Decriptions of the classes for the Cactus Kallah

Abundance and Joy!

We chose this theme to acknowledge that the intention of our gathering is indeed a sacred one: l'shem shamayim, for the sake of heaven. We acknowledge that we have the power to draw into our lives and our universe that which is at the center of our focus. And so we chose to focus on Abundance and Joy in our lives.

We will offer two sessions of classes. BELOW ARE THE 2010 offerings A Classes meet in the Early slot and P Classes meet in the Later slot.

After reviewing all the choices, you select one early course (morning) and one later course (afternoon) for the three class days of the Cactus Kallah, plus two alternates (second choices in case the first is full) for each.

If you are registering ONLINE, please email your 2nd and 3rd choices. (Instructions are on the APPLICATION page.

The Classes THE WORKSHOPS

Early Session (morning) Second Session (afternoon)

Early Session (morning)

A-10 “From the Depths I Call Thee” - Breaking Into and Out of the Soul’s Prison

-- Rabbi Moshe Raphael Halfon, M. Ed., Reiki Master Healer

Mitzrayim is a state of mind. Some live in freedom as slaves, while others find freedom and healing in crisis, illness, or behind bars. This course offers healing professionals, caregivers, volunteers, and those with challenges some spiritual tools to assist in hospices, hospitals, prisons, recovery groups, and other real and symbolic “soul-prisons.”

These tools will include:

•texts on illness and healing;

•the Tree of Life and related energy models;

•prayer, music and other healing modalities;

•teshuvah, forgiveness, life review;

•experiences from both sides of “the bed” and “the bars.”

We will share how helping others “get free on the inside” can free caregivers as well.

Reb Moshe Raphael Halfon is a Reiki Master Healer, musician, and prison chaplain in California, where he has established a joyous shul and active volunteer program. He has been a pulpit rabbi, cantor, hospice chaplain, and other positions on the rabbinical baseball team.

A-11 *Hashem is Close to All who Call Out***

-- Rabbi T’mimah Ickovits

Prayer is the call of our hearts that activates the Creator’s desire to be in relationship with us. The more that desire is activated, the more vivid is our experience of Adonai’s Presence in our lives.

Come explore gems of Jewish liturgy! We will translate, contemplate, and expand upon classic prayer by means of our ancestral wisdom found in Prayer books/siddurim - carefully sequenced compilations of Judaism’s best prayer practices.*

*Classical Kabbalah offers a body of knowledge of how to properly use the Siddur; prayer book. Siddur translates as “order”. Prayer sequences align with known territory through states of consciousness. Join us on a journey into this Divine territory.

SPECIAL CHARGE: $18 materials charge

Level of Study: Intermediate

Prerequisites recommended: Your Knowledge of Prayer Practice/ Kabbalah / Spiritual Practice will seed our work.

Rabbi T'mimah Ickovits deciphers wisdom from Jewish mystical traditions, revealing their relevance to life today. Serving as a Spiritual Guide and teacher, Rabbi T'mimah teaches classes, leads prayer, mentors, and compiles prayer books (siddurim) to unveil nuanced meaning of traditional prayer pertinent to 21rst century lives. Rabbi T’mimah maintains an active somatic movement practice. Following an 18-year career as an electronics engineer, Rabbi T'mimah founded Ohr HaMakor; a home for Holistic Kabbalah in Santa Monica, CA.

A-12 Crafting Jewishly: Make the Things that Make Shabbat Special

-- Heather McLaughlin

Program Description: We can never have too many ritual objects and it is much more meaningful to use one you made yourself. This class explores the idea of Hidur Mitzvah or beautifying the mitzvah by making the ritual objects needed for Shabbat evening. Projects include Shabbat candle holders with etched glass hurricanes, sea glass trimmed Challah plate, painted and trimmed Challah cover and wire and bead trimmed glass Kiddush cup. We will use them for Shabbat dinner Friday night at Kallah and participants will then take them home for their own use. Class limited to 10 students. (Children must be over 12)

SPECIAL CHARGE:$50 materials fee.

Heather McLaughlin is a Tucson, AZ artist and graphic designer. She currently creates many types if ritual art, with emphasis on tallitot. She is currently applying to rabbinical school and is working on starting her own ritual art business, Hannah Miriam Judaic Arts. She is a member of Congregation Ner Tamid and Temple Emanu-el.

A-13 Tell the Story, Write the Story, Sing the Story

-- Rabbi James Stone Goodman

Examining the art of narrative in whatever form it spills over

Poetry and creative non-fiction and music, exploring a new/old performance art form.

Using the classical form:

Telling

Writing

Re-writing

Sharing [for those who want to share within supportive community of like-minded vessels overflowing their own limitations].

A Creative Circle integrating writing with storytelling with sacred music.

Rabbi James Stone Goodman is a graduate of the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion. He serves Congregation Neve Shalom and the Central Reform Congregation, in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a writer and musician; he has produced five CDs and is pursuing and MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. See www.neveshalom.org and www.stonegoodman.com for resources and samples of writing and music.

A-14 Getting into Holy Shape: Yoga and The Alef-Bet

-- Ida Unger, M.Ed.

Stretch, strengthen and relax as we practice authentic yoga inspired by our ancient holy letters. Celebrate your divine nature, physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. The Talmud teaches us to "letzareph et haotiot" – to reorder the holy letters, and refine our relationship to them, in order to access meditative states. The Alef Bet are more than letters, The Hebrew word “ot” also means sign. Sign of what? Come find out and elevate your physical self so that it can more fully embody your spirit. Class is appropriate for all levels of practice and includes Kabbalistic insights, yoga practice, breathing exercises, and deep relaxation. Bring a yoga mat.

Ida Unger, M.Ed., certified Iyengar Yoga Instructor, and student of Torah grew up with a Yeshiva education and a love of Torah and spiritual pursuits. For twenty years, she has been a full time yoga teacher, offering classes at her own Yoga Garden Studios and at Santa Monica College. She connects her Jewish roots to her yogic wings, resulting in a deepening of both. She has taught Yoga & Judaism to hundreds of students at temples, rabbinical schools, conferences and retreat centers since 1992.

A-15 Creative Midrash: Writing from the Inside

-- Melissa Carpenter

This class combines left and right-brained approaches to discovering insights about characters in the Torah in order to write creative midrash from their point of view.

The instructor will present one of her own Torah monologues and review the process she used to develop her ideas. Then the class will study the Torah portion of the week, Bo, and some of the existing midrash. Moving to the right brain, we will experience Bo through exploratory drawings and personal bibliodrama. Students will then draft their own character-oriented stories, poems, or plays for feedback.

Melissa Carpenter leads services and Torah study for P’nai Or of Portland, Oregon. Her Torah monologues are popular divrai Torah at Shabbat and High Holy Day services, and at Portland’s annual Women’s Day of Jewish Learning. Visit her website at www.mtorah.com.

A-16 Transforming Yourself and the World with a Giving Consciousness

-- Nina Amir

If you could experience the Creator manifesting the world for the purpose of showering it with Divine gifts you’d learn that by behaving like God you can become a powerful creator and giver. Studying the teaching of Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, we will use meditation, small group exercises, journaling, and discussion to move through the stages of creation towards the desire for a higher consciousness that goes beyond our desire to receive for ourselves alone and manifests a higher consciousness that receives for the sake of giving to others and to God. In this way we transform ourselves and the world.

Level of Study: Beginner / Intermediate

Nina Amir, author of The Kabbalah of Conscious Creation, 7 Mystical Steps to Tapping Into the Divine Flow of Giving and Receiving, writes and teaches from personal experience, offering practical spirituality, human potential/personal growth tools from a Jewish perspective.

A-17 Judea, Rome and a Rabbi; a Historical look to the Schism between Judaism and Christianity

– Rabbi Shafir Lobb

The complex world of the Roman Empire clashed violently with ancient Judea, Galilee and the rest of the then-known world. The mixing of philosophies, cosmologies and cultures gave rise to many different understandings of G!d, gods and everything else. The ancient historian Josephus saw the rise of Rome as inevitable, an ancient form of the Borg – was it? Was the Temple practice really dying? Just what was going on and how did the story of Mithras get overlaid on the story of a Jewish rabbi? When did G!d’s Holy Name become LORD and what was that all about? Let’s look at the history of this turbulent time.

Rabbi Shafir Lobb was ordained through the ALEPH Rabbinical Program and is the rabbi of Congregation Ner Tamid in Tucson and the Director of the Tucson Spirituality Center at Ner Tamid. She has led seminars and workshops in a wide variety of venues and has taught in The Children of Abraham Journey Together Conference multiple years.

Second Class Session (afternoon)

P-10 The Song Of Rav Kook and the Songs Of Our Soul:

-- Rabbi Itzchak Marmorstein

“Its the good that I desire,

Her glorious expanses entrance me,

Her lips, her roses, I kiss,

Her glorious vision exalts me.”

(from a poem by Rav Kook)

Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook (1865-1935, the first chief Rabbi of the Land Of Israel) is one of the most significant sages in our unfolding understanding of the Torah. He integrated absolute mastery of the tradition with a state of personal enlightenment. The seeds for Jewish renewal are to be found in his theology.

In our circle of exploration, we will enter his poetic writings in their original Hebrew (translation provided)

Each session will include:

1) Reading together his poetry and mystical journals.

2) Writing and sharing our own poetry as we respond to the gates of light that his teachings offer.

Prerequisites: A desire to touch your inner creativity.

Rabbi Itzchak Marmorstein, MSW, was ordained by Rabbi Zalman Nechemia Goldberg of Jerusalem (1990), Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach z'l (1992) and Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (1996). He teaches Kabbalah, Ophanim, a recently emerged Kabbalistic Yoga and performs the poetry of Rav Kook in a variety of Jewish and non Jewish settings.

P-11 SecReT Mystical Practices of Judaism

-- Rabbi Ivan Ickovits

The Jewish tradition contains a multitude of hidden spiritual and mystical practices. Some of these mysteries reside in texts such as Sefer Yetzira, its commentaries and derivatives such as the writings of Avraham Abulafia and also in the teachings of The Ari Z”L. We will examine some of these Gems in the context of traditional and not so traditional ways in order to delineate our own spiritual practice in this modern era with the yardsticks of current spiritual and scientific paradigms. Some facility with meditative practice, previous exposure working with Hebrew text is helpful but not required.

Rabbi Ivan, a former rocket scientist, studies and teaches Hassidut and Kabbalah in Los Angeles. Ivan’s Jewish spiritual background is enriched by Tibetan Buddhist practice, and the Sufi Way. His approach shares an eclectic appreciation of modern physics connected with ancient mystical texts and anticipates that this work will restore lost technologies for spiritual transformation.

P-12 Kabbalistic Drumming "Drawing the Abundance into our Busy Lives"

-- Eli Shirim Lester

Physically we can’t live very long without water. Spiritually we also thirst for the flow which sustains our soul. Without drinking in the blessings of our lives, that part of us withers, and our spiritual thirst becomes intense. We will immerse ourselves in the healing energy of love and holy connectedness in order to reconstitute our souls. We continue the tradition of experientially sharing the wisdom of our hands at the level of our kishkas. Come join us as we share the spirit together in a vibrant experience of community. We’ll be keeping it Jewwwwcy!

Eli Shirim Lester is a teacher and retreat leader. He conducts Kabbalistic workshops and classes at Jewish Renewal Kallot as well as many synagogues and havurot. He regularly teaches in the Los Angeles area and conducts retreats. He is a Songwriter, Singer, Musician and Producer of both secular and spiritual music for a variety of performance venues. Nationally known in the Jewish community as a teacher of Kabbalistic Drumming, he most recently wrote, sang and produced the CD "Love Beyond Believing". He is a bassist, percussionist, singer and the creator of the band, "West Coast Rhythm and Jews". He directed, wrote for and performed with the band in the show "Rhythm and Jews do Liturgical Blues". The Song we will learn in this class ----> click here

P-13 Dinah, Deborah and the Three Tamars

-- Rabbi Zev-Hayyim Feyer

Dinah -- The only named daughter of Jacob, she is raped by the prince of the neighboring territory, and she then vanishes from the text. What happened to Dinah?

Deborah -- The warrior woman of Judges. Why is her story told twice (Judges chapters 4 and 5).

Tamar -- The three Tamars. There are other names which are repeated in the text, but the three Tamars are all members of one family.

Level of Study: Across the board. Advanced students will find new material, but it will be presented in a form designed to enable beginners to understand as well.

Prerequisites recommended/required: Texts will be discussed in translation. Knowledge of Hebrew helpful but not necessary.

Zev-Hayyim Feyer received s’micha in 1977 from Reb Zalman, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and Reb Joseph Gelberman. Hospital chaplain (specialties HIV/AIDS and Mental Health chaplaincy) for eight years. PhD student in Hebrew Bible (Intertestamental Literature) at Claremont Graduate University.

P-14 “Don't just say words of Torah: Be Torah!"

-- Rabbi Stephanie Aaron

Rabbi Dov Ber's words echo the Baal Shem Tov, and bring down the teaching from Pirke Avot that articulates a basic Torah tenet: “Learn in order to do.” This teaching offers us the 48 qualities that a Torah person attempts to embody. Through study, chant, meditation, and prayer, we will begin the journey toward "being Torah."

Rabbi Stephanie Aaron was ordained from the Aleph Rabbinic Program and is the rabbi of Congregation Chaverim.

P-15 A Prisoner's Guide to G!d

-- Rabbi Tsvi Bar-David

This is a basic course on Jewish spirituality from the perspective of a core audience, prisoners and addicts. If so, why would you - if you are neither a prisoner nor an addict - come to this workshop? The best answer comes from the mouth of one of my prison chevra: "I have a choice - I can regard prison as an imposition on my freedom, or I can regard it as my po-sition (spelling purposeful) from which I have perspective and power over my life ... Prison is a state of mind. We here can be more free than folks on the outside."

In the workshop we will explore - experientially and cognitively - the three components of this paradigm: the human partner, the divine partner, and the kinds of relationship that become possible, and how to cultivate them.

Rabbi Tsvi Bar-David is a teacher of Jewish Spirituality and Jewish Mysticism. He teaches Psalms as a spiritual practice, Jewish meditation, and Jewish mystical texts including Ma'aseh Merkavah Zohar, Tanya, and Chasidic masters. . Tsvi has a PhD in Applied Mathematics from UC Berkeley and is an inter-faith

hospital chaplain, currently volunteering in several California state prisons. He is writing a book on Jewish Spirituality entitled "A Prisoner's Guide to God".

P-16 The Joy of Names … Simchat Sh’mot

-- Carol S. Kestler

Participants will explore their own Hebrew names through a variety of two and three dimensional arts techniques. Working with Hebrew letters and other imagery we will investigate the origins of our names, their meanings and significance in personal, familial, textual and historical contexts. We will also explore combining our individual names in a group piece that will include visual references to our time together. Regardless of previous artistic experience, participants will go home with a finished piece of work, as well as contributing to the group piece that will become a part of the Cactus Kallah collection.

No previous experience with Hebrew or the arts. Please do bring as much information as you can find out about your Hebrew name. Although materials will be provided, you are also welcome to bring art materials you would prefer to use

Carol S. Kestler has been an internationally recognized Judaic artist and teacher for over 40 years. She uses Hebrew letters in graphics, stained glass, wood carvings, mosaics, jewelry, sculpture, and fiber art; alone and in combination with other imagery.

P-17 Finding Yourself in the Talmud

-- Rabbi Carol Caine

Imagine a chance to bring the experience of studying an ancient Jewish text together with the heart-opening practice of Jewish chant. In this course, we will study powerful Talmud stories about the dramatic evocative characters that filled the rabbinic world. We will use sacred chant and imaginative reflection to deeply enter these stories and find truths about ourselves in them. Our class will infuse our study of Talmud with spirit and ground our chant in this profound Jewish text. Please join us for this very accessible course in which we can fully engage both our minds and our hearts.

Rabbi Carol Caine was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and by Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi. She serves as rabbi and teacher for several Northern California congregations. A former attorney with over fifteen years experience teaching Jewish chant and meditation, Rabbi Carol integrates a keen intellect with the heart-opening directness of contemplative work.

WORKSHOPS

A number of exciting works shops will be offered during the workshop slots throughout the Cactus Kallah. These workshops include these among others:

How did that get into the Haggadah? --Dr. Eric Mendelsohn

This program is a power point presentation of the development of the seder from the ancient near east until approximately 1980. We will explore the influences of the ancient near east (Why get rid of the khametz-god) , Deuteronomic history, Josiah’s reforms , Persian and Zoroastrian influences, Greco Roman (What does the Roman difference between matrona and femina have to do with afikomen?) , Early Christian (The last supper?) , Mediaeval Christian (Why we hide the afikomen? ), Mediaeval Jewish, Modernism, Suffragism , and Abolitionism. We will end with a hymn in praise of syncretistic fusions to worked on improved so it can be used at your seder .

It is recommended that participants Have attended a traditional seder, and/or have familiarity with the haggadah

Ekhad Mi Yodeiah אחד מי יודע --Dr. Eric Mendelsohn

Between the two overlapping magesteria* “Science” and “Faith”, Mathematics sits clearly in the overlap. When we realize that concepts such as “three , “proof”, “revelation” ,“unknowable”, and “infinite” deal both with our ideas of number and our ideas of God – a mutual enhancement of our understanding of both can occur. In this workshop we will take various understandings of number and compare them to our similar understandings of God. Ask “Are mathematical truths invented or discovered?” and the answer influences the parallel question “To what extent do we influence God”( See genesis 18:25 and BT Brakhot 6a-6b for example. )

* A magesterium (from Roman Catholic doctrine) is an area where a body has sole authority—Science has sole authority on the age of the universe, faith has sole authority over when and what Shabbat is. Stephen J. Gould talks of them as nonoverlapping magesteria but for Jews that is simplistic.

A pbs/npr background in the mathematics/physics is required. Those with mathaphobia or early mathopause will be accommodated.

It is recommended but not necessary that Mario Livios book “Is God a Mathematician” http://books.simonandschuster.com/9780743294058 be read.

Dr. Eric Mendelsohn is a retired mathematician who describes himself as ambivalent Mitnag/Renewalist since meeting Reb Zalman in 1959. He was a commentator for the Kol Haneshamah siddurim, and has served on two interfaith D.Min committees and published interfaith articles in liberal church lay magazines.

“What is Your Torah? - A Jewish Wisdom Gathering” --Amy Hirshberg Lederman

The mitzvah of “hakhel” described in Deuteronomy 31: 9-13 is a joyous gathering held every 7 years, when thousands of Jews come together to hear and learn the words of Torah. What is the Teaching that you would deliver today – to keep the spirit and essence of your Judaism alive? What values do you hold most dear and how will you ensure that they are imparted to future generations? Explore the richness of Jewish texts and ideas that can help us embrace these challenges and come prepared to write from your heart about what is most important to you!

“My Father and Mother Were Wandering Arameans – The Jewish Search for Meaning” --Amy Hirshberg Lederman

Why do Jews love stories so much? Because the heart and soul of our Jewish tradition and experience emanates from stories about the origins, struggles, dreams and triumphs of our ancestors. Remembering, interpreting and re-telling these stories enable us to stake a claim – in our past, our present and our future. Inspire your own “Jewish journey” with this exploration of Jewish stories which have shaped the Jewish search for meaning and purpose since Biblical times.

Amy Hirshberg Lederman left the practice of law to pursue her love for Jewish learning and in 1995, founded the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School of Tucson. For more than a decade, Amy has engaged students with her wisdom, wit and passion for Jewish texts and tradition. She currently teaches courses in Jewish ethics, literature, law and spirituality and is nationally-acclaimed Jewish columnist, author and public speaker.

Jewish Arts Alliance Tour of Tucson-- Susan Silverman

The Jewish Arts Alliance Tour is a field trip experience that will focus on issues of environmental awareness and the arts and visit various sites of interest around Tucson. Each site will provide a living demonstration of Ba’al Tashchit, Tikkun Olam and Tzaar Baalei Chayim and will include schools, public art, community gardens, solar, water harvesting, and other sustainable living projects that are enlivened by artwork. Featured Jewish Arts Alliance artists will include Michael Schwartz, Julie Stein, Howard Salmon, Tidi Ozeri and others. Community-based sites will include the Tucson Hebrew Academy, Cong. Anshei Israel, and Miles Exploratory Learning Center, and more.

Susan Silverman is a writer, community organizer and organic gardener. Susan has raised $2 million for arts and education organizations, directed the Tucson Jewish Film Festival and arts events, and founded the GREEN (Gardening, Recycling, Environmental Education and Nutrition) Project.

Writing in Response to Liturgy--Lynn Saul

The traditional Jewish liturgy is a collection of literary works, from the Bible through medieval and recent poetry. Sometimes we feel connected to it; sometimes we question our connection. In this workshop, participants will study and wrestle with Jewish prayer texts and engage in psycho-spiritual processes, finding our own connections with God by writing creatively in response to selections from the liturgy and creating new additions to the siddur/mahzor or prayers for personal use. All four worlds will be involved.

No previous experience is needed, but participants should make a commitment to participate in regular davenning during Kallah.

Writing Our Own Midrashim--Lynn Saul

Midrash is a traditional Jewish literature which interprets Torah through storytelling. Traditional Midrashim date back to the Talmudic rabbis and even earlier. Recently, feminists and others have written original midrashim seeking an understanding of Torah that resonates today.

We will explore some traditional and contemporary midrashim; then we will write our own, wrestling with these traditional and contemporary Jewish texts and discovering our unknown connections with Torah personalities and stories, experiencing all four worlds.

No previous experience with writing, Torah study, or Hebrew needed; however, this class will be of value to those who do have significant previous experience.

Lynn Saul teaches creative Jewish writing, prayer, Hebrew, Torah, and Talmud at Congregation Bet Shalom in Tucson, and assists Rabbi David Ebstein with Jewish law courses. She also teaches at Pima Community College and has published midrashim and other literary work.

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