Admission: $125.00

Location: Zoom

Each year, the Hebrew month of Elul offers us a gift - 4 weeks to step back from our routines and turn inwards to begin the work of cheshbon ha’nefesh - the inner accounting of our souls. This gift is precious and also daunting, and it helps to begin the work with a community of supportive peers. This Elul, we will all be asking new questions about ourselves, our communities, our identities in light of the challenging year we have experienced. The work of the High Holiday season is the work of Teshuva: a chance to return home to what is most essential and core to who we want to be in our lives. In this 4-session class, we will turn to Jewish texts - ancient and modern - and non-Jewish sources of wisdom to help open up these questions of our soul. The classes will interweave study, group discussion, private reflection, and exercises to craft your own rituals to guide you into the new Jewish year of 5785.

All are welcome.

Join Orot for this special daylong retreat at the beautiful Elawa Farm.

September 17th, 2024 | 10 am - 3 pm

Elawa Farm - 1401 Middlefork Road, Lake Forest, IL

Cost: $165

In this special retreat for Elul, we will gather at the serene grounds of Elawa Farm for a day of learning, restoration, and reflection. We will use the concept, found in Jewish texts, of bein ha’shamshot - that mysterious, liminal period of time between day and night - to open up questions that Elul invites: where are we right now? Where do we want to be? In our individual lives, our relational lives, our lives with the Divine and with our communities? The month of Elul invites us to think about the horizon ahead and to begin the work of mapping out a path towards it. We will spend the day studying teachings, sharing conversation, enjoying mindful, reflective time among the gardens and savanna, singing, practicing yoga, and partaking in a farm-to-table vegetarian lunch. Join us to explore all of the special gifts of this special time of year in the Jewish calendar.

Open to all, all genders, all ages, all backgrounds.

Admission: $125.00

Location: Zoom

Each year, the Hebrew month of Elul offers us a gift - 4 weeks to step back from our routines and turn inwards to begin the work of cheshbon ha’nefesh - the inner accounting of our souls. This gift is precious and also daunting, and it helps to begin the work with a community of supportive peers. This Elul, we will all be asking new questions about ourselves, our communities, our identities in light of the challenging year we have experienced. The work of the High Holiday season is the work of Teshuva: a chance to return home to what is most essential and core to who we want to be in our lives. In this 4-session class, we will turn to Jewish texts - ancient and modern - and non-Jewish sources of wisdom to help open up these questions of our soul. The classes will interweave study, group discussion, private reflection, and exercises to craft your own rituals to guide you into the new Jewish year of 5785.

All are welcome.

Admission: $125.00

Location: Zoom

Each year, the Hebrew month of Elul offers us a gift - 4 weeks to step back from our routines and turn inwards to begin the work of cheshbon ha’nefesh - the inner accounting of our souls. This gift is precious and also daunting, and it helps to begin the work with a community of supportive peers. This Elul, we will all be asking new questions about ourselves, our communities, our identities in light of the challenging year we have experienced. The work of the High Holiday season is the work of Teshuva: a chance to return home to what is most essential and core to who we want to be in our lives. In this 4-session class, we will turn to Jewish texts - ancient and modern - and non-Jewish sources of wisdom to help open up these questions of our soul. The classes will interweave study, group discussion, private reflection, and exercises to craft your own rituals to guide you into the new Jewish year of 5785.

All are welcome.

Join a transformative journey with our NEW National Cohort of Orot's Peaceful Grandparent Program, where spirituality, wisdom, and family bonds converge.

Join a transformative journey with our NEW National Cohort of Orot's Peaceful Grandparent Program, where spirituality, wisdom, and family bonds converge.

Join a transformative journey with our NEW National Cohort of Orot's Peaceful Grandparent Program, where spirituality, wisdom, and family bonds converge.

Join a transformative journey with our NEW National Cohort of Orot's Peaceful Grandparent Program, where spirituality, wisdom, and family bonds converge.

This new course is a thought-provoking 4-class series running on Thursday mornings from 10:00 to 11:30 am, starting May 16th through June 6th. This series aims to address pressing questions about Jewish identity, responsibility, and the balance between voice and silence in promoting peace and healing. Timed with the period of the Omer and leading up to Shavuot, it encourages participants to reflect on living lives that embody Torah today.

This new course is a thought-provoking 4-class series running on Thursday mornings from 10:00 to 11:30 am, starting May 16th through June 6th. This series aims to address pressing questions about Jewish identity, responsibility, and the balance between voice and silence in promoting peace and healing. Timed with the period of the Omer and leading up to Shavuot, it encourages participants to reflect on living lives that embody Torah today.

This new course is a thought-provoking 4-class series running on Thursday mornings from 10:00 to 11:30 am, starting May 16th through June 6th. This series aims to address pressing questions about Jewish identity, responsibility, and the balance between voice and silence in promoting peace and healing. Timed with the period of the Omer and leading up to Shavuot, it encourages participants to reflect on living lives that embody Torah today.

Join Orot for "Stepping Out of Our Caves: Transforming Fear into Radiance," a day retreat on May 21st, 2024, at Elawa Farm, Lake Forest, IL. Led by Rebecca Minkus-Lieberman, Jane Shapiro, and Deb Wineman, this event during the counting of the Omer offers a journey from Passover to Shavuot, focusing on Lag BaOmer's teachings. Experience ancient wisdom, mindfulness, a vegetarian lunch, and community, aiming to transform fear and isolation into courage and connection. Open to all, the retreat costs $165.

This new course is a thought-provoking 4-class series running on Thursday mornings from 10:00 to 11:30 am, starting May 16th through June 6th. This series aims to address pressing questions about Jewish identity, responsibility, and the balance between voice and silence in promoting peace and healing. Timed with the period of the Omer and leading up to Shavuot, it encourages participants to reflect on living lives that embody Torah today.

At Orot, mindfulness in a Jewish framework is interwoven throughout many of our programs and offerings. The contemplative tradition, teachings, and practices offer us spiritual tools to slow down, cultivate a deeper awareness and live every day with greater skillfulness, compassion, and love.

At Orot, mindfulness in a Jewish framework is interwoven throughout many of our programs and offerings. The contemplative tradition, teachings, and practices offer us spiritual tools to slow down, cultivate a deeper awareness and live every day with greater skillfulness, compassion, and love.

Using the new book by Rabbi Arthur Green, “Well of Living Insight”, we will open up the contemplative spiritual practice of prayer in a non-traditional way, using Rabbi Green’s personal reflections and commentary on the words of our prayers. Throughout these sessions, we will build a personal library of prayer kavannah (intention) cards that will support us in the coming days and weeks, as we build new portals to a nourishing daily practice.

The Zohar is an invitation to engage in a journey of spiritual awakening. Join Rabbi Lavey this February to continue this spiritual journey

At Orot, mindfulness in a Jewish framework is interwoven throughout many of our programs and offerings. The contemplative tradition, teachings, and practices offer us spiritual tools to slow down, cultivate a deeper awareness and live every day with greater skillfulness, compassion, and love.