The 6th annual Kabbalah Day at the JCC in Manhattan was this last Sunday. Its focus was Safed. The (New York) Jewish Week published an introductory article about it. At the organizers’ website (JInsider and JCC Manhattan) there wasn’t much information about the event. These were some of the workshops:

• Key Teachings and Meditative Practices of the Safed Kabbalists
• Kabbalistic Influences on Prayer and Ritual
• Understanding the Moral Consideration of Animals in Kabbalistic Thought (the RAMAK)
• Can we Live a Kabbalistic Lifestyle?
• Tapping Into our Spiritual Guides (Maggid)
• The Devil and the Shekhina in Kabbalah
• Meet the Chief Rabbi of Safed, Shmuel Eliyahu
• Premiere showing of Shlomo Weprin’s film on Safed

On the last day of January there was an event in Boston titled “Everything is God: A Boston Jewish Spiritual Woodstock“. (A similar event will happen in San Francisco on February 11. See Facebook.) Here is the description of the Boston even from its Facebook page:

LEARN: at an expert panel featuring Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, recently named a finalist for the Sami Rohr Prize in Jewish Literature for her memoir Surprised by God; Jay Michaelson, recently named to the “Forward 50” list of “the men and women who are leading the American Jewish community into the 21st century;” and Seth Castleman, a former Buddhist monk who is being ordained as a rabbi this year. The panel will be introduced by Dr. Bernard Steinberg, President and Director of Harvard Hillel.

The panel will discuss the “new Jewish culture” and the new forms of Jewish spirituality emerging in the 21st century, how such forms resemble and differ from past ones, how the act of spiritual writing has evolved in the last twenty years, and what it means that Jews are post-denominationally and cross-culturally creating their own religious and secular approaches to Jewish spirituality.

CONNECT: The most exciting aspect of the evening will be the “Spiritual Woodstock” fair of contemporary organizations working and creating new spiritual and religious forms within the New Jewish Culture. The fair will provide an opportunity to encounter this new flowering of Jewish spiritual creativity firsthand, meeting directly with some of its leading institutions, including GesherCity, Keshet, Eden Village Camp, Kirtan Rabbi, the Kirva Institute, the Tremont Street Shul, Nehirim, and many others.

CELEBRATE the publication of the new book by Forward and Huffington Post columnist Jay Michaelson entitled Everything is God: The Radical Path of Nondual Judaism at a kosher reception with plenty of time to mingle and connect, and a performance by Boston Jewish hip-hop star Rakia.

Jewschool recorded and posted a lot of the event here.

The book’s/author’s website: everythingisgod.com

Last summer the Rorschach Theatre produced a show in NewYork titled “This Storm Is What We Call Progress.” It was written by Jason Grote. The plot on the theatre’s page reads:

A young man stumbles into a dusty old recording studio run by an enigmatic old woman and her beautiful assistant. Here he is drawn into an ancient and powerful world of Jewish mysticism and Kabbalistic ritual and discovers that he may be something more than he had ever imagined.

The script doesn’t seem to be available in any format, although Grote links some of his works for purchase at his blog. Here is a teaser though of the play:

P.s. I learned about the play from its Washington Post review.

Excerpt from a news article:

An exhibition devoted to the life and legacy of scholar and philosopher rabbi Loew, according to legends a creator of supernatural monster Golem from the early 17th century, opens at Prague Castle on Wednesday to mark the 400th anniversary of Loew’s death.

The exhibition, staged by the Prague Castle Authority along with the Jewish Museum in Prague, is opened in the Imperial Stable (Cisarska konirna) from August 5 to November 8.

“Although golem is a concept of Jewish mysticism, it is evidently only loosely associated with rabbi Loew. No hints is contained in his work that he would ever attempt such mystical spiritual exercise as the creation of a golem,” Jewish Museum director Leo Pavlat said.

Read more at the original site or on the museum’s page about the exhibition.

CANADA

Alberta

Calgary Fri/Sat/Sun 6/7/8^th Feb. jli@chabadalberta.org 403 238 4880 Ext.109

Edmonton Fri/Sat. 23/24^th Jan. Chabad@shaw.ca 780 993-1818

Victoria Mon.9^th Feb. rabbi@telus.net 250-595-7656

USA

California

San Francisco Tues. 10^th Feb. chayalanger@gmail.com 415 269 1981

Colorado

Aspen Wed. 4^th Feb. rabbimintz@gmail.com 970 544 3770

Vail Thurs. 5^th Feb. info@jewishvail.com 970 476.7887

Florida

Bonita Springs Mon. 2^nd Feb. JewishBonita@gmail.com 239 949 6900

Fort Lauderdale Fri/Sat. 30/31st chabadflorida@aol.com 954-568-1190

Georgia

Atlanta Tues. 3^rd Feb. yelerman@bellsouth.net 678 595 0196

Illinois

Chicago Tues. 27^th Jan. rabbi@chabadnaperville.com 630-778-9770

Chicago Wed. 28^th Jan. rabbibergstein@gmail.com 708-524-1530

New Jersey

New Brunswick Thurs. 29^th Jan. rabbi@myjewishcenter.org 908-874-0444

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia Mon. 26^th Jan.. Jewishdelco@comcast.net 610-566-1108

Rabbi Wolf’s site

Today is the Day of Kabbalah in Manhattan. It is an all day conference, hosted by Rabbi Naftali Citron, who used to be the Chabad rabbi in Santa Cruz, CA, where I met him a few times. It is co-sponsored by The Carlebach Shul, the JCC in Manhattan (where the event takes place) and SinaiLive.com, a “nonprofit initiative committed to assisting high quality Jewish organizations fully realize their multi-media potential.”) Here is the list of all the lectures/workshops,

• Prof. Lawrence Fine: Scholar, Mystic, Saintly Teacher: The Life of the Ari as Perceived and Experienced by His Closest Disciples
• Avraham Sutton: Reincarnation: The Collective Drama of Souls: The Ari’s Teachings on Gilgul
• Prof. Shaul Magid: Redemption and Identity: Can Gentiles be Prophets? The Case of Balaam in the Eyes of the Ari
• Rabbi DovBer Pinson: Intention and Prayer: The System and Practice of Using Kavanot in Prayer in Lurianic Kabbalah
• Miriam Shulamit Ribner: Kabbalah of Healing: A Meditative Workshop Inspired by Teachings of the Ari
• Nathaniel Berman: Zohar: The Faces of God: The Zohar as the Source for the Ari’s Mystical System
• David Solomon: Vessels and Sparks: Tzimtzum: An Idea Explored in Context and Evolution
• Rabbi DovBer Pinson: Soul and Purpose: The Idea of Divine Inspiration /Ruach HaKodesh for the AriZal
• Prof. Larry Fine: Love and Spiritual Friendship: Rabbi Isaac Luria’s Mystical Fellowship and the Repair of the Cosmos
• David Solomon: Redeeming the World: Mystical Errors of the Righteous: The Concept of Ta’ut in Lurianic Kabbalah
• Avraham Sutton: Faces of the Divine: Partzufim : A Central Idea in the Ari’s Cosmology
• Rabbi Naftali Citron: Come Let Us Greet the Bride: The Kabbalistic Origins of Kabbalat Shabbat

For more information go to these pages:

• The Carlebach Shul
• JCC
• Sinai Live

Jewish Lights Publishing is still having its winter sale. I was having a bit of had time what to include and what not from their 70+ books, if my objective is to include books on Jewish meditation/spirituality. On one hand the idea of practice of Jewish meditation grew out Kabbalah. On the other hand JLP is offering lots of titles about different forms of it. Not all of them are necessarily related to Kabbalah. Not having read these books I could not judge whether they should be listed on this site or not, based on the narrow definition/interest of Kabbalah. Nevertheless, here is a small selection. (The links lead to the books’ Amazon page. To get the discount price at JLP go directly there.)

• Criminal Kabbalah: An Intriguing Anthology of Jewish Mystery & Detective Fiction by Lawrence W. Raphael
• Discovering Jewish Meditation: Instruction & Guidance for Learning an Ancient Spiritual Practice by Nan Fink Gefen
• Finding Joy: A Practical Spiritual Guide to Happiness by Dannel L. Schwartz
• First Steps to a New Jewish Spirit: Reb Zalman’s Guide to Recapturing the Intimacy and Ecstasy in your Relationship with God by Rabbi Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi and Donald Gropman
• God in All Moments: Mystical & Practical Spiritual Wisdom from Hasidic Masters by or N. Rose and Ebn D. Leader
• God in Our Relationships: Spirituality between People from the Teachings of Martin Buber by Dennis S. Ross
• Handbook of Jewish Meditation Practices: A Guide for Enriching the Sabbath and Other Days of Your Life by David A. Cooper
• Jewish Lights Spirituality Handbook: Understanding, Exploring & Living a Spiritual Life by Stuart M. Matlins
• Meditation from the Heart of Judaism: Today’s Teachers Share Their Practices, Techniques and Faith by Avram Davis
• Our Dance with God: Finding Prayer, Perspective and Meaning in the Stories of our Lives by Karyn D. Kedar
• Parenting as a Spiritual Journey by Nancy Fuchs and Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer
• Reclaiming Judaism as Spiritual Practice: Holy Days and Shabbat by Goldie Milgram

Today at 5 PM PST Howard Smith will present a free, 90 minute webinar titled “Modern Cosmology and Kabbalah Religion in the Age of Science An Introduction“. It is free of charge, but one needs to register in advance. And it comes with a similarly titled 68 page ebook titled. Howard A. Smith, PhD, is a senior astrophysicist at the Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He also studied Judaism and Kabbalah from Rabbi Baruch Bokser z”l, Rabbi Saul Berman, Rabbi Herman Pollack z”l, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach z”l, and Rabbi Dr. Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. He is the author of Let There Be Light: Modern Cosmology and Kabbalah: A New Conversation Between Science and Religion, published in 2006. Let me quote the book’s preface.

This is a book for people wondering about modern science and religion, and what each has to say to the other, if anything. It is also for people curious about the discoveries of modern cosmology and physics, or about the insights of Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism, but who know little about them.

I received the information via email that Laibl Wolf from Australia will tour the US.  For details please contact the organizers:

• Los Angeles (Valley), CA – Tues, 12th February – 818 758 1818 rabbi@chabadsc.com
• Mill Valley, CA – Tues 22nd January 415 381 3794 rabbiscop@comcast.net
• Palo Alto, CA – Wed. 23rd January – 650 424 9800 chabad1@pacbell.net
• Boulder, CO – Thurs. 7th February – 303 444 2775 rabbi@jewishcu.com
• Fort Lauderdale, FL – Fri/Sat. 1/2 Feb. – 954 568 1190 chabadflorida@aol.com
• Grand Rapids, IL – Tues. 5th February – 517 214 0525 chabadlm@aol.com
• Lansing, IL – Mon. 4th February – 517 214 0535 chabadlm@aol.com
• Bethesda, MD – Sun. 27 Jan.-2.00 pm – 301 913 9777 rabbi@shalomchabad.com
• Gaithersburg, MD – Sun. 27 Jan -7.30 pm – 301 926 3632 rabbict@aol.com
• Minneapolis, MN – Wed. 6th February – 651 699 0575 mr770@msn.com
• St. Louis, MO – Sun. 3rd February – 314 725 0400 narishkite@aim.com
• Old Tappan, NJ – Wed. 30th January – 201 421 1551 rabbi@chabadot.org
• Las Vegas, NV – Mon. 11th Feb. – 702 498 7308 chabadofsummerlin@yahoo.com
• Comack, LI – Mon.28th January – 631 543 3343 rabbi@chabadmidsuffolk.com
• Oyster Bay, LI – Sun. 10th Feb.10.00am – 516 682 0404 deer8@optonline.net
• Roslyn, LI – Tues. 29th January – 516 484 8185 yaakov.reiter@verizon.net
• Allentown, PA – Fri/Sat. 8/9 Feb. – 610 351 6511 RabbiHalperin@aol.com
• Philadelphia, PA – Fri/Sat. 25/26 Jan. – 215 238 2100 rabbi@phillyshul.com

Ez emailben jott:

Kabbalaszeminárium a Mazsike szervezésében

Z’ev Ben Shimon Halevi április 13-15.-én 3 napos kabbala-szemináriumot tart a Magyar Zsidó Kulturális Egyesület szervezésében

“Bevezetés a Kabbalába” címmel.

Ez a nemzetközi tanfolyam eloször kerül megrendezésre Magyarországon, és célja az, hogy eljuttassa a magyar érdeklodokhöz Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi (Warren Kenton), a XXI. század nemzetközileg egyik legmeghatározóbb és legismertebb élo kabbala-kutatójának tanítását.

Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi (Warren Kenton) több mint negyven év tanulás és a kabbala európai, észak-afrikai és izraeli osi központjainak meglátogatása után feladataként látja a kabbala zsidó vonalának modern formába történo átültetését minden olyan ember számára, aki a Kabbala útját kívánja járni vallási, nemi, nemzetiségi és faji hovatartozásra való tekintet nélkül. Több csoportot tanít Nagy-Britanniában és az európai kontinensen, és tanfolyamokat tart Kanadában, az Egyesült Államokban, Mexikóban, Ausztráliában, Japánban, Brazíliában és Izraelben is. A kabbaláról szóló tizennégy könyvét, eleddig tizenhárom nyelvre fordították le, hetvenkét kiadásban. Magyarországon eddig megjelent könyve A Kabala útja és a Pszichológia és kabbala. Feleségével Londonban él és dolgozik.

A szombati és vasárnapi szemináriumra a résztvevok száma korlátozott, ehhez elozetes regisztráció szükséges. A pénteki nyitóeloadás mindenki számára nyitott, belépodíj csak a pénteki eloadásra: 900 Ft.-

Részvételi díj (mind a három napra érvényes)

Elovételben 15000 forint
Helyszínen 18000 forint
Diákok és nyugdíjasok részére 10000 forint

További információ, részletes program, jelentkezés a http://www.mazsike.hu/2007/0703_kabbala.html internetes oldalon