Rabbi Leah Novick, one of the founding members of Ohalah, will be donating her writings, papers and photographs to be archived at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado, where Reb Zalman’s materials already reside. The agreement was announced in May at a Jewish Studies meeting by Prof. David Schneer, Chair of the Department. All of Reb Leah’s materials will be made available to students and faculty, as well as to visiting scholars and historians with interest in the Jewish Renewal Movement. This gift coincides with Reb Leah’s twenty five years in the rabbinate, and recent celebration of her eightieth birthday. In conjunction with the gift, Reb Leah will be presenting a special Shekhinah seminar at U.C. on Thursday January 17th, 2013.
Reb Leah who was honored as an Aleph “Pathfinder” for her pioneering work is the author of “On the Wings of Shekhinah”: Rediscovering Judaism’s Divine Feminine
(Quest 2008) and a companion CD of guided meditations. She was a founder of Ruach Ha’Aretz retreat program and two renewal congregations; Beit Shekhinah in
Berkeley, Ca. (1980’s) and Shabbos in Carmel, Ca.( 1990’s) She now serves as President of Spirit of the Earth (a non -profit educational organization) which is
convening a meeting of the roughly 80 women rabbis of Northern Californi on October 28-30 2012 at Mt. Madonna conference center in the Santa Cruz
Mountains – a spot where Reb Zalman used to gather community for High Holidays.