Wrapping Ourselves in Blessings
A 4-Week Tallit-making Class
with Lior Jacober
Tuesday evenings, July 10 - 31, 6:30-8:30pm
Pre-registration fee: $80 members, $120 non-members
At the door: $95 members, $135 non-members
To pre-register: email frontdesk@chochmat.org, or call 510-704-9687

Spend four glorious summer nights designing and producing your very own prayer shawl! You will transform raw cloth or your favorite shawl into a uniquely personalized tallit made complete with the tying and attaching of the ritual tzitzit. You will also learn the tallit’s halachic requirements, the blessing said upon donning the tallit and the history of tallit-making including the modern acceptance of women wearing ritual garments.

Materials: Bring to class 2 yards of fabric or a shawl. Any fabric will do except mixed linen and wool. If you have a portable sewing machine, please bring it!

Teacher bio: Lior Jacober is a master seamstress making tallisim, chuppot, torah mantles, ark curtains and other Jewish ritual art for over a decade. She has studied in Israel and the U.S.

Approaching the Divine Presence:
Becoming At One with Our Liturgy
with Rabbi Steven Fisdel
Four Tuesdays, August 7-28, 7:30-9:30pm
Pre-registration fee: $80 members, $120 non-members
At the door: $95 members, $135 non-members
Drop-in: $25 members, $35 non-members
To pre-register: email frontdesk@chochmat.org, or call 510-704-9687

In this rarely taught class, Rabbi Fisdel explores the world of Jewish prayer from the spiritual perspective of a practicing mystic. In four successive sessions, participants are guided both cognitively and experientially through an inward journey into the exquisite tapestry of Jewish liturgy and worship. Approaching Jewish prayer as a powerful means for deepening one’s personal connection to the Divine, the rabbi demonstrates clearly how to understand and utilize the richness of Jewish prayer as a source of meditative focus and heightened spiritual consciousness, making it practically applicable to our lives.

Rabbi Fisdel maintains an active , spiritual counseling practice. and is the founder and director of The Center for Jewish Mystical Studies in Berkeley, California. He teaches and lectures widely on the Kabbalah, the nature of consciousness, meditation and the practical application of mysticism to the process of inner repair and expansion.

As a practicing Kabbalist, Rabbi Fisdel has first hand experience with both sides of Kabbalah. Steven studies the original texts, clarifying the ideas and subsequently teaching the traditional doctrines to people of all spiritual backgrounds. He also uses a wide range of Kabbalist meditation practices to help seekers to access higher levels of consciousness.His objective in teaching, writing and counseling is to help people in today’s world to understand clearly and experience directly the positive impact that the Kabbalah has on spiritual development by deepening connection to self and to the Divine.

Green Hevra
July 18 at 7:30pm
Suggested Donation: $5 - $10

Can the Jewish tradition attune us to a greater appreciation of the Earth? Is Judaism relevant in an era of global environmental challenges? Have questions like these? Come join us.

Green Hevra is a community of seekers and learners dedicated to exploring the Jewish Earth wisdom tradition. Together we engage in spiritual practice, stimulating text study of Jewish texts and contemporary deep ecological writings, and creating a safe place to share our insights and challenges.

Come find spiritual support for your work of ecological healing in the world as we further cultivate a deep reverence for all of creation.

Text study includes original Hebrew texts with their translations. No Hebrew required. Green Hevra is a project of The Earth Torah Institute.

Ritual Drumming & World Spirituality
with Bruce Silverman
Tuesdays, July 10 & 24
7:30 - 9:00pm
$20/members $25/ general public (or what you can afford)

We will learn to accompany Jewish song and prayer AND African and world spirituality with Dumbeks, Djembes, Congas and percussion. Some drums are provided and yes, beginners are very welcome and encouraged!

Bruce Silverman has accompanied and taught drumming from various spiritual traditions over the last 25 years; he teaches at Matthew Fox's Creation Spirituality Universities, and directs the Sons and Daughters of Orpheus, his own ritual drum troupe. He is a co-founder of Shir Neshama: a Jewish Renewal Havurah in Contra Costa County. Go ahead--call Bruce with any questions about drumming--(925) 685-5585 ext. 2.