Facilitator: Julie Dean

Mussar offers a Jewish pathway into leading a more meaningful, spiritually fulfilled life. Mussar is a treasury of Jewish teachings and practices that have evolved over the past thousand years. This spiritual practice is aimed at elevating one’s character and providing guidance for our life journey. 

Julie Dean has been a professional facilitator of group dynamics for 24 years, has a Master's degree in experiential education and has been a local leader in Mussar study with five Jewish congregations in the Twin Cities area.  Julie seeks to provide experiences where people can learn about themselves and one another through engaging dialogue, holy listening, and personal introspection.  She invites participants to co-create a dynamic that is emotionally safe, non-judgmental, supportive, and meaningful.  

Cost: $180

Dates: 12:00-1:30 on the following ten Thursdays: October 26, November 2, 16 and 30, December 14, January 11 and 25, February 8 and 22, March 8. Register Here

Beginning or Refreshing: Prayer Hebrew

Rachel G. Levitt has been a beloved teacher of Hebrew in Minneapolis and St Paul for 38 years. She especially enjoys connecting adults with Hebrew access to our prayers.

Cost: $180

Monday nights, 7:00-8:00 pm, 20 sessions October 16 - March 26. Register Here

The Soul of Jewish Living:

This course is for you If you are considering a Jewish life, or if you want to delve more deeply into the one you are living. Participants will need to acquire access to A Book of Life: Embracing Judaism as a Spiritual Practice, by Rabbi Michael Strassfeld, and Essential Judaism by George Robinson.

Facilitated by the Shir Tikvah Clergy Team. Monday nights, 6:30 - 8 pm, Register Here

Registration: $126

Dates & Topics

October 23              Shabbat: A Day for Walking Softly Through the World

October 30              God: Do Jews have a creed?!

November 6            Torah: The Path of Study

November 13          Avodah: The Path of Prayer

November 20          Jewish Sacred Texts

November 27          Judaism and Justice

December 4            Historic and Contemporary Anti-Semitism

December 11          Jews and the Land of Israel (case study of Chanukkah)

December 18          Closing and Chanukkah celebration

The 2017 Lou Wiener Memorial Scholar in Jewish Innovation: To Grow in Wisdom with Rabbis Nadya and Victor Gross

Friday, November 3rd  

6:30 pm Community Shabbat Service

D’var Torah: “The Two Halves of Life: What do you do when you fall upward?”

Saturday, November 4th

9:30am Torah Study: Parshat Vayera

10:30am Shabbat Service: 4 Worlds Contemplative Service

12:15pm Lunch & Learn: AJ Heschel’s 1962 address to the Kennedy White House “To Grow in Wisdom,” about the aging and elderly in our culture. Register Here

4:00-6:00pm Interactive teaching on forgiveness and mortality as context for the blessing of life

Rabbi Victor Gross serves as faculty and Director of Studies in the Aleph Rabbinical Program, co-Director of the Sage-ing® Legacy Program and also serves on the faculty of the Anamcara Project of the Sacred Art of Living Center for Spiritual Formation in Bend, OR. Reb Victor is the author of Educating for Reverence: The Legacy of Abraham Joshua Heschel.

Rabbi Nadya Gross has developed a program to train End-Of-Life Doulas, and serves as co-Director of the Sage-ing® Legacy Program and is on the faculty of the Anamcara Project of the Sacred Art of Living, Center for Spiritual Formation in Bend, OR. She is the co-author, together with Rabbi Malka Drucker, of the forthcoming book: Embracing Wisdom: a Handbook for Sages. Reb Nadya also serves as Mashpi’ah (Spiritual Director) with individuals, couples, and clergy, and is the Director of the ALEPH Hashpa'ah Training Program (ALEPH Ordination Program in Spiritual Direction).

Together Nadya & Victor share the pulpit at Pardes Levavot: a Jewish Renewal Congregation in Boulder, CO.

Budding and Blossoming: Spring Holidays Sparks

Nourish your inner Jewish sparks with some deep learning about our spring holidays and their contemporary relevance: Tu B’Shevat, Purim, Passover, and Shavuot. This is for all levels of learners; participants will prepare for class sessions with reading assignments.

Taught by the Shir Tikvah clergy team. 6:30-8:00 pm on the following seven Monday nights:

January 29, February 5, 12, 26, March 5, 12, 19. Register Here

Counting the Omer: The Dance of Kabbalah and Mussar

According to the Jewish mystics, each day of the Omer (the counting from liberation at Pesach to the Torah at Shavuot) has a particular soul energy, and when we consciously tend to those qualities we are pure and ready to receive Torah at Shavuot. Each week’s mystical quality also corresponds to a Mussar quality (Middah) which we can cultivate with compassion. Join a seven-week series in which we’ll work at the soul level with seven qualities of the seven weeks of the Omer.

Open to all who have had some prior exposure to Mussar practices.

Taught by Rabbi Debra Rappaport

6:30-8:00 pm on Monday nights from 6:30pm-8:00pm

April 2 - May 14; culminates in Tikkun Leil-Shavuot May 19. Register Here

Conversations on Life and Death: A Year Long Colloquium

Yom Kippur Afternoon Conversation with Dr. Steven Miles, MD: Dispelling the Myths About End-of-Life Care

Lower Level 2:00pm - 3:00 pm

Through fasting, prayer, and a radical change in the ordinary flow of our day, Yom Kippur reminds us of our immanent mortality, so that we are better equipped to live our lives at our fullest. Join Dr. Steven Miles in an informative and engaging conversation about some of the realities and myths about decisions for the last stages of life.

Shir Tikvah member Steven Miles, MD, Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Bioethics at the University of MN, is an expert on medical ethics. He has received many awards including the Distinguished Service Award of the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities. As an internist and geriatrician, he has played a leadership role in developing end of life care. He has published three books and more than 200 articles on medical ethics, human rights, nursing home care, end of life care, and international health.

Speaking of Dying

What are the questions? Who do I need to talk with about them? How do I decide?!? What does "quality of life" mean to me? Here is your chance to do something really important from your “to-do” list, with support from your community and experts on end-of-life decision making. By the end of this series, you will have a Health Care Directive, grounding in Jewish values and practices around end-of-life issues, resources, and more.

Six Wednesday evenings, 7:00-8:30 pm: October 18, 25, November 1, 15, 29, December 13

Facilitated by Laurel Riedel and Rabbi Rappaport, with other guest speakers

$145, includes course materials.

Laurel Riedel is an Advanced Practice RN, CNM. Laurel was a nurse-midwife at Hennepin County Medical Center for 30 years, and is now consulting on “the other mystery” through her business, Speaking of Dying Minnesota, LLC.
Register Here

What to Expect When A Loved One Dies

Sunday, November 12: 4:00 - 6:00 pm at Hodroff-Epstein Memorial Chapel

Facilitated by Jim Wardlaw. Jim is the General Manager and Funeral Director of the Twin Cities’ Jewish Funeral Home, and will give a guided tour of what to expect when a loved one dies. Learn about Jewish funeral and burial customs and options, with time for questions and answers. Free event, open to the community. Register Here