Full Day (11am - 5pm CDT) | Half Day (11am - 2pm CDT)

Both session include a yoga practice with Cantor Lizzie Shammash

Thank you to our additional sponsors:  Temple Beth Am of Los Angeles, CA,  Congregation Brith Shalom, Congregation Beth El, and The Center for Healing Arts & Sciences, PLLC. 

Sacred Encounter: The Foot of the Mountain - Schedule

10:50 Arrival and Registration
11:00 Welcome
11:10 Breath Practice Instruction w/ Ziona Friedlander
11:40 Yoga with Cantor Elizabeth Shamash
12:30 Walking Practice Instruction
12:35 Walk
12:45 Sit
1:05 Talk
1:35 Walk
1:45 Q&A
2:00 Goodbye Half-Day Participants :)
2:00 Mindful Eating Practice Instruction
2:15 Snack/Stretch/Reset time
2:30 Blessing Practice Instruction
2:50 Sit
3:30 Walk
3:40 Sit
4:10 Walk
4:20 Mincha (chanting) & Sit
4:40 Closing Ritual
4:50 Closing Talk & Goodbye

Teachers include:

Rav Ariel Sholklapper

Rabbi Ariel Sholklapper, or Rav Ariel, as most people call him, is the teacher and creator of www.RavAriel.com. He's a real guy teaching mindfulness to people all over the world who are seeking to deepen their practice. Ariel went from having no Jewish or meditative practice to having a thriving and meaningful daily practice of connecting with the Divine. The resulting surplus in energy from his practice is what allows him to teach others to do the same. 

During the course of Rabbi Sholklapper’s MBA program, he began learning mindfulness for business performance. He studied peer-reviewed research on meditation and how it can be used in the workplace to cope with stress, cultivate resilience, and develop more effective employees and leaders. As a rabbi and spiritual seeker, he knows we can’t leave our souls at the door and still be whole in the boardroom. That’s why he also looks to draw from ancient spiritual wisdom for guidance on how to thrive in the modern day workplace. When all is said and done, life is short; time is our most precious possession; and Rabbi Sholklapper offers time-tested, science-based practices to help us make the most of every moment.

His mission is to help other spiritual seekers build and grow meaningful connections to the Divine in their daily life through non-profit seminars, private one-on-one sessions, Jewish mindfulness retreats, and www.RavAriel.com.

Lizzie Shammash

The daughter of a mother with roots in Latvian Jewry and a Baghdad-born father of Babylonian Jewish tradition who emigrated to American in 1947, Cantor Elizabeth Shammash  feels the proud inheritance of two rich Jewish lineages. She recently joined the clergy staff at Adath Israel in Philadelphia, after serving Tiferet Bet Israel in Blue Bell, PA from 2007 – 2020.  In addition, she works with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, mentoring rabbis and cantors in Jewish mindfulness practices.

Cantor Shammash has recorded extensively for the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music. She holds degrees from Brown University, Manhattan School of Music, Boston University Opera Institute, and the Jewish Theological Seminary. She is a longtime yoga practitioner and makes her home in Philadelphia with her husband, David Reed, and their rescue dog, Lenny. Cantor Shammash has shared her yoga practice with the Jewish Mindfulness Center of Texas a couple of times in this year of virtual programming.

Two payment notes:

1.  No one will be turned away for lack of funds.  Please reach out to Jennifer Rosenzweig if you need additional scholarship.

2.  If you are a member of a partner organization, you will be able to enter your Discount Code on the Payment Screen.  After you enter the code, hit "tab" to see the dollar amount appear, then submit payment