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Keshira will also continue to lead IJS’s affinity group work with Jews of color, in partnership with Yoshi Silverstein of Mitsui Collective, and work with IJS faculty in staff in making all of our offerings more accessible and inclusive of Jews with historically marginalized identities. As part of the fellowship experience, Keshira will also be participating in IJS’s landmark Clergy Leadership Program, an 18 month cohort-based professional development program, as well as its upcoming training in Spiritual Direction.

“As someone who has grown through participating in IJS programs, and who has great admiration for the IJS team, I am especially excited by the invitation to weave my lived experience and background into some of IJS’ programs,” says Keshira. “In the spirit of tikkun middot, and finding a balanced way, the opportunity to contribute to a host of IJS’ offerings, while simultaneously deepening my own practice, already has me dreaming about what blessings might unfold from this new partnership. I pray that all of our work together will make mindfulness and integrated Jewish practice even more accessible to the Jewish world and beyond.”

Beyond IJS, Keshira sprinkles sparkles, disrupts expectations, and offers blessings wherever she goes. She serves as Oreget Kehilah (Executive Director) of the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, Founding Kohenet of Kesher Pittsburgh and Program Director of the ALEPH Kesher Fellowship and also enjoys working with Keshet and Beloved Builders. Additionally, she delights in serving as a davennatrix (shlichat tzibbur), life spiral ceremony/ritual creatrix, teacher, facilitator, liturgist and songstress. Her work in these realms is informed by her lived experience as a queer, bi-racial, Jewish Woman, her belief that Book, Body and Earth are equal sources of wisdom, and the quandries she encounters as a scholar of the Orphan Wisdom School. Keshira received Kohenet smicha in 2017 and earned her BS 2000 and MS 2001 at Carnegie Mellon University. (After many years of traveling and living in Australia, she and her beloved once again make their home on Osage and Haudenosaunee land, also called Pittsburgh, PA.) You can learn more about Keshira at her website, www.keshirahalev.com.

We are grateful to Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg for speaking with us about Repentance and Repair! Please enjoy the conversation recording below.

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg is an award-winning author and serves as Scholar in Residence at the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW). She was named by Newsweek as a “rabbi to watch,” as a “faith leader to watch” by the Center for American Progress, has been a Washington Post Sunday crossword clue (83 Down) and called a “wunderkind of Jewish feminism” by Publishers Weekly. She has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Salon, Time, and many other publications. She is the author of eight books; her newest is On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World.

Our recent Evening of Gratitude was a valuable opportunity to recognize Jewish spiritual leaders of all kinds and their incredible impact on the people and communities they serve. We are so grateful for all they bring to our world, and so proud to be part of their stories.

In one of the evening’s spotlights, IJS alum Cantor Richard Schwartz shared how pastoral care, mindfulness practice, and Jewish tradition have intertwined in his life-long journey towards personal peace and intentionality. Richard has brought this mindset to his current work in chaplaincy at Stanford Health Care. In reflecting on his role, Richard shared the following:

“To be a presence that can possibly bring some healing [is] an incredible gift.”

We hope you are inspired by Richard’s story and will consider a gift to support our work.

Hundreds of IJS supporters joined us on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 for our Evening of Gratitude, honoring and thanking Jewish spiritual leaders. We are eager to share one of the highlights of the celebration, and we hope that you will consider making a donation to support our work.

Alison Kur, Executive Director of Jewish Living at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, MA, was one of the evening’s featured leaders. She spoke about the warm mutual support fostered by her IJS community, providing emotional sustenance in a difficult year. She also emphasized the critical importance of spiritual practice in allowing congregants to know and be known by one another:

“Spirituality is about nurturing my soul and giving my soul to others”

Learn more about Alison’s story: