SOULIFT
SOULIFT: Exploring the
Magic and Medicine of the Psalms
January 19 – 25, 2026
Tampa, Florida
On the Path of Love, we are inspired to receive the vast storehouse of spiritual tools that can help us heal, become whole, generous and connected to ourselves, and to all of Creation. In that remembrance of connection, love flourishes.
There are so many challenges to love that we must meet.
The Psalms are an ancient treasure that must be excavated, refined, polished and made useful in meeting the challenges of our day. On this retreat of deep inquiry and profound celebration we will journey through eight themes that represent the means by which we meet those challenges on the path of Love:
Gratefulness,
Praise,
Lament,
Supplication,
Exaltation,
Revelation,
Comfort
and Encouragement.
We’ll use the Psalms to explore these pathways, opening to the magic and the medicine of our inheritance.
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About the Retreat
LOCATION
We’ll gather together in a beautiful location in Tampa, Florida. The exact location is kept private for security reasons, and will be shared after registration. Both single and double rooms are available; but our capacity is limited, so be sure to register early!
If you need a handicapped accessible room, please be sure to let us know via email following your registration.
MEALS
We’ll receive three nourishing meals a day, prepared fresh daily by the wonderful staff at the venue.
Please be sure to inform us of any dietary restrictions during your registration.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
We’ll plan to arrive between 3 and 5 pm on Monday, January 19, and our first meal together will begin with dinner. We’ll conclude our beautiful week on with departure at 11 am (following breakfast, check out, and a closing program) on Sunday, January 25.
MORE QUESTIONS
Have more questions? Not a problem! Feel free to reach out to Events and Retreats Director, Stephanie, at stephanie@aleph.org with any other questions.
About this Program
These times of tumult and change hold great potential for inner growth and connection to our Soul Perspective. SOULIFT offers week-long retreats, immersions in spiritual practice that help us to remain anchored to an awareness of the Divine flow of blessing, no matter what is happening in the world
Each stand-alone intensive is an opportunity to immerse ourselves in practices that incorporate the magic of sound, silence, movement, stillness, sacred text, shamanic journey, creative arts and nature mysticism.

Program Instructor
Rabbi Shefa Gold
Rabbi Shefa Gold is a leader in ALEPH: the Alliance for Jewish Renewal and received her ordination both from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (z”l). She is the director of C-DEEP, The Center for Devotional, Energy and Ecstatic Practice in Jemez Springs, New Mexico. She teaches workshops and retreats on the theory and art of Chanting, Devotional Healing, Spiritual Community-Building and Meditation.
C-DEEP: The Center for Devotional, Energy and Ecstatic Practice launched a new project called SOULIFT, with individually themed regional retreats in the summer of 2018.
Feedback From Participants in Shefa Gold’s Trainings…
SOULIFT was an amazing retreat and unlike anything I have ever done before.
The retreat more than lived up to its name and was indeed soul lifting. Rabbi Shefa is a deep spiritualist and inspiring teacher. The opportunity to be led by her in chant and then sit in silence is unique and uplifting. I’d sign up for another one in a heartbeat!
– David Dreifus
SOULIFT truly lifted my soul; it was nourishing, intense, fun.
– Ruth E.
My soul was nourished, embraced and and supported and I was able to feel healed by being in a loving community striving for wholeness.
– David Balto
Dear Rabbi Shefa, Rachmiel, Yaffah and Judith,
I am writing to thank you for creating an absolutely wonderful week of chanting, art, movement and healing during your SOULIFT program in Santa Fe this August. I loved every minute of your outstanding program from the outdoor morning services chanting Shacharit until the evening personal blessing ceremonies, conducted as the sun set under beautiful New Mexican skies. Each moment of music was marvelous, with the beautiful melodies by Shefa and the lovely voices singing in harmony. And the whole experience was greatly enhanced by the fascinating neurological and psychological insights presented by Shefa daily. This work is transformative, and was very important for me in a time of personal challenge! I learned so much from the exquisite and joyful chanting to the deeply spiritual insights. Dear Rabbi Shefa, you are a true Jewish shaman and spiritual leader and your approach is extremely powerful!
Other delightful aspects of your program include the inspirational mandala making instructed by Judith, learning the ten minute tune up from Rachmiel, and the excellent organizational kills of Yaffah that brought everything together so smoothly! I should also mention the absolutely outstanding food and the lovely rooms of the retreat center, both of which made it hard to leave on Sunday! Last but not least, you had gathered a warm and interesting group of participants, and created a fine community out of all of us. Truly, this is one of the best experiences of my life.
Thank you one and all!
With love and gratitude to all of you,
Linda Fries
PS. I love listening to the four exquisite CD’s that I purchased and reading the profound insights in Shefa Gold’s “Torah Journeys”.
To anyone considering embarking on this journey: do not hesitate!
– Danya Underwood
The perspective Rabbi Shefa offers elicits a powerful way to be in deep relationship to G!d and one’s own truth, Jewishly.
– Donna Chava Friedman
Never could I have imagined the healing, presence, peace and transformation that would come from my 18 months in Kol Zimra 3.
The chanting allowed so many places in my heart to open.
– Shira Orit
I cannot say enough good things about Rabbi Shefa Gold’s Kol Zimra program.
– Rabbi Alan Green
… the KZ experience has changed my life.
– Eva Friedner
Our training helped me to focus on something that was really important to me even with what “little” I had already been doing.
– Linda Zahavi
… Shefa Gold’s 18-month Kol Zimra Chant Leader Training… has been one of the most valuable and transformative trainings in my rabbinic career
– Malkah Binah
Shefa teaches chant and leadership, giving us a balanced and original model, and practical elements to form loving containers for groups of our own.
I highly recommend this training for anyone who wants to learn about their own leadership style, and about attaining a profound spiritual connection through sacred chant.
My experience with the Kol Zimra training program was much more than I could have even hoped for. The caliber of leadership, the strength of group connections and the depth of learning all contributed to an incredible 18 month journey, a journey which was more joyful and profound than words can express, a journey which continues still. This program changed my relationship to leadership, my relationship to my home community and my relationship with The Great Mystery itself.
– Jessica Kreimerman-Lew
Kol Zimra [was] my first experience with Jewish renewal.
– Carolyn Silver-Alford