The Aquarian Minyan
Minyan & Community Newsletter
June 30, 2022
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Reb Zalman Yohrzeit
You are invited! This time last year, we gathered together virtually to honor the legacy of our beloved Reb Zalman z”l on his yahrzeit. This year, you are invited to join us again for Honoring the Life and Legacy of Reb Zalman.
THIS SUNDAY, July 3, at 5 pm PT
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi z”l is the grandfather, visionary, and inspiration of the Jewish Renewal movement. For the past couple of years, we have gathered to honor his legacy and life by connecting with his stories, songs, and teachings.
This year, we gather on his yahrzeit (day of his passing) to remember. Led by Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael, join as Reb Zalman’s friends, family, and students share their memories in tribute to this incredible soul.
Featuring: Rabbi Alan Bachman, ChanaTina Schachter Duskis, Rabbi Jack Schechtman Gabriel, Rabbi Sherril Gilbert, Terry Gips, Rabbi Shefa Gold, Dr. Yehudit Goldfarb, Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Rabbi Sarah Leah Mazeltov Grafstein, Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, Rabbinic Pastor Eve Ilsen, Rabbi Sam Intrator, Hazzan Jack Kessler, Hazzan Maggid Steve Klaper, Morah Shari Lynn Kochman, Rabbi Marcia Prager, Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael, Rabbi Debra Smith, Dr. Neil Smith, and Rabbi David Zaslow.
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Community Programs
All Times Pacific Times
7/1: Kabbalat Shabbat
7/2: Shabbat Shacharit & Torah Service
Parshat Korach קורח
SUNDAYS
Embracing and Leading T’fila / Prayer
with Ami Goodman
Second and Fourth Sundays at 11 am – 12:30pm
MONDAYS
Prayerbook Hebrew with Elizheva Hurvich
Mondays 9:30am
TUESDAYS
Mantra, Meditation, and Monism; Hinduism and Jewish Spirituality Compared
with Rabbi Prof. Alan Brill
Tuesdays, 12pm
THURSDAYS
An exploration of the book of Numbers with Sara Kupor, 12pm zoom link
SAVE THE DATES
Yiddish Songs about Women
With Cindy Paley
Thursdays, Noon, Starting July 14
High Holy Days Musical Cohort
With Achi Ben Shalom
Tuesdays, Noon, Starting July 19
Songs and Poetry by Mordechai Gebirtig
With Ami Goodman
Mondays, Noon, Starting July 25
Read full class description here
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Click here for the full calendar
Click here to add Our Google Calendar to your Gmail Calendar!
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Find out more about the
The Aquarian Minyan Yeshiva
and the
Adult Education Classes
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Seeking Administrator Plus
The Aquarian Minyan seeks a person with executive and hands on skills to manage day-to-day operations. We are an established community with no permanent physical space, and we have been almost exclusively on Zoom since March 2020. We have weekly virtual Shabbat services and events, and expect soon to return to in person/hybrid events. We also have a growing yeshiva that hosts a range of classes. The Aquarian Minyan is the oldest renewal community in the West. You will be joining a strong leadership team.
Job duties include:
Coordinate Zoom events and classes and in-person/hybrid events
Facilitate meetings and take minutes
Provide administrative support to rabbi as needed
Provide administrative support for Minyan projects and events as needed
Work with committees, such as programming, and fundraising, to provide
administrative support for committees’ initiatives.
Manage communications, including website, Facebook, and newsletter.
Advertising classes and events.
Strategize with members to grow the Minyan and its programs
Book venues, planning events, providing online support
Handle mail, email, and phone calls
Supervise other employees
Skills for this job:
Strong planning and organizational skills.
Excellent people skills; Comfortable with and enjoy working with all ages
Detailed oriented and tech savvy. Comfortable with SquareSpace, Constant Contact, Facebook, databases, Google Docs. Familiarity with Jewish traditions and culture; familiarity with Jewish
Renewal a plus. Must be located in the Bay Area to help with in-person events in the East Bay
Compensation
- 18-22 hours/week; more during the two months before and during the High Holy Days
- $25/hour
-- Paid vacation time
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Download our Digitized Siddurim!
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If you ever considered singing with Nigunim Chorus, now is a good time to join. The Chorus is starting its summer session this Sunday, July 3 at 4pm. Meeting outdoors at the preschool yard of Cong. Netivot Shalom in Berkeley.
The group is dedicated to the music of the Jewish people from around the world. The repertoire is varied, and includes contemporary and classic songs in Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino and English, arranged for choral singing.
Sight-reading skill is helpful, but not a requirement. However, singing on pitch and comfort in a part-singing environment are required.
The chorus’s short-term goal is to provide an on-going musical activity that is recreational, enjoyable, and healing. The long-term goals include preserving traditional Jewish folk songs, passing on the legacy to the next generation, building a repertoire that can be performed occasionally and providing a space where participants can grow musically both individually and as part of a group. The group is growing from year to year, and many members have been with the group since 1998.
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Friday Morning Prayer Circle with Rabbi Diane Elliot
8:30am - 9:15am Pacific time
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6/12: Sunday Night Minyan Sharing, facilitated by Marty Potrop
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Embracing and Leading
T’fila/Prayer
With Ami Goodman
NEXT SESSION:
Sunday July 10, 11AM PST
In this twice monthly one-hour workshop journey, we will take a deep dive into Friday evening and Shabbat morning t’fila through a probing of the individual prayers and their connections to form the entire service, including Friday evening’s Kabbalat Shabbat, Ma’ariv, and Shabbat morning’s Birkhot Hashachar, Pesukei D’Zimra, Shacharit, Torah service, and closing prayers. (Read more)
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Rabbi’s Tisch
with Jonathan Seidel
First Thursdays 7pm - 8:30pm
Next tisch is July 7
Engage, learn, and connect with Rabbi Jonathan Seidel during these First Thursdays gatherings. Ask questions, become informed, enjoy being challenged, learn something new! Drop-in, no registration required.
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What am I Saying and What am I Praying?
Prayerbook Hebrew with Elizheva Hurvich
Mondays 9:30AM Pacific
Using the text Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way (https://www.ekspublishing.com/prayer-hebrew), we will dive into deepening our understanding of Hebrew and of the siddur. The class is designed for people who can already read and decode the letters. (If you are still working on this, contact Elizheva at elizheva@gmail.com to discuss how to make this class work!) Although we will only meet once a week formally, students can also do self-paced study and will have opportunities to "practice" by joining in tefillah regularly. Each class will include a little Torah study as well.
Elizheva Hurvich is a Bay Area native who grew up attending Kol Shofar and Shabbos Shul with the Rock n' Roll Rabbis, Joseph and Nathan Siegel.
Led by her love for authentic and juicy Jewish life, she has lived in and studied with Reconstructionist, Renewal and progressive Jewish communities in Israel, Philadelphia and New York. She comes to the Minyan as an Aleph Rabbinical Student after many years of serving as Jewish educator. She delights in making tallitot and other fabric arts, as well as singing, teaching and playing. Elizheva lives in Oakland with Bob, Max, and Chewy the wonderdog.
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Mantra, Meditation, and Monism; Hinduism and Jewish Spirituality
Compared
with
Rabbi Prof. Alan Brill
Tuesdays June 7 - July 12
12 Noon Pacific time
Join us in a fascinating exploration of Hindu spirituality from a
Jewish perspective. exploring such topics as Godliness, Worship,
Monism, Cosmology, Meditation and Mantra, Yogic philosophy and practice, Karma-Kanda and the Nature of the Self, among others.
More than simply viewing Hinduism through a Jewish lens, this class
is a truly exciting adventure in a comparative exercise that allows
us to clarify our own personal values and sharpen our future studies
of both traditions as well as contribute to the cultivation of our own
spiritual paths.
Reading his paperback book Rabbi on the Ganges: A Jewish Hindu
Encounter concurrently with the class will provide a richer experience
Rabbi Prof Alan Brill is the Coooperman/Ross Endowed Chair in honor of Sr. Rose Theringfor Jewish-Christian Studies at Seton Hall University in NJ and the author of several books including Judaism and Other Religions and Judaism and World Religions, as well as the excellent introduction to the topic of this class, Rabbi on the Ganges: A Jewish Hindu Encounter.
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Explore the Book of Numbers!
With Sarah Kupor
Join us for an exploration of the book of Numbers (Bamidbar במדבר) covering three parashiot Sh'lakh שלח Korakh קורח and Khukat חוקת and an indepth discussion of Rosh Khodesh
Sara Kupor has an MA in Jewish Studies from Brandeis University and has taken post graduate classes at the Jewish Theological Seminary (New York), the University of Judaism (Los Angeles) and the Hebrew University (Jerusalem). She is the Shamash Resident at the JCC of the East Bay. With her lifelong passion for "doing Jewish joyfully," Sara brings to us her many years of experience as a Jewish educator of preschool children to older adult populations. Her current area of exploration is the intersection of our Jewish mussar teachings with social psychology researd of the Greater Good Science Foundation of the Univ of Cal at Berkeley.
Thursdays, 12pm, June 23, June 30th, July 7th.
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Yiddish Songs about Women
(Yidish Lider Vegn Froyen)
a 4-session course with Cindy Paley
Thursdays Noon July 14-August 4 2022
Join Cindy Paley to learn Yiddish songs about (and some by) Jewish women. These songs include everyday love ditties; an erotic, passionate tango; and songs about justice-seeking women of the labor movement. Other songs concern immigrant working women, partisan resistance fighters in the Holocaust, domestic abuse, and prostitution in Argentina. Songs by Chava Alberstein and Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman will be included, as well as lesser-known songs from the Ruth Rubin archive..Participants will learn songs and their backgrounds and most importantly, sing!
You will listen to and practice with recordings, video clips, class videos, sheet music, and song sheets in transliteration and English translation. By singing songs repeatedly over a four-week period, you will remember them (and learn Yiddish vocabulary, too)! Registration link will be provided soon at the Aquarian Minyan website. Contribute generously so we can pay our teacher.
For over 40 years, Cindy Paley, musical educator and performer, has brought the joys of Jewish music to teachers, students and families throughout North America. She has combined education and entertainment to teach Jewish values, holidays and traditions. With eight recordings to her credit, Cindy has provided musical tools for teachers, families and children that enrich lives and insure that the best of our heritage will continue. Cindy has served as the Music Educator at Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, California since 1977. After receiving her teaching credential at UCLA, she chose to devote her career to songleading and music as a Jewish educator. In addition to her recordings and family concerts, Cindy often serves as a cantorial soloist, and is currently involved in creative prayer services for women. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Herzel, and three wonderful children. The Aquarian Minyan is delighted to welcome Cindy to our on-line faculty!!
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Blessings and continued healing prayers for:
Abigail Grafton, Eric Bergman, Julia Gilden, Dovid Shlomo ben Chaya Yocheved, Alter Shoresh Benzion Moshe haCohen ben Shoshana v'Shmuel (Barry Old Root Barkan), Devora Rut bat Hannah v'Shmuel (Debby Barkan), Elly Faden, Joan Schwartz, Renee Benmeleh, Neshama Shendel bat Karpel Shira (Nancy Lieberman), Charles Falk (Tzadik ben Moshe v'Leah), Jim DeMatteo , Minucha Gleich Colburn, Skye Pelicrow, Linda Elyad, Rabbi Michael Lerner Ha Rav Mee-cha-el ben Yosef Chayeem veh Beylah, Marty Hauser, , Susan Duhan Felix, Yishai ben Chaya Yocheved (Jesse Kude), , Moshe Pesach ben Chanya Leah (Moiseh Geller), , Ken Ravin, Menachem Chayim Dov Ber haLavi Shima Ronya bat Kohen (Marty Potrop), Sarah Leah Mazeltov bat Fayga Manja, Hanna Cohen, Karen Roekard, Barbara Zilber, Julie Sherman, Jyl Cohen (Chaya Yehudit Bat Chana v'Chaim), , Rachel Malka bas Sloiva (Dr. Rae Fishman), Karen Broder, Elizabeth Hirshfeld, Ariel Lenchner, Helen Annik Chiera, daughter of Elizabeth Hirshfeld, Shulamit Koenig, Suzanne Lingo, Paula Conrad, R. Leah bat Esther v Eliezer, and Aryeh Trupin.
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Continued Blessings for Consolation and Comfort to those in our community mourning departed loved ones:
Ilona Sturm on the loss of her father, Susie Kisber on the loss of her friend and former partner, Raffie Cohn. The Leeder Family & Dr. Rae Fishman on the loss of Sandy Leeder, Judy Vida on the loss of her brother, Ted Silverberg, Stephanie Brown & Jim DeMatteo on the loss of Jim's son Carmen, Beth M. Horowitz on the loss of her mother Shuey (Shirley) Horowitz, Lea Delson on the loss of her beloved aunt, Ann Tukey Harrison, and relative Sidney Leon Delson (first cousin of her father), Jawxillion Loeb on the loss of his father Jerry, Debbie Barkan on the loss of her stepmother Ruchel bat Shoshana v'Yisrael, The family of Chetana Yehudit Karel Michaan, the family and friends of Cantor Richard Kaplan, , Eliyahu Klein on the loss of his father, Rabbi Tsvi Aryeh Klein, The family and loved ones of Mikel Moishe Estrin, AnMarie Rodgers on the loss of her wife Jewlia Eisenberg, Marcia Brooks on the loss of her niece Shelley Stevens, Dan Howard on the loss of his mother Eleanor, Benji and Deepa on the loss of Malka Brandzel, The family of Dale Boland on the loss of their mother, followed shortly thereafter by the loss of their father Gary Boland, Rose-Anne Donner on the loss of her husband David Colt, Ron Feldman on the loss of his mother, and those who have lost loved ones within the last weeks, months and year.
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If you would like us to include your news or event please send the information to amadmin@aquarianminyan.org by 1 PM on the Monday prior to the coming issue.
Visit us on the web at
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