News and Events
Tu b'Shevat Seder 2007
This year the Tel Shemesh Tu b’Shevat seder will be accompanied by a Friday night dinner in a Manhattan home. We’ll sing Shabbat songs and songs of the earth, learn tree texts together, and go on a mystical journey, and if weather permits, we’ll take a night walk in the park to visit our friends the trees. It’s also Groundhog Day and an ancient Irish sheep-milking festival! There will be a $10 charge to cover food costs. Please RSVP to info@telshemesh.org to let us know you’re coming, find out location, and arrange payment (no funds will be collected on Shabbat).
August Eco-Retreat
SPECIAL AUGUST ECO-RETREAT!
Aug. 13-19, Camp Isabella Freedman
Join Rabbi Jill Hammer, Shamu Fenyvesi, and Kavod Weider for a special Elat Chayyim retreat. During our week together, we’ll work the farm at Camp Isabella Freedman, learn sustainable skills for using nature’s resources, study Jewish texts related to the earth, engage in exciting new moon ritual, and celebrate a joyful Shabbat. Register at www.elatchayyim.org.
The Jewish Book of Days
Throughout the ages, Jews have connected legends to particular days of the Hebrew calendar. Abraham's birth, the death of Rachel, and the creation of light are all tales that are linked to a specific day and season. The Jewish Book of Days, written by Tel Shemesh director Rabbi Jill Hammer, invites readers to experience the connection between sacred story and nature's rhythms, through readings designed for each and every day of the year. These daily readings offer an opportunity to live in tune with the wisdom of the past while learning new truths about the times we live in today.
Using the tree as its central metaphor, The Jewish Book of Days is divided into eight chapters of approximately forty-five days each. These sections represent the tree's stages of growth--seed, root, shoot, sap, bud, leaf, flower, and fruit--and also echo the natural cadences of each season.
Each entry has three components: a biblical quote for the day; a midrash on the biblical quote or a Jewish tradition related to that day; and commentary relating the text to the cycles of the year. The author includes an introduction that analyzes the different months and seasons of the Hebrew calendar and explains the textual sources used throughout. Appendixes provide additional material for leap years, equinoxes, and solstices. A section on seasonal meditations offers a new way to approach the divine every day.
Makom/JCC Drum Circle with Shoshana Jedwab
Come play in the soundbox! Celebrate and listen deeply as we join our powerful physical energies. Bring your own instruments if you wish; instruments are also provided. No experience necessary.
Thursdays, 8-9:30pm, Dec. 7 and 21. $10 for members; $12 for non-members per session. Location: The Goldman-Sonnenfeldt Family Auditorium at the JCC in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave. @76th St., New York, NY. Call (646) 505-5708 to register. (Youc an also register online at www.jccmanhattan.org; registration code MAKDRM01w6 through 07w6)
Chanukah/Winter Solstice 2007
Saturday, Dec. 8, 2007, 7 pm
The Annual Chanukah/Winter Solstice Festival is taking place this year at the JCC in Manhattan! Experience the four fires of havdalah, Chanukah, the new moon, and winter. Join Rabbi Jill Hammer of Tel Shemesh and Rabbi Neal Kaunfer of JewishPrayerDance. $10. 334 Amsterdam Ave @76th St.
Lag b'Omer Festival
Saturday, May 5, 6 pm:
Lag b’Omer Festival and Melaveh Malka in Central Park, NYC
(NOTE LOCATION CHANGE)
Gather to sing, hear Lag b’Omer teachings and stories, and participate in a moving, mystical havdalah ceremony to bid farewell to the Sabbath queen. This will be a joint venture with Romemu, NYC’s Renewal congregation!
Location: The Great Hill, 106th St and Central Park West (enter park at 108th or 106th and walk upward to the Hill). Facilitated by Rabbi Jill Hammer, Rabbi David Ingber, percussionist Shoshana Jedwab. Dinner is potluck; please bring a kosher dairy dish, salad, or dessert to share with others. If it rains, the picnic will be cancelled.
Purim/Spring Equinox Event
Purim/Spring Equinox Celebration
Saturday, March 22, 2008, 7:30 pm
JCC in Manhattan, 76th and Amsterdam
Enjoy a post-Purim spring awakening!
Celebrate Shabbat’s end with story, music, dance,
and a ritual to welcome the spring.
With Rabbi Jill Hammer of Tel Shemesh,
find out why the story of Esther
is the story of a seed’s climb out of the earth.
Experience traditional Jewish music
and original compositions
by Suki Rae, flutist/singer/songwriter
accompanied by Steve Bloom on guitar…
Energize your spirit with JewishPrayerDance
led by Rabbi Nachum Kaunfer
and eat Purim treats!
Cosponsored by the JCC in Manhattan,
Tel Shemesh, Romemu and JewishPrayerDance.
$12 ($10 with costume or JCC membership)
Spring Equinox/New Moon of Spring
March 21, 7:00 pm: Bringing in the Seasons, JCC in Manhattan
Be part of a Tel Shemesh spirit jam to welcome the spring! For the spring equinox and the new moon of Nisan, we’ll be drumming, JewishPrayerDancing and kirtan chanting. We’ll make an ark (a la Moses and the Nile) to hold the newborn spring, and then go up on the roof to sing beneath the night sky! Come get good ideas for your Passover seder and appreciate the spring. 334 Amsterdam Ave. @76th St. ($10 members/$12 non-members). Facilitated by Rabbi Jill Hammer, Shoshana Jedwab, Rabbi Nachum Kaunfer, and Rabbi Andrew Hahn.
Summer Solstice Festival
Bringing in the Seasons: Celebration of Summer
Thu, Jun 21
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Celebrate the healing spirit of summer with drumming, dance, poetry, food, sunset ritual, warm camaraderie and outdoor tai chi! With author and ritualist Rabbi Jill Hammer, newly ordained earthy Rabbi Julia Watts Belser (all the way from CA!), percussionist Shoshana Jedwab, Jewish Prayerdance founder Rabbi Nachum Kaunfer, Tai Chi Rabbi Andrew Hahn and poets of summer. Tel Shemesh is three years old today! Come and celebrate!
JCC: 334 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th St.
$10
Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute
Dear friends,
We are delighted to announce the next round of the Kohenet Priestess Training Institute beginning June 16-22, 2008. Kohenet is committed to revitalizing the Jewish connection with the Divine feminine and reclaiming the ancient role of women as facilitators of sacred experience. Kohenet trains women to identify traces of the Divine feminine within Torah and tradition and to create Jewish rituals and sacred experiences embodying this wisdom.
The initial two-year training, led by Kohenet founders Holly Taya Shere and Rabbi Jill Hammer as well as accomplished guest teachers, focuses on thirteen priestess paths as a frame for exploring and engaging in the realms of the ritual craft/ritual art, spirit-led activism, creative liturgy, thealogy, midrash (creative interpretation of sacred texts), sacred song and movement, spiritual journeying and dreamwork, as well as earth-honoring and mystical practices for Shabbat and festivals. The intensive concludes with an initiation ceremony joining us together as part of this ancient sisterhood.
For full information on the Kohenet Training Institute, and to apply, visit our new website, www.kohenet.org. Please feel free to contact us with any questions and we hope to journey with you.
B’rachot,
Holly and Jill
Tel Shemesh welcomes event announcements related to Judaism and the earth or earth-based spirituality. Contact info@telshemesh.org to post your event announcement. |
