Virtual Programs

Date: Sunday, January 29
Time: 7:30 – 9 pm ET (4:30 – 6 pm PT)
Cost: FREE
Led by: Rabbi Phyllis Berman, featuring special guest Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg

In reviewing Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg’s new book Let Us All Breathe Together, Rabbi Phyllis Berman wrote, “Like a silent meditation retreat guided by a gifted teacher, Sheila Weinberg’s Let Us All Breathe Together inspires us to breathe with her and transform our own human limitations into possibilities for Wholeness/Holiness through her—and our own—vulnerability, compassion and love.”

In this session, Rabbi Sheila will share key excerpts from her book and Rabbi Phyllis will engage her in conversation and deep exploration. Participants will be invited to share their thoughts and feelings. We will all be encouraged to take a moment and all “breathe together” and feel the sacred expansiveness of our interconnection. 

Purchasing a copy of the book, “Let Us All Breathe Together”, is optional but highly recommended. It may be purchased online here at Bookshop, which supports local bookstores.

Date: Sunday, February 12
Time: 3 pm ET (12 pm PT)
Cost: Pay-what-you-can with a suggested donation of $18 or more
Led by: Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael and friends

As more of our friends, colleagues, and teachers in Jewish Renewal transition to the higher realms of the world beyond, join Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael and friends for a memorial tribute program for the wider ALEPH community to keep their memories and teachings alive and honor their contributions.  

Featuring stories and memories of the following who have passed: (note that this is a partial list): Rabbi Judith Abrams, Rabbi Devorah Bartnoff, Maggid Yitzhak Buxbaum, Rabbi David A. Cooper, Rabbi Everett Gendler, Andy Gold, Bonna Devorah Haberman, Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield, Lisa Kapin, Hazzan Richard Kaplan, Rabbi Shoni Labowitz, Rabbi Rachel Denburg Levine, Rabbi Mem Movshin, Rabbi Nomi Oren, Cantor Chaim Rothstein, Rabbi Hanan Sills, Rabbi Pauline Tamari, Rabbi Sarah Tauber, Hazzan Susan Wehle, Rabbi David Wolfe-Blank, and Rabbi David Zeller.

If you’d like to share a teaching, music, slide show, impactful story, or memorial tribute, please reach out to Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael this week at rrayzel@shechinah.com.

The Nechamah Minyan was started in January 2021 by Reb Geela Rayzel Raphael as a place to say kaddish (Jewish prayer for the dead) for her mom, Natalie Robinson, (Nechama Leah bat Elke v’Chayim). 

For Jews in mourning, it is traditional to say daily Kaddish in a minyan, which is a group of 10 or more persons. All who mourn, who are honoring yahrzeits, or who wish to participate in the mitzvah of making a minyan, are invited to join this important program.

If you would like to register, please reach out to Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael at rrayzel@shechinah.com.

If you are looking to attend a minyan taking place that evening, please contact Rabbi Geela Rayzel by 6 pm EDT.

If you’d like to be on the last-minute text list (to be contacted to participate in the mitzvah of making a minyan, in the case not enough are gathered) please reach out to Rabbi Geela Rayzel at the email above.

If you’d like to lead one of the evenings (creative, traditional, and all types of services are welcome!) please reach out to Rabbi Geela Rayzel at the email above.

If you would like to express your gratitude for this type of program, please feel free to make a donation HERE.

Date: Weekly on Wednesdays
Time: 11:30 am-12:30 pm ET (8:30-9:30 am PT) 
Cost: Pay-what-you-can 
Presenter: Rabbi Anne Brener

Description: Overwhelmed with stress from social distancing, quarantine, and COVID-19? Join Rabbi Anne Brener for a chanting and meditation service, using the structure of the morning service, to calm our bodies and connect our souls. There will be time for some check-in afterward.