Virtual Programs

Magiddah Debra Gordon Zaslow was ordained as a Maggidah by Rabbi Zalman Schacter -Shalomi in 1995, and travels the country telling stories. She holds an MFA in writing, and her memoir, Bringing Bubbe Home, chronicles midwifing her grandmother through death. Her new anthology, The Rooster Princess and Other Tales: Jewish Stories Repopulated with Spunky Heroines, Wise Women, Brave Crones, and Powerful Prophetesses, was just released.

Rabbi Rivkah Coburn weaves storytelling into her teaching and leadership as a dancer, spiritual director, and Jewish embodiment facilitator. She was ordained as a Maggidah by the Zaslows in 2012, and received her rabbinic smicha in January 2025, through the ALEPH Ordination Program.

Cassandra Sagan   Is a twice-ordained Maggidah in the lineage of Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. She is an educator, poet, singer/songwriter, visual artist, an InterPlay leader, and creator of Moving Midrash, an embodied Torah study practice. Cassandra weaves her tales with humor and magical realism, while making ancestral tikkunim through her stories.

Course Dates: 11/5, 11/19, 12/3, 12/17, 12/29

*Zoom Link will be sent in confirmation email after form submission*

Course Description

Every wisdom tradition contains mythology around rites of passage, and Jewish tradition is no different. In its most narrow view, our rites of passage happen when we turn 12 or 13 – or as an adult – in a synagogue, chanting Torah, and helping to lead a Shabbat service. While this can be a meaningful framing, it is by no means the only way to engage with a Jewish Rite of Passage. In the mythic lens, rites of passage contain these steps: 1) answering a call by leaving the familiar, 2) the liminal identity space as represented by the wilderness or dream, 3) facing trials such as overcoming hardship and fear, 4) transformation and return. 

In this 5 session course, we will explore different rites of passage models from Torah such as the Garden of Eden story, Avraham’s journey of Lech Lecha, Yaakov’s wrestling with the angel, and the life of Miriam the Prophetess. We will also look at the story of the four who enter paradise from the Talmud. We will then turn to Jewish spiritual technology that adheres to the rite of passage model such as marriage, mourning, and conversion rituals, as well as those that may have a place in rituals that we create – like mikveh (ritual bath) and aish tamid (the fire that was kept burning in the Temple).In the final session, we will create our own rite of passage ritual for deep healing and transformation.  

This course is open to all, no prior experience necessary and you do not need to know how to read Hebrew, everything will be transliterated and translated.

Ariel Hendelman – Course Facilitator

Ariel  is a Senior Rabbinic student with the ALEPH Ordination Program. She sees chant and meditation practice as the cornerstones of her spiritual life and leads chant circles online and in-person for organizations such as Or HaLev and Temple of the Stranger. Ariel teaches frequently at Lehrhaus Tavern and House of Learning in Boston on subjects such as dreaming in Jewish tradition and the legacy and lineage of Rabbi Akiva. Ariel’s written words appear in Ayin Press, Double Blind Magazine and most recently on her Substack. While living in the Nachlaot neighborhood of Jerusalem from 2015-2020, Ariel was an LGBTQ community organizer, founding Shabbat Shelach, which hosted monthly Shabbat meals, as well as the largest post-Pride Shabbat meal ever in Jerusalem. Ariel’s debut album, Prayers for Fire & Water, is a soulful blend of folk and niggunim. Her next musical release will be a series of chant EP’s. In her free time, Ariel enjoys sitting around the bonfire with friends, and eating cornbread, possibly at the same time.