Going Away for the Summer

[dauer]

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

[lunamoth]

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

[Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine]

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. )

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

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine

[dauer]

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

[Abogado del Diablo]

Here's wishing you an excellent and rewarding summer. You'll be missed.

[truthseeker]

See ya around, dauer. Have a great time. I wish I could go.

[path_of_one]

Sounds so exciting and peaceful! I'll miss your posts...

[I, Brian]

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.

[alexa]

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 !

[Kaldayen]

I hope you enjoy your journey dauer

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

[dauer]

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..._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

[Paladin]

Originally Posted by dauer

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

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

[Kaldayen]

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

[dauer]

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

[Geist]

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.