Teachers-in-Residence from The Shalom Center

By admin | 10/10/2005

One way in which The Shalom Center does its work (and supports the work financially as well) is by arranging Shabbatonim, Teacher-in-Residence engagements, etc., for Rabbi Arthur Waskow, its director, and his wife Phyllis O. Berman, co-director of Elat Chayyim Center for Healing & Renewal.

Usually the two lead Shabbatonim together for synagogues, campus Jewish groups, etc. Typically, they might.


  • As part of a Friday-evening service, do story-telling of new Jewish midrashic tales, which they have written.
  • On Shabbat morning, Arthur might lead a Torah-study discussion and Phyllis then lead a chanting service in Jewish-renewal style.

  • Shabbat afternoon or Sunday morning, they might initate a discussion of "Twenty-first Century Judaism," in a two-person panel where Phyllis explores issues of new life-cycle rituals and Arthur explores either the emergence of a new Jewish sexual ethic or the meaning of eco-kosher practice and eco-Judaism.

  • They also read (in dramatic dialogue) the Song of Songs, and then lead a discussion of its meaning;

    • Other topics they sometimes explore:


    • The Origins and Meaning of Jewish Renewal
    • "Down-to-Earth Judaism"
    • "Sacred Earth, Sacred Work, Sacred Rest . A Jewish Response to Disemployment & Overwork in American Society."
    • "God": The Return of the Forbidden Word (or, The Renewal of Jewish Spirituality)
    • "Seasons of Our Joy: the Meaning and Practice of the Festival Cycle" (or any specific festival)
    • "Can the Children of Abraham, Hagar, & Sarah Make Peace?"

  • "Turning Y2K from a Breakdown into a Lucky Break"

    • Two brief bios follow:

    Phyllis Berman is the co-director of Elat Chayyim, a Jewish retreat center for healing and renewal near Woodstock, New York, where woods, fields, an organic vegetable garden, and a swimming pool are intertwined with prayer, Torah-study, yoga, meditation, and Jewish art and music.

    She is the co-author of Tales of Tikkun: New Jewish Stories to Heal the Wounded World (Jason Aronson, 1996), which grew out of her story-telling for synagogues, Jewish Community Centers, and Hillel houses.

    Berman has written on new liturgy (especially for or about women) and the relationship of liturgy to personal growth and transformation for the journals Good Housekeeping, Moment, and Menorah, and for the volume Worlds of Jewish Prayer (Jason Aronson, 1993). In 1978, Berman founded and continues to direct the Riverside Language Program, a renowned intensive English-language school for adult immigrants and refugees from all around the world. It is housed in Riverside Church in New York City. Out of that work she co-authored a book of stories of the lives of immigrants, Getting into It. She chaired the board of P'nai Or Religious Fellowship for many years, and is now secretary of the board of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal. In 1991, Berman was ordained an Eshet Hazon (Woman of Vision) by the Jewish-renewal women's community.

    Rabbi Arthur Waskow

    Since 1969, Rabbi Arthur Waskow has been one of the leading creators of theory, practice, and institutions for the movement for Jewish renewal. He is a Pathfinder of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal. He founded and directs The Shalom Center, a division of ALEPH that focuses on Jewish thought and practice to protect and heal the earth.

    Among his seminal works in Jewish renewal are The Freedom Seder (l969); Godwrestling (l978); Seasons of Our Joy (l982; rev. ed. 1991); Down-to-Earth Judaism: Food, Money, Sex, and the Rest of Life (William Morrow, 1995) and Godwrestling - Round Two (Jewish Lights, 1996; recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Award).

    In 1996, Waskow was named by the United Nations a "Wisdom Keeper" among forty religious and intellectual leaders who met in connection with the Habitat II conference in Istanbul.

    Waskow founded and edits the journal New Menorah. He is co-editor of Trees, Earth, & Torah: A Tu B'Shvat Anthology, published in October 1999 by the Jewish Publication Society.

    With his brother Howard he wrote Becoming Brothers (Free Press, 1993), a "wrestle in two voices" about their process of conflict and reconciliation.

    Waskow has taught at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and the Departments of Religion at Swarthmore College, Temple University, Drew University, and Vassar College.

    In 1963, Waskow took a doctorate in United States history from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He worked as a legislative assistant in the U. S. House of Representatives, joined in founding the Institute for Policy Studies, and wrote six books on miilitary strategy, disarmament, racial conflict, and noviolence in American social change. Through the l960s, he was active in writing, speaking, electoral politics, and nonviolent action in the search for peace between the United States and Vietnam.

    Fees vary according to length of the task, its distance from Philadelphia, etc. For more information write Shalomctr@aol.com or call at 215/844-8494.