This year we will dive into some of the origin stories and innovative Jewish practices that have helped define how we “do Jewish” in Woodstock.
Our tikkun/study will be led by visiting scholar-in-residence Rabbi Natan Margalit, with a focus on the teachings of Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, on this 50th anniversary of his first book, Fragments of a Future Scroll: Hasidism for the Aquarian Age, which has recently been reissued by Ayin Press.
Our evening will include guest speakers and leaders from within and beyond our community who were students and friends of Reb Zalman and/or also had some connection with the retreat center Elat Chayyim Center for Jewish Spirituality, a locus for experiencing Reb Zalman’s vision of a renewed Judaism. Elat Chayyim co-founder, Rabbi Jeffrey Roth will be with us to share some of his stories and lead us through a Reb Zalman-inspired teaching.
All are invited to camp out on our grounds or in the building and enjoy a bounty of late night snacks. We will conclude together with a sunrise chanting service at 5:30am, followed by breakfast.
Reb Natan will continue to share teachings with us for our festival Shabbat services on Friday, May 22nd at 7pm and Saturday, May 23rd at 10am, followed by a teaching lunch. Guests are welcome to continue camping throughout the festival Shabbat and attend our services and kiddushes.
Pre-order your book HERE, a portion of the $22.95 price will benefit the WJC.
Please let us know that you will be coming!
Stay all night, or a few hours. Join in person or via Zoom. We will also gather for sunrise chanting. Bring a tent to camp in our field! Or bring bedding to set up in the building. Endless evening snacks and breakfast provided!
Advance registration for tent camping required: PLEASE REGISTER HERE.
PLEASE REGISTER HERE to receive Zoom link.
Rabbi Natan Margalit, Ph.D. serves as Interim Dean of Faculty of the ALEPH Ordination Program, where he is also Chair of the Rabbinic Texts Department, Director of the Earth-Based Judaism Program, Director of Studies, and a Member of the Academic VAAD.
Rabbi Natan (he/him) founded the non-profit Organic Torah offering courses in text-based environmentalism. Rabbi Natan is a Talmudic scholar bringing environmental, systems theory and nonduality to Torah study. He recently authored The Pearl and the Flame: A Journey into Jewish Wisdom and Ecological Thinking. He was ordained in Jerusalem in 1990 and earned a Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley, 2001. He has taught at Bard College, RRC, and Hebrew College Rabbinical School.
“Our job in this life is, and has always been, to recognize our kinship with the world, to connect with those sparks as partners, and together with them serve God.”