Queer Shabbaton DC 2010
The Nehirim Queer Shabbaton is a weekend-long “urban retreat” of community, culture, and spirituality for GLBT Jews, partners, & allies. featuring cutting-edge workshops, services, networking, yoga & meditation, delicious kosher food, and plenty of time to connect.
After three successful Shabbatonim in New York, we are now bringing this program to Washington, D.C., in partnership with GLOE, the Kurlander Program for Gay and Lesbian Outreach & Engagement at the Washington DCJCC, and Bet Mishpachah.
Who comes to the Queer Shabbaton? 100+ people of all ages, religious stripes, and sexual & gender identities: secular to orthodox, transgender nice Jewish boys to non-Jewish partners, students to seniors — there are people like you at Nehirim.
When: 5pm on Friday, February 5 through 1pm on Sunday, February 7
Where: DC JCC,16th & Q
How much: Sliding scale from $80-140. Financial aid available — no one turned away for lack of funds.
Click here to Register Now!
To offer or request transportation or housing, and to connect with other parents over childcare needs, visit our Ride, Housing, and Parent Board.
Please click a link to learn more:
Tachlis (Logistics): Cost, Transportation, Housing, etc.
Financial Aid
Sample Schedule
Halachic information
Presenters and Educators
Our Partners and Sponsors
Tachlis (Logistics): Cost, Housing, Transportation, etc.
Pricing
We are committed to enabling everyone to attend the Shabbaton, and look forward to a wide range of sexual, gender, economic, religious, and ethnic diversity. Thus, we offer sliding scale rates. If your wallet will allow, please consider registering at the regular or the supporter rate. Your generosity supports our current and future programming. Prices this year are:
Early Bird: $80 Early Bird Deadline: December 10th 2009
Discount Rate: $100
Base Rate: $140
Supporter Rate: $180
Prices include all shabbat meals plus Sunday brunch, as well as all program costs for the shabbaton.
Housing & Location
The Queer Shabbaton will be held at the DC JCC at 1529 16th Street NW (at Q), Washington DC, 20036.
We will not be providing housing or transportation to the retreat. Need a ride? Need a place to stay? Want to offer a ride or a place to stay? Are you a parent who will be bringing children, who would like to share childcare with other parents? Check out our Ride, Housing, and Parent Boards by clicking here.
We are pleased to have scholarship money available thanks to the generosity of our supporters. We are thrilled to be able to help you attend. Financial aid is available through a simple application process. If you would like to apply for a scholarship, please apply here (before you register online).
A Recent Urban Shabbaton Schedule
(The DC Schedule to be announced)
Friday, October 30th
2:00-4:00 Registration
4:00-5:00 Director’s Welcome and Opening Program
5:15-6:30 Friday night services (Actual candle-lighting time is 5:40pm)
*Please note that candle-lighting will take place immediately following the opening program.
6:45-8:15 Dinner and Singing
8:30-9:30 Mishpacha Group
9:45-11:00 Evening Program: Pumpkin Carving with Nehirim
• Tisch (song, drink, celebration)
• Women’s Coffee Hour
• 12-Step Meeting
11:00 Laila Tov! (Good Night!)
Saturday, October 31st
9:30-11:15
• Shabbat Morning Services
• Intimate Discussion Group, facilitated by Margot Meitner, M.S.W.
11:30-12:50 Lunch
1:00-2:00 Afternoon Session 1
•GLBT Jewish Leader Network
• Envisioning Queer Jewish Families-S. Bear Bergman and j wallace
• Jewish and Pagan Mysticism-Oli Stephano
• The Intersection of Israel and LGBT Identities-Dr. Caryn Aviv
2:10-3:30 Special Event
• Torah Queeries: Reading the Bible Through a Bent Lens-Gregg Drinkwater, Rabbi Jason Klein, Marla Brettschneider, Rabbi Jill Hammer
2:30-3:30 Afternoon Session 2
• Report from the Trenches-Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum
• Menschlekeit Bulldaggers and Balabusta Faggots: The Relevance of Traditional Jewish Gender Roles in our Queer Sexualities-Sasha T. Goldberg
• Yiddish Shamans in the City-Zvi Bellin
3:45-4:45 Afternoon Session 3
Snacks will be available for an early Seudah Shlishit (3rd meal)
• Living Positive: HIV and Faith-Marco Noam
• God Does Not Exist-God is Existence Itself-Jay Michaelson
• The Queer Political Divide: Why are we Fighting Ourselves?-Adrian Shanker
• Mincha at local area shuls
• Create Your Own Workshop
5:15-6:00 Mishpacha groups
6:10-7:20 Dinner
7:30-8:15 Maariv & Havdalah
8:30-10:30 Evening Program
• Premiere reading of The Material World, A Play by Dan Fishback
• Halloween Parade in the Village
11pm Laila Tov! (Good Night!)
Sunday, November 1st—Please note that Daylight Savings Time Ends
9:00-9:45 Sunday Morning Sessions
• Twice Blessed: A Visual Journey Through Queer Jewish History-Gregg Drinkwater
• Yoga-Zvi Bellin
• Hands-On Torah: Crafts for Parashat Lech Lecha-Ri J. Turner
• Manifesting Your Soul’s Desire-Chani Getter
10:00 am-11:00am Brunch
11:00-12:00 Keynote by Bob Morris, author of Assisted Loving: True Tales of Double Dating with My Dad
12:00-1:00 Closing program
Retreat Co-Directors
Alex Greenbaum
Born and bred in the modern Orthodox Jewish community in London, Alex Greenbaum is vice chair of Washington DC JCC’s LGBT program, GLOE. In the last couple of years, he has become increasingly involved in Jewish community organizing. In October, he is arranging a large queer Simchat Torah in DC to coincide with the National Equality March. He also volunteers with adults with disabilities and with the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. A macroeconomist in his professional life, Alex works with developing-country governments and private sector groups to establish effective economic policy. Alex has a Master’s degree in Economics and Econometrics from the University of Manchester.
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).
Teachers and Presenters
Yaron Peleg
Yaron Peleg is Associate Professor of Hebrew at George Washington University and the director of the GW Hebrew Program. He received his PhD in Hebrew literature from Brandeis University in 2000. Before coming to GW, Dr. Peleg taught Hebrew literature and Israeli cinema courses at Brandeis University and at Princeton University. Peleg’s publications include, Derech Gever: Homoeroticism in Hebrew Literature 1887-200, Orientalism and the Hebrew Imagination, and most recently, Israeli Culture Between the Two Intifadas: A Brief Romance. Professor Peleg is also co-author of the Hebrew textbook, Brandeis Modern Hebrew.
Zvi Bellin
Zvi Bellin, Nehirim Engagement Associate, leads workshops and directs retreats that integrate body-heart-mind-soul in a variety of spiritual and religious contexts. Zvi holds an M.A. in Counseling and Guidance from NYU, and is studying for his PhD in Pastoral Counseling at Loyola College, Maryland. Zvi is a 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) 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.
