Lev Shomea

Institute for the Training of Spiritual Directors in the Jewish Tradition

Week One: August 4-10, 2007

Spiritual Direction offers a unique opportunity to explore our relationship with the Holy, the mystery we call God.

Spiritual directors companion others as they reflect on their spiritual journeys and expand their awareness of the sacred dimensions that underlie the ordinary and the extraordinary events of life. Through reflection, practice and response, directors support people to cultivate their inner lives and deepen their connection with others, with creation and with the Source of Life.

The Kotzker Rebbe said: God is present where we let God in. Spiritual direction is a practice that supports us to let God in.

What is a Jewish Spiritual Director?

A Jewish Spiritual Director recognizes the spiritual hunger of contemporary Jews. Throughout Jewish history, mentors such as the mashpia, chaver or mashgiach, provided spiritual guidance for their settings and eras.

Drawing on our heritage to create a contemporary model of spiritual companionship, a Jewish Spiritual Director helps people to connect experiences of the holy to Jewish vocabulary and tradition, explore Jewish pathways that sustain the inner life, panimiyut, and inspire participation in kehillah, spiritual community.

External Website and Online Application

Learn more about the program at JewishSpiritualDirection.com and apply online today.

Teachers

Rabbi Howard Avruhm Addison, teaches Humanities and Religion at Temple University. He is certified as an Enneagram teacher by Helen Palmer and as a fellow in Contemplative Group Leadership by the Shalem Institute. Ordained by JTS with over thirty years experience in the active rabbinate, Avruhm is the author of several books on Kabbalah, the Enneagram and interfaith traditions of Spiritual Guidance.

Barbara Eve Breitman, DMin, LCSW, itrains spiritual directors and teaches Pastoral Counseling at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. She is a psychotherapist and a teacher. A pioneer in the field of Jewish spiritual guidance, she is a certified fellow in Spiritual Direction by the Shalem Institute and co-editor, with Addison, of the book Jewish Spiritual Direction. Bobbi has been designated a Mashpia Ruchani by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi.

Rabbi Zari M. Weiss has been among those at the forefront of bringing Spiritual Direction to the Jewish Community. Ordained by HUC-JIR, Rabbi Weiss is passionately interested in and committed to the intersection of Jewish Spirituality and Justice. Trained at the Mercy Center in California, she is a contributing author to Jewish Spiritual Direction and Tending The Holy. She chairs the CCAR's Committee on Rabbinic Spirituality and served as Co-President of the Women's Rabbinic Network.

Ann Kline, a long-time spiritual director, author and hospice chaplain, has spent much of the past decade facilitating, teaching and promoting group spiritual direction. A contributing author to Jewish Spiritual Direction, and The Lived Experience of Group Spiritual Direction, Ann has led workshops and retreats for the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Direction, and a host of Buddhist, Christian and Jewish organizations.

Julie Leavitt is an innovator in combining the fields of Authentic Movement and Jewish Spiritual Direction. A psychotherapist and mashpia to rabbinical students at Boston’s Hebrew College, Julie teaches of dance and creative movement at Lesley College. A contributing author to Jewish Spiritual Direction, she is both the choreographer and author of “A Midrash for Dina and Lilith.” She was given the title Eshet Hazon by her community in 2003.

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Registration Information

Training Institute Tuition

The tuition for this institute is $2,850 and does not include the cost of Room and Board (see table on the right). Listed room and board fees are per week.

Room and board includes housing, meals, Shabbat services, evening activities, hot tub, yoga, meditation, and full use of our facility. All rooms are air-conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter.

Financial assistance for graduate students in rabbinic, cantorial, or Jewish education are eligible for aid through a generous grant provided by The Lasko Family Foundation of Philadelphia. Click here to apply.

Limited financial aid is also available through the Elat Chayyim scholarship fund.

Arrival and Departure

Please arrive between 2pm and 5pm on the day your retreat begins. Retreats end with brunch at 11:30am on the last day of the retreat.

Room and Board Cancellation Policy

• Receive a full refund minus a $75 processing fee for cancellations more than 30 days prior to retreat.
• If you cancel between 30 days and one day in advance, a non-refundable credit (less a $75 processing fee) will be held for one year from the date of issue. This credit is non-transferable.
• No credit or refund is available if you cancel less than 24 hours in advance or on the workshop’s arrival day, if you do not attend a retreat, or if you leave a retreat early for any reason.

The Elat Chayyim Center for Jewish Spirituality reserves the right to cancel any program at any time. In this event, you will be given a complete refund.

For transportation: A full refund of transportation fees is available if you cancel at least three days (72 hours) in advance. No refund is available if less than three days notice is given. For more information on getting here, please visit our Travel & Transportation page.

Tuition Cancellation Policy

In case of cancellation of the entire Institute, Elat Chayyim retains a $200 enrollment deposit, plus tuition for any weeks attended or partially attended. Any tuition paid in excess of these amounts is refunded.

Register now!

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