Greetings,

We hope the start of this new Jewish year finds you and yours enjoying the sweetness that the beginning of the new year brings, with hope and joy for what’s yet to come.

We are writing to announce the opening of the official ALEPH Kallah Four-Day Teacher Application. This next Kallah is a monumental one–believe it or not, it’s our 18th Kallah! Right now, we are also celebrating the 20th anniversary of the ALEPH Ordination Program, and next year, we will be honoring the 30th anniversary of ALEPH. What a time!

Our theme for this Kallah is Cultivating Connections. Over the past few years, our lives have radically changed due to the pandemic. Here at ALEPH, we had to make the heartbreaking decision to cancel both our 2020 Kallah as well as our 2022 Kallah K’tanah to ensure the safety of our community. Instead, we hosted hundreds of events from behind Zoom screens, strengthening our souls even though we couldn’t gather together in person. We are so grateful to those of you who showed up from your corners of the world and learned, davenned, and connected with us. Rest assured that we will continue to host virtual programming–we are simply reintroducing a different way to connect with one another.

As we prepare to head into 2023, we are thrilled to announce that we will be gathering together in person for Kallah for the first time since 2018. We know safety is one of your top concerns–trust that it’s at the top of the list for us, too. As always, we will ensure that we are complying with all local and national guidelines regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Much more info about safety precautions and parameters to come.

WHERE AND WHEN IS KALLAH?

Kallah is the largest Jewish Renewal gathering in the world, bringing together hundreds of participants from all across the globe for a week of learning, singing, dancing, and gathering with one another. Seekers of all ages and levels of Jewish experience join for immersion in learning, prayer, art, dance, yoga, meditation, social justice, and earth-based programs. With extraordinary four-day classes and one-day workshops in the mornings and afternoons, incredible musicians and performers in the evenings, exceptional davvenen services throughout the week, and a breathtaking full-group Kabbalat Shabbat on Friday evening, Kallah is truly an experience like no other.

As you may have heard, the 2023 ALEPH Kallah will be held Monday, July 3 – Sunday, July 9 at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania. For our 18th Kallah, we are eager to symbolically “return to our roots”–our very first Kallah was in the greater Philadelphia area!

Featuring a picturesque, walkable campus and recently renovated and modern accommodations, West Chester University is the perfect (and air-conditioned) setting for our gathering. 

ABOUT FOUR-DAY CLASS APPLICATIONS

Right now, we are thrilled to officially announce the opening of the application for four-day classes. 

Applications for all classes must be submitted at the link below. 

Due Date: Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 11:59 pm ET

All applications for four-day classes must be submitted through the online application here. 

Applications submitted through other formats will not be accepted.

Applications submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.

Should you be interested in submitting an application for a one-day workshop, evening programming, davvenen, Wellness Center, Cabaret performance, or shuk, that will be a separate application. Please stay tuned for those announcements coming soon.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Please read thoroughly. Proposals that are incomplete cannot be accepted for consideration.

Due Date: Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 11:59 pm ET

All applications for four-day classes must be submitted through the online application here. 

Applications submitted through other formats will not be accepted.

Applications submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.

Your four-day class application may focus on any of the myriad aspects of Jewish life: daily spiritual practice (prayer, meditation, and sacred text), relationships, work, tikkun olam and more.

As in years past, we encourage the content of program proposals to spring from a Jewish text or long-lived tradition. This does not mean that the program needs to be text study, but means that the source of the ideas presented and developed in the program begin from a place that is grounded, connected, and attributed to the richness of Jewish heritage.

We encourage you to integrate the four worlds–physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual–in how you present your program. We particularly welcome applications that incorporate one or more of the following modalities: music, traditional and contemporary Jewish text, psycho-spiritual process, art, ritual, movement, connection with nature, storytelling, writing, healing, meditation and prayer. We also encourage you to utilize the group process so that participants and the relationships they form also become a teaching tool.

ALEPH is also striving to be an intergenerational community. We particularly welcome applications highlighting this intergenerational experience, such as teachers from two different generations co-teaching together.

We hope you will apply to join a roster including some of the world’s most inspirational and innovative Jewish teachers. Our location’s proximity to several vibrant east coast communities including Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, and Washington DC will attract numerous rabbis and lay leaders along with dozens of other creative, inspiring Jewish leaders from the east coast. As in past Kallot, we also expect hundreds from all over the US and the world. You will not want to miss this extraordinary week-long Jewish Renewal delight that will surely stay with you for years to come.

MORE DETAILS

Classes will meet daily for four sessions (Tuesday through Friday). Regular classes will meet for 2.5 hours per session (with a slightly shortened session on Friday to accommodate for Shabbat.) Total class time will be 9.75 hours.

Note that all classes must allow approximately 15-20 minutes a day for Spirit Buddies, which is a Kallah-wide program to cultivate connections among our community. More information about Spirit Buddies to be shared with teachers directly closer to the program.

In order to get a deeper understanding of your class, you will also be asked to provide a day-by-day outline of your teaching plan later in the spring. A day-by-day outline is not a requirement for the application.

ALEPH will provide full room & board, conference tuition, as well as reimbursement for travel. Travel may be reimbursed for the following: up to $150 for driving within the same or next time zone, up to $300 for those traveling from two time zones away, and up to $500 for those traveling from the west coast. Total amount of travel reimbursement is at the discretion of ALEPH.

Each class will also need to meet a minimum of 10 students in order to run. Should you be selected to teach and your class does not meet the minimum requirement of 10 students by May 31, 2023, your contract will be void. Teachers will be notified as to enrollment on an ongoing basis throughout the spring.

Additionally, all four-day class teachers will be invited to an optional but highly recommended pre-Kallah teachers’ program prior to the start of Kallah. This event will take place on Monday, July 3 from around 9 am – 2 pm Eastern time. Most attendees (those who are not teachers) will arrive around 3 pm ET, and Kallah will formally begin that evening. This program will allow the teachers to co-create a sacred container in which to welcome the attendees upon their arrival. Attendance at this event is not a requirement to be selected, but will be strongly recommended for all teachers.

PROGRAM SELECTION PROCESS

Each Kallah, we receive scores of fabulous applications. Because we receive far more applications than we are able to accept, we take the selection process very seriously. The selection committee will be made up of members with a variety of relationships to Jewish Renewal and the Kallah – old timers, newcomers, with a mixture of ages, geographical locations, genders, and sexual orientations. The first pass through proposals is done with the teacher(s) name removed and is rated simply on how the proposal reads and how the topic fits into the overall mix. The committee then makes its best effort to balance the program, taking into consideration factors such as new and returning teachers, geographical representation, as well as the variety of topics offered.

Some teaching slots may be reserved for ALEPH program directors, students/musmachimot of the ALEPH Ordination Program, and members/alumni of the Kesher Fellowship.

We expect to notify those who submitted applications for four-day classes by Wednesday, November 23, 2022.

We look forward to receiving and reading your application. Please share this invitation with other people you feel would be a good match with the Kallah. 

We honor every contribution and thank you for your interest. If you have any questions, please reach out to us at kallah@aleph.org. 

Warmest blessings in 5783,
Stephanie Buncher
ALEPH Events Manager