Nehirim West Gathering 2011
November 11-13, 2011
Asilomar Conference Center, CA
Nehirim West Gathering is a shabbaton (think “weekend get-away”) composed of heartfelt connection, soulful community and spiritual conversation, culture, food, fun for LGBT Jews, partners, and allies. We’re meeting at the Asilomar Conference Center on the shoreline of the Monterey peninsula, beautiful, dramatic, and very relaxing.
The Gathering is currently SOLD OUT and registration is closed. If you have any questions please contact the Nehirim Office at (212) 908-2515 or Retreat Director, Rabbi David Dunn Bauer at david@nehirim.org. Thanks!
The Gathering is co-sponsored by Congregation Netivot Shalom, Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, LGBT Alliance, Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund, Progressive Jewish Alliance, Jewish Fund for Justice, Keshet and other friends.
WHEN? Friday to Sunday, November 11-13, 2011.
WHO? We will create a relaxed and intimate community of 35-40 LGBTQ Jews, partners and allies, age 18 and up. There’s always a smattering of nice Jewish boys and good Jewish girls…in addition to all the rest of us. Nehirim gathers secular and religious Jews, our partners of other faiths, and our straight allies. Nehirim is nondenominational, non-coercive, and inclusive of all generations, gender identities, and political persuasions. Whoever you are, there are people like you at Nehirim and people who aren’t like you but whom you really want to meet!
WHAT? We provide programming to take care of your body (daily yoga and movement time and lots of good food), your mind (best conversation to be had west of the San Gregorio Fault), and spirit (Shabbat services filled with music and meditation). One of the conversations we’ll be having this November considers two of the most important positive changes in queer Jewish life: the increased recognition and inclusion of transfolk and same-sex marriage rights. How do these sought-after, hard-won blessings change the shape and trajectory of the queer Jewish community? How do we see ourselves as a community now and for the future?
We’ll talk a little about that, talk a little about Israel. We’ll swap brisket recipes and dating stories We’ll relax from a hard week of work (or searching for work…it’s 2011, people!), and rest up before the challenges of Thanksgiving and Chanukah descend upon us.
Leaders and teachers include Dr. Zvi Bellin, Lisa Finkelstein, Reb Irwin Keller, Sasha T. Goldberg, Liora O’Donnell Goldensher, Sam Goldman, and Susie Kisber!
PARTICPATE: The Gathering is community-led, and teaching opportunities are available. What would you like to teach or share? Our presenters come from a broad range of religious and secular backgrounds. Rabbis, drag queens, university professors, queer activists — some of the most innovative and interesting queer Jewish folks from Northern (and even Southern!!!) California.
HOW MUCH? Note: Early Bird Specials End October 17, 2011
- Early Bird Special Single Room : $425
Financial Aid: We have financial aid available on a rolling basis for those who need it. The Deadline for Financial Aid Applications is October 14, 2011. Click Here for Financial Aid Application.
CLICK HERE to register.
David Dunn Bauer
Rabbi David Dunn Bauer is the founder and coordinator of “The Jewish Queer Sexual Ethics Project” at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry at Pacific School of Religion. With over 20 years of professional theatre experience, 9 years in the congregational rabbinate, and 20 years of yoga practice, and years of academic study on sexuality and spirituality, David is a unique pastoral counselor, ritual leader, community leader, scholar, artist, and writer who works comfortably with people of all faiths and ages.
He earned his BA in Theatre Studies and English Literature at Yale University, studied Talmud at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, and received his rabbinical ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. In 2011 he became the first Jew to earn the Certificate in Sexuality and Religion from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. He interned at Congregation CBST in NYC, and served as a student rabbi at both congregations and nursing homes for three years of his rabbinical studies. From 2003 to 2010 he served as the rabbi and spiritual leader of the Jewish Community of Amherst, in Amherst Massachusetts.
With Michael Cohen he created Celebrating the Body Judaic – a Body Electric retreat for Gay and Bisexual Jewish men – and he has taught about eros and spirituality for Jewish, queer, and retirement communities around the United States, and at dozens of retreats and workshops. His essay “Man-Boy and Daddy-God: The SM Dynamic in Ezekiel’s Call and Commissioning” is being published this year in Queer Religion, Vol. 2, edited by Donald Boisvert and Jay Emerson Johnson. Based in San Francisco, he serves as the Bay Area Director of Programming for Nehirim in addition to maintaining his private practice in Queer Spiritual Counseling (www.queerspiritualcounseling.com).
Workshop Leaders
As the LGBT director, Lisa Finkelstein works to build and sustain a more inclusive and welcoming Jewish community with the San Francisco based Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund. Through her community experiences teaching, organizing and building several nonprofit organizations, Lisa has focused her career on the values of social justice. To develop a deeper understanding of the social and economic issues facing her local community, she is participating in the 2012 class of Leadership San Francisco, a Chamber of Commerce program. She is also a proud member of Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, serves on the board of the National Union for LGBT Jewish University Students (NUJLS) and holds a Masters in Nonprofit Management from Regis University.
Dr. Zvi Bellin is the Engagement Associate for Nehirim and is responsible for pastoral counseling, community relations, and programming at Nehirim retreats. He leads workshops and directs retreats that integrate body-heart-mind-soul in a variety of spiritual and religious contexts. Zvi earned a PhD in Pastoral Counseling and an M.A. in Counseling and Guidance. He is a Registered Yoga Teacher with the Yoga Alliance. He has worked as a therapist in a number of mental health settings, and has interned as a Psychiatric Chaplain. In addition to his work with Nehirim, Zvi is the Director of Jewish Education for Moishe House.
Some have said Irwin Keller leads a double life, but he sees it as one extra large one. Irwin is best known as “Winnie” of the Kinsey Sicks, America’s Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet. He co-founded the award-winning group almost 18 years ago, and continues to be a singer, comedian, writer, composer and musical arranger for what is probably the longest-running queer performance troupe in history. The Kinsey Sicks have released 7 albums and are the subjects of 2 feature films. In December they will tour their seasonal Jewish-angst musical, “Oy Vey in a Manger,” and in February they will premiere their election year show, “Electile Dysfunction: Kinsey Sicks for President,” at Washington DC’s Theater J.
When in flats, Irwin serves as Spiritual Leader and Shaliach Tzibur of Congregation Ner Shalom of Cotati, CA, a small but plucky Reconstructionist community in Sonoma County. Many of his drashot – about Torah, Israel, God, Bad Jews, disillusionment, hope and life on the fringe — can be read on his blog, Itzik’s Well (http://itzikswell.blogspot.com).
Long ago Irwin studied Hebrew, Aramaic, Yiddish and a range of Jewish and Near Eastern studies at University of Chicago and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has worked as a Jewish educator, teen programmer and cantorial soloist. He is also an official “Maven,” trained by the good people at Storahtelling. Irwin also has a secret past as a lawyer. He authored Chicago’s Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Ordinance, passed into law in 1989, and served as Executive Director of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel of the San Francisco Bay Area. Irwin lives in Penngrove with his partner, another couple, and the two kids they raise together.
Susie Kisber has been creating and participating in the vibrant Bay Area Jewish Queer community for over 20 years. She was a founding member and leader of the East Bay Chavurah, Queer Minyan, & Pardes Rimonim: a Jewish feminist, earth-centered, multicultural ritual community. She has also been involved in progressive Queer Jewish community nationally and internationally as an activist, author, and collector of liturgy. She is also a psychologist at UC Davis Counseling & Psychological Services.
Sasha Goldberg is an experienced Jewish scholar, educator, and community organizer. She holds a Master’s Degree in Judaism from the Graduate Theological Union, and has taught nationally on the intersections of various cultural, social, sexual, and religious identities. Prior to joining Keshet in 2011, Sasha had a long tenure as the Associate Director of Nehirim; her work history also includes teaching in K-12 religious schools, leading Jewish teen retreats, and working with a wide variety of Jewish organizations in the Bay Area. When not doing all things Jewish, Sasha enjoys Butch community, mid-century design, and her very good dog, Phinneas.
Liora O’Donnell Goldensher is the Bay Area organizer with the Progressive Jewish Alliance and Jewish Funds for Justice. A recent transplant from Boston, Liora comes most recently from the world of union organizing and is thrilled to be pursuing building and mobilizing the power of justice-oriented Jewish community for change. When not organizing, Liora likes very much to bake complex yeasted things (preferably stuffed), read novels about people with emotionally complex lives and ride long distances on an old bicycle.
Sam Goldman is the California Program Director at the Conservation Lands Foundation where he works to protect the lands and waters of rural California. Sam has worked on Conservation and political campaigns since 2004. Sam is member of Chochmat HaLev in Berkeley and an active member of the volunteer leadership team of Wilderness Torah. Wilderness Torah is a Bay Area based organization working to reconnect Judaism to the earth, spirit, community and ourselves. Sam is a member of the current Wexner Heritage Program. Sam is an avid backcountry skier, rock climber, and hiker.
Talya Husbands-Hankin is a nice Jewish girl with a passion for
justice. Born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, she has been a part of
Jewish Renewal communities since childhood. A visual and community
artist, Talya brings over 15 years of experience in community
organizing, leadership development, training & facilitation, and
grassroots social change. Her work has focused on immigrant justice,
queer and transgender rights, interfaith organizing, and young
peoples’ leadership development. Talya is an alum of the Jewish
Organizing Initiative fellowship program in Boston and has worked with
a variety of Jewish groups, including Jews for Racial & Economic
Justice and AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps in New York. After many
years in Brooklyn and Oregon, Talya is thrilled to be making her new
home in the Bay Area, where she recently served as the Director of
Community Building at Chochmat HaLev in Berkeley. Currently, she
serves on the Progressive Jewish Alliance and Jewish Funds for Justice
Bay Area Regional Council and teaches Hebrew school at Kehilla
Community Synagogue. Talya is also a consultant with The Welcoming
Synagogues Project, a national pilot program through the Reform
Movement that is developing a curriculum to support LGBTQ inclusion in
congregations.