Community Gathering 2010
The Nehirim Community Gathering
Jan. 8-10, 2010
Easton Mountain Retreat Center, near Albany, NY
Building on the success of past retreats, this weekend is an opportunity for those who have previously attended a Nehirim retreat to come together in a smaller, more relaxed and intimate setting. Co-directed by Zvi Bellin and Becky Emet, the weekend is a time of heartfelt connection, soulful spirituality, and also some of the best retreat food available, not to mention a fireplace and sauna. This year will focus on creating and maintaining “Sukkat Shalom,” a shelter of peace. How can we deepen our connection to ourselves and to each other? Uncover the uniqueness that you bring to Nehirim and how you can share that gift to strengthen GLBT Jewish living. The retreat is community-led and teaching opportunities are available; contact Zvi at zvi[at]nehirim.org to get involved.
If you have not come to a Nehirim retreat before, we warmly invite you to instead join us at one of our other retreats. This gathering is not a full-on retreat, and we are limiting it to people who have joined us before.
Please click a link to learn more:
- Tachlis (Logistics): Registration, Cost, Transportation etc.
- Last Year’s Presenters and Educators
Registration is now open!
Secure online registration at: https://www.eastonmountain.com/assets/Forms/newregform09b.html
Or register by phone by calling Easton Mountain at 1-800-553-8235.
When you call, please indicate room type and whether kosher food is desired (an additional cost of $40.) Questions about kashrut and other specifics of the retreat can be directed to Zvi at Zvi[at]nehirim.org
Pricing:
Triple/quad-$180
Double-$240
Single-$300
Note: add $40 extra if you desire kosher food
Limited Scholarships are Available! For more information, contact Zvi at Zvi[at]nehirim.org
Ride board: Click here to find or offer a ride.
This Year’s Schedule! (new!)
Friday, January 8
1:00 Arrival, registration, snacks
3:20 Mikva #1 for Women (hot tub)
3:40 Mikva #2 for Men (hot tub)
4:00 Mikva #3 Gender Neutral (hot tub)
3:30 Alternative to Mikvah
4:15 Candle lighting and Silent Space (actual start of Shabbat: 4:18 pm)
4:45 Kabbalat Shabbat and Ma’ariv with Becky Emet and Zvi Bellin
6:00 Dinner, D’var Torah and hanging out
7:15 Heart circle Unraveling with Corey Friedlander
9:00 Tisch with Singing, Dancing, Stories, L’Chaims!
Shabbat, January 9
8:45 Breakfast
9:00 Yoga with Zvi Bellin
9:45 Davening and Torah Service with David Dunn Bauer
12:00 Lunch
2:00 Interactive Torah Study with Randy
3:15 Personal Meaning Dialog Workshop with Zvi Bellin
4:30 Mighty Mincha Contemplative Meditation with Jay Michaelson
5:00 Seudah shlishit
6:15 Havdalah and Heart circle Opening with Becky Emet
8:00 Free Community Time
9:00 Breath and Body Workshop with John Stasio
Sunday, January 10
8:30 Breakfast (until 9:30pm)
9:00 Morning Spiritual Salon –
-Silent Sit (30 minutes) with Esther Smigel
-Cleansing Yoga (30 minutes) with Zvi Bellin
-Morning Prayer (45 minutes) with L. Santo
-Cool Down Sivasana Guided Meditation with Jay Michaelson
11:15 Closing Heart Circle Rewrapping with Zvi Bellin and Becky Emet
12:30 Lunch — Bookstore will be open, Tzeitchem l’shalom!
The Gathering is Lead by our Talented Community Members:
Zvi Bellin, PhD, co-director
Dr. Zvi Bellin is the Engagement Associate for Nehirim and is responsible for student outreach, internal 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. Zvi’s most recent interests include exploring the raw experience of meaning in life, and the integration of personal spirituality into a practice of holistic well-being. He is a co-founder of the Silver Spring Moishe House, a Jewish community house sponsored by the Schusterman Foundation.
Becky Emet, co-director
Having worked as a therapist with at-risk youth and families, Becky is currently pursuing an MBA in hopes of starting her own social enterprise one day. Committed to social justice and community building, and striving for an ever-compassionate, present-focused perspective, Becky brings her passion and warmth to the Nehirim community.
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 and Reality Sandwich magazine, 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) and Another Word for Sky: Poems (Lethe Press, 2007). His next book is Everything is God: The Radical Path of Nondual Judaism (Shambhala, 2009).
Esther Smigel
Esther Smigel is the Operations Manager of Nehirim. She is a recent graduate of Smith College, where she focused on economics and Jewish studies. At Smith, she dedicated much of her time to the Smith investment club and two socially responsible investing committees as an advocate for ethical investing. Her Jewish learning while at Smith led her to a year in Israel, where she immersed herself in the study of Jewish texts, ethics, laws and values at Machon Pardes in Jerusalem. Esther joins Nehirim excited about building queer Jewish community and forming progressive and queer interfaith connections.
David Dunn Bauer
has served as the rabbi of the Jewish Community of Amherst (Massachusetts) since graduating from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2003. He came to the rabbinate after a 15-year career as a stage manager and stage director of theater and opera in the U.S., Europe, and Israel. In his congregational work he has directed a number of plays for services and holiday events, including his own translation of Hannoch Levin’s Akeidah. Prior to his ordination, Rabbi Bauer served for two years as the student rabbi and spiritual leader for Congregation Ahavath Shalom, a Reconstructionist congregation in Great Barrington, MA. As a student in Israel in 1999, he served as cantor for Yom Kippur services at Hebrew Union College’s Jerusalem campus and led regular Torah study at the Jerusalem Open House, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community center. He was a 2000-2001 Cooperberg-Rittmaster intern at Congregation Beth Simchat Torah in NYC, the world’s largest LGBTQ synagogue. Rabbi Bauer received training in pastoral counseling as a rabbinical intern at the Philadelphia Geriatric Center in 1998 and 1999. With life coach Michael J. Cohen, he created and led “Celebrating the Body Judaic: a Body Electric Shabbaton for Gay and Bisexual Jewish Men” in 2006 and 2007. Beyond his congregational work, he is sought out as a speaker and leader in many cultural, religious, and spiritual contexts, teaching on topics that range from opera and Jewish theatre to sexuality and images of the body in Jewish liturgy and sacred text.
Liora is completing a degree in music at McGill University in Montreal, with special interest in Renaissance and avant-garde composition. Among her pursuits are alternative models of healing, grounded in an unconventional approach to nutrition. She has experience in organic and biodynamic farming on community farms in Massachusetts and Ontario. Liora was a fellow at Yeshivat Hadar in summer 2008 and plans to continue studying Jewish texts full time next year in New York.
Corey has been participating in Nehirim retreats from the very first one, drawing strength and spiritual nourishment from the community. Certified as a Sh’liakh K’hilah by the Reform Movement in 2005, he serves as Lay Rabbinic Intern at Woodlands Community Temple in White Plains, NY, helping to lead services, perform life cycle events, and teach. He has completed the two-year Me’ah program through Hebrew College in Boston and has studied on retreat with Reb Zalman-Schachter Shalomi at Eilat Chayyim. He recently received a distinguished service award from the Westchester Jewish Conference. Professionally, he is the Vice President of Mechanical Plastics Corp. and has also managed two bookstores and been the Director of Professional Development and Education for the American Booksellers Association.
Randy is new to leading Torah study, but as a middle school teacher, he is used to creating discussions accessible to many different people. A member of the Reconstructionist Jewish Comunity of Amherst, he has led services occasionally and loves use his voice to worship the Divine. He has attended Nehirim gatherings in the past and led a workshop about interfaith relationships along with his Muslim boyfriend, Ty. He lives in Northampton, MA with Ty, two teenage sons, and a few too many pets.
If you would like more information, email us at info[at]nehirim.org.