped onto the 10 kabbalistic sephirot. Ellen's daily practice - her form of davvening - consists of climbing the ladder of the tree of life (the movement for each sphirah with the corresponding vowel sound), doing the entire aleph-bet, and then spelling out relevant words, phrases, and prayers that arise on a given day. Otiyot Chayot can also be used to count the Omer, with the combination of movements for the two sephirot of the day. Professionally, Ellen is a graphic designer and mixed media artist. Learn more at 4wdesign.com.

Dr. Lainie Sugarman has been a Chiropractor for almost 40 years. She helps patients live a healthier happier life. She has been practicing and teaching conscious dance for over 25 years and has created Jewish Mindful Movement. We will be experiencing a sample of this meaningful mindfulness class.

Community Gatherings are offered bi-monthly as part of the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network. Become a member to attend these events live, or to view after, and connect with our growing community!

What does it mean to celebrate Passover in the midst of a global pandemic? How might the consciousness of ‘lockdown’ plant seeds of liberation? In this session, we’ll explore dance as a tool to liberate us within the narrow places. How might movement shift us out of our own personal mitzrayim (Egypt)? How do we become self-limiting, and how might we move our bodies to find more freedom within? Click here to access the playlist of songs from Aliza’s teaching. 

Kohenet Aliza Rivka is a Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist, Kohenet Hebrew Priestess, Community Builder & Event Producer. She is passionate about helping others access more joy, expression, freedom and celebration through dance. In addition to being the Program Manager at Romemu, Jewish Life Elevated, Aliza is the founder of Indwelling Dance, an approach to movement dedicated to embodying, elevating & empowering the divine feminine essence in this world. Aliza currently lives at the Imiloa Institute in Costa Rica, where she is the host and co-creator of Soul Sundays. Her dance events are community rituals in service of personal and planetary evolution. Learn more at www.alizarivka.com.

View the recording of our fifth community gathering for our Embodied Jewish Wisdom teachers’ network! Enjoy leadership from Rachel Kann and Scott Shalom Green, as well as an extended embodied practice with Sharon Epstein and Rabbi Tara Feldman based on our theme as it relates to Purim! As you prepare for our gathering, please have a clear space, access to a wall to put hands/feet/legs on, and a yoga mat.

Nancy invites us to relate the process of nourishing our bodies to that of a tree nourishing its fruit.  Within the context of this festival that celebrates the reawakening of the tree beginning at its roots, we’ll explore how this may illuminate the way we cook and eat.  We’ll begin with yoga and meditative practice, and then we’ll mindfully prepare a simple, symbolic dish.

**To enhance the experience, please acquire: Plan to participate in your kitchen or a space where you create nourishment.  If possible, bring a fresh, ripe pomegranate, a very ripe avocado and a lime.  If you can only bring one, opt for the pomegranate. You’ll need a small-medium sized stainless or glass prep bowl and a wooden spoon. 

View the recording of our fourth community gathering for our Embodied Jewish Wisdom teachers’ network! Join us for a one and a half hour gathering with leadership, movement & song with practices for embodying light and Hanukkah from Simona Aronow and Laura Hegfield. If you’d like to skip the pause segment where we break into groups, you can skip ahead from time stamp 48:00 to 1:13:15.

November 18, 2020 | Advanced Learning:
Embody Hanukkah with Rabbi Myriam Klotz

Embody Hanukah with Rabbi Myriam Klotz. She will take us on a journey to explore the inner resilience and light that shines through body and soul. We will work with yoga and somatic explorations as we prepare for the winter holiday.

Rabbi Myriam Klotz, Senior Program Director for Somatics and Social Justice at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS), has been teaching yoga and embodied practice with IJS 18 years. They are the founding co-director of the Yoga and Jewish Spirituality Teacher Training at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. Myriam leads workshops and retreats on yoga, embodied practice and spirituality at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health and with congregations nationally, and has published writings and guided practice CD’s. Myriam is a spiritual director, and most recently served as overseeing of spiritual direction programming with the Bekhol Levavkha Jewish Spiritual Director training program at HUC-JIR in New York City.

View the recording of our third community gathering for our Embodied Jewish Wisdom teachers’ network! We gathered with song led by Miriam Kanani and experienced a teaching and embodied practice on Integration lead by Julie Leavitt. This recording includes a brief opening and introduction by Lee Moore, Song with Miriam, a pause during the break-out groups, then embodied practice with Julie Leavitt. If you’d like to skip the pause segment where we break into groups, you can skip ahead from time stamp 16:16 to 33:15.

Rabbi Diane Elliot is a spiritual teacher, ritual leader, spiritual director, and writer, based in the SF Bay Area, who inspires her students to become clearer channels for Presence through awareness and movement practices, dance, chant, and nuanced interpretations of Jewish sacred text. Her previous careers as a modern dancer, choreographer, and somatic movement therapist synergized with her Jewish path in the Embodying Spirit, En-spiriting Body embodied Jewish leadership training, a program she created and directed from 2011-2018 through the ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal. Currently a member of the Taproot stewardship team, Rabbi Diane continues to bring the essential wisdom of the Jewish path to diverse Jewish and interfaith groups. She is the author of three books of spiritual poetry, most recently The Voice is Movement (Hakodesh Press, 2020). To learn more about her and her work, visit www.whollypresent.org.

Join Rabbi Laurie Matzkin for a collaborative, virtual walk-through of Sefaria! Together we will create a “Sefaria Source Sheet” and learn (or practice) all the steps involved. You will come away not only with a better grasp of how to utilize this amazing platform and library of Jewish texts, but also some new thoughts on the Torah portion of the week.

We know it can be challenging to learn new platforms, and we are here to help! Join Meg to explore how to utilize Mighty Networks to it's fullest.

View the recording of our second community gathering for our Embodied Jewish Wisdom teachers’ network! We gathered with song and experienced a teaching and embodied practice on grief lead by Spiritual Counselor and Real-ationship™ Coach and EJL Board Member Gavriel Strauss. This recording includes a brief opening, Gavriel’s teaching/practice, share-backs/reflections from break-out groups and a brief closing practice. If you’d like to skip the segment where we poll the community to break into groups, you can skip ahead from time stamp 40:52 to 48:50.

In the spirit of what we say every day in our prayers...."Lilmod ool'lamed-- To learn and to teach," I am delighted to offer A Taste of Torah Yoga as the first in the ongoing series of classes offered by the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Teachers’ Network. 

Sfat Emet, the 19th chassidic Rebbe, taught that the words of Torah are engraved in the body of a person, but they are hidden and need to be discovered. (Parshat Chukat) Through Torah Yoga, we can discover the Torah that is hidden in our body, mind, heart and soul. In this 1 1/2 hour long Torah Yoga class we will begin with the study of a Torah text for twenty minutes.  We will then weave the Torah inspiration into a full yoga practice for fifty minutes. The last 20 minutes we will gather, on gallery mode, for questions and reflections.  This is also an opportunity for me to begin to share my teaching methodology, which I have been growing for more than 30 years.

View the recording of our first community gathering for our Embodied Jewish Wisdom teachers’ network! We gathered with song and embodied practice as a larger group, and then met in small groups to continue our embodied practice guided by members of the community. We gathered our intentions and visions for learning, sharing and connecting throughout the year. This recording includes our opening and closing practice sessions, as well as share-backs/reflections from break-out groups.