East Coast Community Gathering 2011
January 7-9, 2011
Easton Mountain, Greenwich, NY
The 4th Annual Nehirim Community Gathering will be hosted by “Grand Weavers” Zvi Bellin and Becky Emet. All the participants will sow the seeds of this experience and weave their gifts and talents to co-create a space of support, intimacy, and friendship. The Gathering is a unique Nehirim Shabbat that is open only to participants of the larger retreats. It is limited to about 40 participants and its aim to is to deepen the community experience that only begins to open at the larger events. The past Gatherings have been extremely sweet served with peer-led learning, davening, and ritual communing. This year, we will be piloting a different model for the Gathering.
Do you have an idea for a Saturday night activity, or Shabbat oneg celebration? Have you been eager to guide a trusting group of eager participants along a Torah journey or experiential movement ritual? You are hereby empowered and invited to submit a workshop/sharing/teaching proposal, communal ritual, prayer service piece that you would like to facilitate at the Gathering. Submissions should be sent to [email protected], no later December 7th, 2010.
Registration and Logistics
Registration is now open - click here to register.
Pricing is kept at a minimum for the Community Gathering, and unfortunately financial aid is not available due to the small size of the retreat. Pricing: $180 (quad), $240 (double), $360 (single)
Easton Mountain is accessible by Amtrak to Albany. Visit our Ride Board to offer or request a ride.
Sample Schedule
This schedule is based on last year’s gathering. Updated information will be posted in November, 2010.
Co-Directors
Zvi Bellin PhD
Dr. Zvi Bellin is the Engagement Associate for Nehirim and is responsible for pastoral counseling, community relations, and programming at Nehirim retreats. He leads workshops and directs retreats that integrate body-heart-mind-soul in a variety of spiritual and religious contexts. Zvi earned a PhD in Pastoral Counseling and an M.A. in Counseling and Guidance. He is a Registered Yoga Teacher with the Yoga Alliance. He has worked as a therapist in a number of mental health settings, and has interned as a Psychiatric Chaplain. In addition to his work with Nehirim, Zvi is the Director of Jewish Education for Moishe House.
Becky Emet
Committed to social justice and community building, Becky brings her passion and warmth to the Nehirim community. As a past co-director of The Gathering at Easton Mountain and the Women’s Retreat, Becky has been to ten Nehirim retreats and led seven workshops. Professionally she has worked as a psychotherapist with at-risk youth and families, a case manager for Big Brothers Big Sisters, a project manager for Harvard faculty at McLean hospital, and a business consultant to social enterprises on issues related to budget analysis, marketing, and social responsibility. With an MBA and an MSW, Becky is both a problem solver and an idealist at heart who strives for an ever-compassionate, present-focused perspective.
This year’s Teachers
Jay Michaelson
Jay Michaelson is the founder and executive director of Nehirim. For the last ten years, Jay has been a leading advocate for the inclusion of sexual minorities in religious communities, and writes and teaches frequently on issues of sexuality and religion. His work on the subject has appeared on NPR, and in Tikkun, the Jerusalem Post, the Duke Law Review, the Michigan Journal of Gender & Law, and anthologies including Mentsh: On Being Jewish and Queer (2004), Righteous Indignation: A Jewish Call for Justice(2007) and Jews and Sex (2008). Jay is a columnist for the Forward newspaper, Tikkun, and Reality Sandwich magazine, and a featured contributor to the Huffington Post. He is the author of God in Your Body: Kabbalah, Mindfulness, and Embodied Spiritual Practice (Jewish Lights, 2006), Another Word for Sky: Poems (Lethe Press, 2007), and Everything is God: The Radical Path of Nondual Judaism (Shambhala, 2009).
Rabbi Jacob J. Staub
Rabbi Jacob J. Staub is Professor of Jewish Philosophy and Spirituality at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia, where he served as Academic Vice President for 17 years and where he was ordained. He served as editor of the Reconstructionist magazine. He is the founder and director of the first program in Jewish Spiritual Direction at a rabbinical seminary. He teaches medieval Jewish studies, Jewish meditation, and Jewish spirituality. He is the author of The Creation of the World According to Gersonides and the co-author of Exploring Judaism: A Reconstructionist Approach. He came out as a gay man five years ago.