Spring 2024 @ Orot
What makes Pesach different this year from all past years? Support Orot Today for Passover Inspiration!
As we celebrate Pesach this year, we will be contending with new challenges. As we set our seder tables, we will need to make a place for the troubling reality of the Jewish world that we face this 5784. Looking back over our history as a People, we recognize that we are not strangers to celebrating amid struggle, conflict, war. At Orot, we wanted to offer our community some reflections to take into your seder experiences that we hope will bring new layers of meaning to how we celebrate Pesach this particular year.
Traditionally, we ask 4 questions at the seder in the Mah Nishtana section of the ritual meal. This year, we offer you 4 new questions to consider, alongside the traditional questions in the haggadah. 4 new questions, 4 new wonderings that emerged from our own troubled hearts and souls. We hope that they will speak to you as you mark the holiday this year with your loved ones.
New Orot Upcoming Offerings
The Peaceful Parent Project® & Ramah Wisconsin Present:
Prepare Yourself as You Prepare Your Child taught by Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell.
Dates: May 2, 9, 16, & 23 from 8-9:15 CT on Zoom
Thursday Course
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.
May Day Retreat
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.
National Peaceful Grandparent Cohort
Schedule: Four Tuesdays: June 25, July 2, July 9, July 16 | 9-10:15am Central on Zoom
Educator: Dr. Jane Shapiro
Join a transformative journey with our NEW National Cohort of Orot's Peaceful Grandparent Program, where spirituality, wisdom, and family bonds converge. Our program fosters empathy, compassion, and love, redefining grandparenting as a sacred journey. Embrace this opportunity to bring joy, spirituality, and love into your family's life.
RESOURCES FOR GIVING BACK AND PROVIDING SUPPORT:
Magen David Adom
JUF Israel Emergency Fund
Friends of the IDF Emergency Campaign
Please download the following prayers to recite at home, in your synagogue and at other gatherings: From the masorti Foundation
Prayer for the Welfare and the Return of Israel’s Captured and Missing from Among Our Sisters and Brothers (Hebrew and English)
Prayer for the Simchat Torah War 5784 (Hebrew and English)
Introducing Orot’s Newest Staff Member: Amanda Murov, Peaceful Parent® Growth Manager
Amanda is a passionate Jewish educator and community builder. Originally from Toronto, Canada, Amanda started exploring her role as a Jewish leader as a Moishe House resident. She received a B.A. in Jewish studies from York University, a certificate in fundraising & volunteer management from Humber College, a certificate in Experiential Jewish Education from Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, and an M.A. in Jewish Education from The Jewish Theological Seminary. Amanda has worked and volunteered across the Jewish world with organizations including OneTable, Birthright, URJ Camp George, Camp Kadimah, Columbia/Barnard Hillel, JUF, and JGSI. She is thrilled to be a part of the Orot professional team. Amanda lives in the Chicago area with her husband and son.
“I am delighted to be joining the Orot team, particularly the Peaceful Parent Project. As a Jewish community builder and connector, I find it to be particularly meaningful to engage with communities that I am also a part of. As a relatively new parent, I know how important it is to bring Judaism into our home - and that is not limited to the rituals we perform on Shabbat and holidays. The Peaceful Parent Project is a powerful resource rooted in Jewish text and mindfulness and I feel lucky to be able to share it with Jewish communities around the country. ”
Mindfulness Programs 2023: Tuesdays at 7:30pm Central
TUESDAY EVENING Virtual SITS
Free Mindfulness Meditations led by Orot educators on Zoom
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.
