Going Away for the Summer

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dauer

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I'm going to be gone May 29th to August 23rd, doing a summer internship at a Jewish spiritual retreat, Elat Chayyim. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! So I'm gonna be gone then. It's an experiential Jewish Renewal retreat. I hope a crazy liberal Jew comes along to take my place on this board while I'm gone.

Dauer
 
I want to be a crazy liberal Jew too! I've got the first two parts down...

Drop us a line if you get any access to broadband on your retreat (or is no access to broadband part of the retreat???).

Have a wonderful time,
lunamoth
 
Congo-rats, Daur, on the retreat. We'll "see" you when you get back, eh? Better have some stuff to post from there when you return if you can't post from there.

Hey, luna:

Perhaps you should combine postings with bb, then we'll have the crazy liberal Jew covered (you'll be crazy & liberal, he'll be crazy & Jewish. :D )

Perhaps that's a bad idea (the two of you combined would be too crazy for the board. ;) :p )

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
Thanks, luna and phyllis.

Luna, I know that for the guests there is no television, no phone except a pay phone in the hall, no nothing. It's nice. The mornings are entirely in silence. But as a member of the staff I might have access to a computer. Still, it's likely that in order to disengage myself from computerdom I will only be checking my e-mail once in a while, if I do that at all. I want to connect with the natural rhythms of the day and with simple spiritual living.

Phyllis,

I'm sure I'll have some things to post. Given how much can be taken in over a weekend or a week-long retreat, three months there should give many plenty to write about. I'm hoping that some of what I do will expose me to bibliodrama and shamanism, neither of which I've had much contact with.

Dauer
 
See ya around, dauer. Have a great time. I wish I could go. :p
 
Will be a shame to have you gone, but would be great to have you return.

Here's to a good summer full of soft breezes. :)
 
Dauer, can you tell us more about this Elat Chayyim ? I never heard about it.

Anyway, during summer is quiet in here, too. I wish you a retreat full of interesting revelations. Don't forget to write them and share them with us at your return ! :)
 
I hope you enjoy your journey dauer :D

I'll be going away for the month of June. Off to Costa Rica for an archaeology course! Can't wait.
___
Kal
 
Alexa,

Elat Chayyim, as a Jewish Renewal affiliated program, is very hippyish. I think it's all vegeterian food, and some fish. Big emphasis on being eco-friendly. Spiritually they focus on experiential spirituality. Each day begins with meditation and then either prayer or yoga. I'm not sure how the days end. Mornings in silence, as I said. The meditation retreats are entirely silent, except for Q&A and such with instructors. Shabbat has special programming. This is their site:

http://www.elatchayyim.org/

As an idea of what happens there for those who don't want to bother with the link, these are some of the course offerings, which are completely detailed on the site:

Jewish Studies out in nature: Enjoying the view

Sh'ma: Listening as a spiritual path

Oowee!-- My soul sings electric

An Introduction to Jewish Evolutionary Astrology

Meeting the prophets: selected haftorah portions

The mystical psychology of post-modern kabbalah

Sacred Dance: Embodied Prayer

The Organic Talmud: Stringing words like pearls

The Life Guiding Wisdom of Mussar

Kabbalistic Meditative Ecstacy

The Joy of Spiritual Drumming

Yoga: Standing before the Holy One

So I think that selection gives some idea of the type of stuff offered. Since some more traditional Jewish guests had asked, there is one week that will be geared more towards them. There are also different types of weekends, like the lgbt weekend, weekends with certain teachers, meditation weekends, the singles retreat, some dealing with specific content like conflict resolution, and then they also have some intensive, longer-term part-time training programs. There's a woman who recorded her experiences at elat chayyim on her blog, which I discovered just a few days ago. You can read it here. She also has some more recent entries on going there as well, but this is the first and clearest, also I think the only one from a week-long trip.

http://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2004/06/a_week_at_elat_.html

edit: My plan is to keep a journal during the time I'm there. I'm not good at keeping journals but I think this experience will give me ample material.

...

Kaldayen,

that sounds awesome. What are you going to be working on? Is this what you're going to school for?

Dauer
 
dauer said:
I'm going to be gone May 29th to August 23rd, doing a summer internship at a Jewish spiritual retreat, Elat Chayyim. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! So I'm gonna be gone then. It's an experiential Jewish Renewal retreat. I hope a crazy liberal Jew comes along to take my place on this board while I'm gone.

Dauer
Click to expand...
Hi Dauer,

I e-mailed Al Franken to see if he could fill in but I'm not promising anything:)

Good luck, you will be sorely missed!

Mark
 
dauer, yes it is. i'm studying anthropology; and archaeology is a part of it. I'll see if that's what I choose as my specialization.

What about you, does it have anything to do with your study field? Or is it a personal journey?
___
Kal
 
Kaldayen,

I think for me this is a personal journey that has to do with my study field. It's taken me a while to settle down and find what it is I want to do. I've been taking a few classes here and there but only this September am I going to be matriculating into a school, hopefully, on a track to get my Bachelor's of Jewish Studies. But given that I want to work in the community and I don't think any work in the community be it as a teacher, profesor, or rabbi can be learned solely out of a textbook (indeed the most important knowledge I think can only be gained through experience) this will in my opinion most certainly aide me in my vocational goals.

Dauer
 
Have fun!!!

Sounds very intresting I really should give my R.E teacher this sites web address she'd be really intrestead in the Elat Chayyim.
 
dauer said:
Alexa,

Elat Chayyim, as a Jewish Renewal affiliated program, is very hippyish. I think it's all vegeterian food, and some fish. Big emphasis on being eco-friendly. Spiritually they focus on experiential spirituality. Each day begins with meditation and then either prayer or yoga. I'm not sure how the days end. Mornings in silence, as I said. The meditation retreats are entirely silent, except for Q&A and such with instructors. Shabbat has special programming. This is their site:

http://www.elatchayyim.org/

As an idea of what happens there for those who don't want to bother with the link, these are some of the course offerings, which are completely detailed on the site:

Jewish Studies out in nature: Enjoying the view

Sh'ma: Listening as a spiritual path

Oowee!-- My soul sings electric

An Introduction to Jewish Evolutionary Astrology

Meeting the prophets: selected haftorah portions

The mystical psychology of post-modern kabbalah

Sacred Dance: Embodied Prayer

The Organic Talmud: Stringing words like pearls

The Life Guiding Wisdom of Mussar

Kabbalistic Meditative Ecstacy

The Joy of Spiritual Drumming

Yoga: Standing before the Holy One

So I think that selection gives some idea of the type of stuff offered. Since some more traditional Jewish guests had asked, there is one week that will be geared more towards them. There are also different types of weekends, like the lgbt weekend, weekends with certain teachers, meditation weekends, the singles retreat, some dealing with specific content like conflict resolution, and then they also have some intensive, longer-term part-time training programs. There's a woman who recorded her experiences at elat chayyim on her blog, which I discovered just a few days ago. You can read it here. She also has some more recent entries on going there as well, but this is the first and clearest, also I think the only one from a week-long trip.

http://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2004/06/a_week_at_elat_.html

edit: My plan is to keep a journal during the time I'm there. I'm not good at keeping journals but I think this experience will give me ample material.

...

Kaldayen,

that sounds awesome. What are you going to be working on? Is this what you're going to school for?

Dauer
Click to expand...
Oh, I hope you enjoy! Keep a journal yes. But I gotta tell ya, I experienced a little of what you describe, when we approached the cliffs of Haifa from the sea. I didn't have three months mind you (only about three hours at sea detail), but the feeling was indescribable the the time (for more than just the approach to Israel).

I kept a journal (a daily really), while there and then let some read it. It knocked their socks off too. So keep a journal! Maybe you'll want to share some parts, maybe not. But you'll never regret putting your thoughts down. I suspect your family won't in the years to come either. :D

And as the Amish say "You watch out for them (english), while you're out there". (no offense to Great Britan). :D :D :D

v/r

Q
 
Quahom,

something that always amazes me about Israel is that it's considered a sacred place for so many people, and yet at the same time there is so much conflict. Maybe the two go hand in hand. I haven't been there yet but I have heard powerful stories... and not so powerful stories. I am not sure what you experienced at Haifa. Was it a quiet awe or something a little different?

And as the Amish say "You watch out for them (english), while you're out there". (no offense to Great Britan).
Click to expand...

My approach, I think, will be to join the anglish (is that how they say it?) while I am there and fully integrate into what they do and then see what of it I can take back with me to my normal life when I leave. My thought has been to approach it almost like one would approach a rebbe, spiritually opening myself up to whatever teaching I might receive (and there will be many wise teachers there.)

I might be one of the anglish, but I think I'll find that out over the Fall when I'm readjusting to the regular year and digesting my experiences, or maybe not until Winter.

Dauer
 
Three months! That sounds awesome, Dauer! And the daily schedule looks very interesting; I think I would enjoy that, and I'm not even Jewish! The drumming, the yoga, Kabbalah, the listening--Oy Vey!! (did I spell that right?) Looks pretty su-weet (sorry, I don't know the Yiddish word for that). ;)

I hadn't really ever thought about Israel as being, well, Israel, before--to me, it's always just been that place where there's so much ridiculous religious strife; but I just recently picked up a book about a spiritual pilgrimage that starts with an approach to Haifa, then in Israel, and you can tell that the Holy City had quite an effect on the Jewish author. Anyhow, that's just a personal little comment I wanted to make related to what Quahom said--I guess my way of pointing at myself and saying, "Oooh, I read something about Israel recently--look at me!"
 
dauer said:
Quahom,

something that always amazes me about Israel is that it's considered a sacred place for so many people, and yet at the same time there is so much conflict. Maybe the two go hand in hand. I haven't been there yet but I have heard powerful stories... and not so powerful stories. I am not sure what you experienced at Haifa. Was it a quiet awe or something a little different?
Dauer
Click to expand...

I didn't know what to expect Dauer. It is so different (your expectations or lack of), when one sees things on TV or reads them in National Geographics.

But as we approached and set sea detail, my view was from the focs'le and was unobstructed, with no distractions. The morning sky was an azure hue, but there was a sea mist diffusing the horizon before us. The sea seemed to blend in with the sky.

Then these shapes formed from behind the mist, and to me it looked like they were rising from the ocean (literally coming up right then)...they were the bone white cliffs of Haifa, and they loomed over our ship as if giants. They seemed to be quietly observing us.

It was a quiet awe, yes that is a good way to describe my thoughts at the moment. I felt as though the land was saying to me, "this place will be what you make of it..."

Haifa itself is a land of contrasts, modern next to ancient, next to modern. People from all parts of the globe living and working there, humor both subtle yet profound (a McDavids right next to a McDonalds for example).

There is so much to describe, but that is for starters.

I still have friends who when they come to the states, come stay with me, or we meet for an evening.

I highly recommend people go and experience for themselves this place and people.


v/r

Q
 
dauer said:
Alexa, Elat Chayyim, as a Jewish Renewal affiliated program, is very hippyish. I think it's all vegeterian food, and some fish. Big emphasis on being eco-friendly. Spiritually they focus on experiential spirituality.
Click to expand...
Thanks Dauer. That sounds really interesting. It's great you can go into a place like this, far away of this material world.
 
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