Or HaLev Center for Jewish Spirituality
PTBE welcomes you to Or HaLev, the Center for Jewish Spirituality at Peninsula Temple Beth El.
For the last four years, PTBE has held weekly Jewish meditation sits in our Meditation Room located behind the bimah. With the opening of our new center, we have added innovative classes in Jewish spirituality, including Kabbalah, creative arts, meditation techniques, and much more. Or HaLev also offers meditation retreats where one can experience for the first time or continue the deepening in their existing spiritual practice. The Or HaLev teaching staff includes Bobbi Bornstein, Rabbi Phil Cohen, Wendie Bernstein Lash, and Laurie Williams.
Or HaLev means light of the heart and is a place for Jews to experience the benefits of meditation and spirituality in community. "We are so excited about the expansion of Or HaLev," said Florence Marchick. "We believe there are many Jews like ourselves who want to explore their Jewish spirituality. With the combination of our fabulous Or HaLev teachers and our staff and community at PTBE, we will create something magical for everyone on the Peninsula."
Jewish meditation is a 2,000-year-old tradition that is now being revitalized and brought back into mainstream Judaism in response to liberal Jews seeking spirituality in their everyday lives. For those new to meditation, Or HaLev will offer a free one-on-one thirty-minute session with one of our teachers. In these private sessions, you will be familiarized with the basics of Jewish meditation and be able to ask questions.
We hope you will come experience some of our ongoing and upcoming events with us.
Upcoming Events
Ongoing Meditations in the Meditation Room (behind the bimah)
Most Monday evenings, 7 - 8:15 PM
Meet Our Faculty
Marla Kolman Antebi is a Jewish educator, group facilitator, peace activist, and (self described) neo-mystic. She has been teaching and leading groups of all ages for over 15 years, with special interest in mystical studies, leadership development, and inter-cultural and inter-faith encounters. She currently directs the Torat HaLev family school at Chochmat HaLev (Wisdom of the
Heart
Center
for Spirituality) in
Berkeley
, where she also received certification as a teacher of Jewish Meditation. She founded the non-profit Partners in Peace, using technologies and storytelling to connect youth across cultural and faith lines, primarily between
Israel
and the
U.S.
She is also active on the local interfaith scene.
Bobbi Bornstein, Morah L'Hitbodedut (Teacher of Jewish Meditation) is a graduate of Chochmat Halev's teacher training program. She has been teaching and facilitating sitting groups in Jewish Meditation and Spirituality throughout the Bay Area for the past seven years. Bobbi is also a Reiki Master and Hypnotherapist in private practice.
Jueli Garfinkle helps people access and incorporate into their lives the rich teachings and rituals of the moon cycles according to Jewish mysticism and spirituality. She integrates these vibrant teachings into meaningful everyday spiritual practices. For more than ten years, Jueli has facilitated workshops, retreats, women's circles, and meditation classes throughout the Bay Area. She received advanced training and a teaching certification in Jewish Meditation and Mysticism in 2004. She was the founding publisher and editor of Jewish Spirituality: The Magazine, and the coauthor of Everyday Adventures for the Soul: 52 Simple and Surprising Ways to Wow Your Spirit. Learn more or contact Jueli at: www.roshchodeshnewmoon.com.
Sheila Katz, PhD., is the Director of the JCC Sonoma County Jewish Meditation and Spirituality Program, which she created in 2005. She teaches weekly meditation groups and leads monthly contemplative Shabbat services around the Bay Area. She incorporates mindfulness practice, sacred Hebrew chant, and contemplative text study as a way to both access our inner Divinity and view the world through the sacred lens. Sheila is the co-founder and Executive Director of Beit Ayin, a national non-profit created to bring a pathway of Jewish Spirituality comprised of Hebrew chant, meditation and Chassidic storytelling to communities nationwide. In the national Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS), Sheila was a student and is now a teacher of Vitaher Libeynu, a two-year adult Jewish Spirituality curriculum. Sheila is currently paritipating in the first Jewish Mindfulness Teacher Training through the Institute for Jewish Spirituality.
Laurie Williams leads workshops, retreats and sitting groups throughout the Bay Area. Her long-standing practice incorporates the use of music, art and sacred chant to shift hearts and open minds. Laurie holds a B.A. in Communications and is a graduate of Chochmat Halev's teaching program in Kabbalistic meditation and practice.
To be added to our email list, contact Lolli Freedman
For more information on any of our programs, contact
Florence Marchick at 650.365.2324 |
