A different kind of school.

Transcription

1 A different kind of school. Course Catalog 2013/2014 Kabbalah Experience Engage your spirit.

2 Contents 1 Year One Core Curriculum 2 Year Two Core Curriculum 3 Year Three Core Curriculum 4 Year Long Text Study 5 Year Long Experiential Learning 6 Electives and Mini Courses 7 Faculty 8 Fall 2013 Registration Form Mission Statement Kabbalah Experience is an open and inclusive learning community committed to encouraging individual spiritual growth through the study and application of Kabbalah s insights into the parallels between physical and spiritual reality. Officers Ilana Erez, President Elliott Husney, Past President Dr. Martin Dubin, Vice President Malena Fernandez, Treasurer Ken Diamond, Secretary Board of Directors Ken Diamond, Dr. Martin Dubin, Ilana Erez, Malena Fernandez, Dr. Andrew Freeman, Dr. Anne Goldberg Wernimont, Richard Greenberg, Elliott Husney, Nancy Steele, Robert Weinberger Staff Welcome to Kabbalah Experience Engage your spirit. It s about you transforming. While Jewish in its origin and language, the Kabbalah Experience curriculum has a universal spiritual message. Our classes are specifically designed for people seeking a deeper understanding about life s purpose and meaning. Kabbalah Experience classes consist of small groups in which questions and dialogue facilitate learning the principles of Kabbalah and help students apply them to personal growth. This adult-centered method of learning appeals to people who learn best when their own thinking process is encouraged and engaged. The Kabbalah Experience curriculum draws upon selections from the major texts of the Kabbalah, including the Zohar and Sefer Yetzirah, the teachings of Isaac Luria, the Ba al Shem Tov and more contemporary Kabbalah teachers. The curriculum also draws from the sciences quantum physics and biology, as well as the spiritual wisdom of other cultures and insights from various schools of psychology. Kabbalah Experience students deepen their understanding of themselves through exploring the ancient wisdom of Kabbalah. It s not just about the information you learn, it s about the transformation you experience. Our Community Partners Dr. David Sanders, Executive Director Patti Levine, Operations Director Saskia Kelly, Administrative Assistant For More Information Phone Admin@kabbalahexperience.com 3599 So. Ivanhoe Street Denver, CO 80237

3 Year One Core Curriculum The Year One Core Curriculum consists of three classes: Soul, Space and Time. It is recommended to start with Soul but the Year One Core classes can be taken in any sequence. They are a prerequisite for Year Two and Year Three classes. New students can take In Tune With Time, any mini course or any elective class except Kabbalah Review. Soul The basic teachings of Kabbalah illuminate the parallel realities between the physical and spiritual dimension. Students learn the history of Kabbalah and teachings from the Zohar and the Kabbalisitc masters of Tzfat. Students open up to a new awareness of the interconnectedness of souls and common miracles. Space All of physical reality is layered and flows down from higher worlds. The Tree of Life is the basic map of spiritual reality unique to the Kabbalah. It describes the process of the infinite becoming manifest as finite reality. Students learn to apply the Tree of Life as a tool to change the metaphors of their lives. Time Quantum physicists debate what time is or whether it even exists. Kabbalah penetrates the mystery of time by asserting that it is God s first creation. Students learn the concept of living in the present moment through Kabbalah s insights into the Sabbath and Passover and making each day count. (Offered in Spring.) In Tune with Time The celebration of the new month in the Jewish calendar begins with the new moon. According to Kabbalah, the Jewish calendar is a guiding light for personal transformation. Each of the twelve new moons offers different and unique energies that give us opportunities to understand and realize our own potential. For women only, this class meets monthly. Mystical Hebrew Letters The early Kabbalah focused on the Hebrew letters and language and how this code underlies creation. The beauty of the letters is expressed through their meaning, shape, name and numerical value. The Hebrew letters are containers for the energies of time, including the months of the year and the 12 Spiritual Senses of Soul explained in Sefer Yetzirah (The Book of Formation). Take the Leap Discover the Mystery! Free Introductory Kabbalah Class Soul: Unseen Reality Monday, August 26, 12:30-1:30pm with Dr. David Sanders Tuesday, August 27, 1:15-2:15pm with Dr. David Sanders Tuesday, August 27, 6:30-7:30pm with Dr. Anne Goldberg Wernimont Monday, September 9, 12:30-1:30pm with Dr. David Sanders Tuesday, September 10, 1:15-2:15pm with Dr. David Sanders Tuesday, September 10, 6:30-7:30pm with Dr. Anne Goldberg Wernimont Fall free into classes are held at the Goldberger Center, 3599 So. Ivanhoe Street Call or admin@kabbalahexperience.com to RSVP. New students receive a $50 discount off their first class. 1

4 Year Two Core Curriculum The Year Two Core Curriculum is called Inner Transformation. It consists of three classes: Who Are You, Why Are You, and When Are You. Year Two classes parallel Year One classes as you apply the insights of Kabbalah to personal transformation. Who Are You Who we are at our essence is addressed as we look at the Kabbalah s insights into the structure of our souls. The Kabbalah teaches that there are five levels of soul. This study engages us to consider the masks we wear and who we are within those masks. Through this process students come to an awareness of soul. Upon completing Year One and Two curricula, students can choose to continue with the Year Three Core Curriculum called Holding Opposites, pursue a path of text study, explore a track of experiential learning or enroll in one of many Elective classes. Why Are You We return to the Tree of Life (Space) and focus on the abstract story level of our lives through engaging in metaphor work. The key to this inquiry is the realization that we are all living inside of the metaphors (stories) we have created or have been created for us with the practical implication of choosing, modifying or changing those stories. When Are You Semester Dates: Fall 2013 September 16-December 11 Winter 2014 January 6-March 19 Spring 2014 March 24-June 23 Summer 2014 July 7-August 27 Classes are held at the Goldberger Center, 3599 So. Ivanhoe Street, Denver, unless otherwise noted. Time is revisited and at this time we work on a personal relationship with living in the present moment. The Kabbalah teaches us to find a balance between our memories of the past and living in the present and to not live in the future. This hour and this moment in which you stand never existed before. Who knows what can be attained now? (Rebbe Nachman) Inner Transformation 2 Register online at or call

5 Year Three Core Curriculum The Year Three Core Curriculum consists of three classes in which we introduce and then apply the concept of Holding Opposites to the Kabbalistic worlds of our experience. Holding Opposites teaches us to have a more direct and balanced relationship with all aspects of ourselves. Examples of opposites include: expansion and contraction, attraction and aversion, holy and defiled, and oneness and separateness. Each successive world includes and contains the others and represents increasing levels of integration. World of Action Asiyah focuses on the physical manifestation and verbal expression of our world and ourselves. Babies are born through the contraction and expansion of the cervix and universes are formed through contractions and expansions. In each set of opposites our physical bodies and the material world serve as a reference point to the holding of opposites. World of Emotion Yetzirah shifts the focus to the interior world of our emotions and psychology. Using the example of contraction and expansion, we explore emotions and mind states that are expansive and those that are contracted with the goal to hold both to experience the full range of our emotional capacities and enable a broader range of choice. The concept of non-duality is often misunderstood. To live free of duality does not mean we no longer differentiate between things. To live beyond duality means we embrace the whole of reality, including its parts. This concept of Wholeness is large enough to embrace wholeness and separateness and all other paradoxes and pairs of opposites. In Kabbalah the concept of non-duality is referred to as Holding Opposites. World of Thought Briah expands holding opposites to the conceptual arena of metaphoric and allegoric interpretation and the possibility that mystery and paradox hold the deepest truths. The worlds of Action and Emotion are integrated into a larger context of Holding both personal and universal syntax exploring the story level of our experiences. Opposites Registration form on page 8 3

6 Year Long Text Study Open to students who have completed Year Two Core Curriculum. Text study includes learning the classic books of the Kabbalah and special topic areas that are text based. This year we offer two of the formative texts of Kabbalah: Zohar and Sefer Yetzirah and special topics: Soul of Anatomy and the Messiah and Messianic Age. The Messiah and Messianic Age What is the Jewish perspective on the Messiah and what has Kabbalah innovated in our understanding of the Messianic Age? Fall Semester: Introductory concepts and distinctions between the Messianic Age as a restorative or evolutionary process, overview of failed Messianic movements and a vision of the new emerging Messianic consciousness. Winter Semester: In depth study of four significant Jewish Messianic Movements: Bar Kochva, Jesus, Shabbatai Tzvi and Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Spring Semester: The Messianic vision as a radical change in the nature of our physical world, our consciousness and our relationship with Judaism. Soul of Anatomy Kabbalah considers the human body an analog of God. There are 248 positive mitzvot (commandments) and 248 limbs of the body thus creating detailed correspondences between body and soul. Textual study of the hidden meanings of the mitzvot reveals how we perfect the work of our souls through physical actions of mitzvot. Discussion is enhanced through body movement awareness led by Feldenkrais practitioner Barbara Dubin. Fall Semester: Introduction to the significance of the body manifesting as a structure of the soul. Studying mitzvot corresponding to the head, neck and shoulders. Winter Semester: Studying mitzvot corresponding to the upper torso, ribs, spinal cord, arms, hands and chest (heart). Spring Semester: Studying mitzvot corresponding to the lower torso, hips, pelvis, legs and feet. The Zohar: Book of Radiance While Jewish mysticism preceded the development of the Kabbalah by over a thousand years, what we know of as Kabbalah emerged in southern France and Spain in the 12th and 13th Century. We will study selected texts from the Zohar, the classic book of the Kabbalah, relating to its major themes of the secrets of Torah, good and evil, and reincarnation. Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Formation Sefer Yetzirah is the oldest and most mysterious of all Kabbalistic texts. This is Aryeh Kaplan s opening line of introduction to his translation of the first text on Kabbalah. We will be using Kaplan s erudite commentary to help us navigate through this dense text and, as always, make relevant its ancient wisdom to our spiritual growth and development. Text Study NEW! 4 Register online at or call

7 Year Long Experiential Learning Open to students who have completed Year Two Core Curriculum. Experiential learning classes are designed for students who want to advance their understanding of their spiritual selves through looking at their own thinking and feelings related to a particular framework. Classes typically include some reading material but the students themselves are the text. Kabbalah and the Divine Feminine The Kabbalah teaches that the divine feminine, known as the Shekhinah, is God s in-dwelling presence and bride. The feminine principle is associated with the Tabernacle (Temple), the Sabbath, prophecy; all aspects of receptivity and the manifest world. In the first semester we will study the divine feminine texts. In the following semesters we will explore the Shekhinah in our lives, including our relationships with the Sabbath rest, love and sensuality, our bodies and food and the environment. Bringing Together Spirituality and Interior Design The world s great spiritual religions have given rise to incredible beauty in design and architecture. We will explore the secret wisdom behind those designs, and how to take that wisdom and create beautiful, spiritually inspired interiors that inspire, nourish, support and shift consciousness. Manifesting Self Manifesting self is a journey of self and group discovery about deepening awareness. The format of the group borrows from Parker Palmer s circles of trust, but differs in our trusting each other to provide feedback in a manner that is both compassionate and direct. We identify and commit to either change or fully accept the masks and metaphors of our lives. Writing as a Spiritual Practice Writing acts as a gateway to be more intimate with the full mystery of who we are. We will practice writing to free us from the confines of who we believe ourselves to be. As we open our bodies, hearts and minds, we will explore the place in us where soul and spirit dwell. Experiential Learning Did you know that Kabbalah Experience started in 2003 as four people studying in a private home? Did you know that we have grown? In the last year alone our seven instructors taught over 645 hours of Kabbalah classes! Did you know that your tuition only covers 60% of the cost of your class? Did you know that Kabbalah Experience is a non-profit organization that is generously supported by grants from Rose Community Foundation, the Allied Jewish Federation, and its many donors? Registration form on page 8 5

8 Electives and Mini Courses Electives Four-week Mini Courses Kabbalah Review Do you remember the names of the Sefirot and how created reality emerges from the infinite? The Year One Core Curriculum covers a myriad of concepts and introduces new language and new thinking. This class is not a rehash or a refresher. The core Kabbalah teachings are placed in a new context so that the learning is completely fresh, as we review. Completion of first year curriculum required. Cultivating Your Inner Artist What challenges us and inspires us to express ourselves as artists and human beings? The Tree of Life serves as a map to the creative process. Open to artists or aspiring artists in all areas of creative expression. Artists from this class exhibited and presented at the Transformations Art Show at the Niza Knoll Gallery on Santa Fe Drive, July World Mystics The mystics testify to the profound scope and effect of the mystical experience that open us to a sense of wonder and freedom and an identity far greater than anything we intuit with our ordinary consciousness. This class is an exploration of spiritual perspectives from around the world into that Divine mystery. Communication as a Spiritual Practice Compassionate Communication is a framework that allows us to practice Kabbalah teachings in our daily communication. This course focuses on the key principles and four skill areas of Compassionate Communication, leading us to powerfully transform our relationships. Meditations from World Traditions The term meditation refers to a broad variety of practices from different traditions that includes techniques designed to promote relaxation, build internal energy, and develop compassion, love, patience, generosity and forgiveness. We will learn a variety of meditation techniques from the world s great spiritual traditions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Kabbalah and Sufism. Kabbalah and Dreams I have dreamed a dream and I do not know what it is telling me. This prayer, part of the ritual of the priestly blessing, illustrates the importance of dreams and their meanings. Dreams will be explored as relaying to us important guidance for our spiritual mission. Dreams as recorded in the Torah, Talmud and Kabbalah as well as participants sharing their dreams serve in deepening our understanding of our dream life. Did you know that first year students get a $50 discount off their first class? Did you know that if you refer a student to Kabbalah Experience who registers for a class, you can take $50 off the cost of your next class? 6 Register online at or call

9 Kabbalah Experience Faculty Dr. David Sanders is the founder and director of Kabbalah Experience. He has taught Kabbalah in Denver for twenty-five years. His teaching style engages and challenges the learner to find their own answers. David is a clinical psychologist. Dr. Lorell Frysh has a PhD. in East-West Psychology and is an Interior Architect and Designer with an avid interest in the creation of Sacred Space. Her 40 year spiritual journey has been spent exploring, studying and receiving initiation in the great spiritual, mystical, and healing traditions of the world. Lorell leads regression sessions and has a private therapy practice. Dr. Ivor Garlick is a graduate of the Kabbalah Experience Teacher s Institute and has studied Kabbalah for four years. He is interested in exploring how events in a person s life connect together in order to understand how and why people feel and behave as they do. Ivor is a physician. Julie Geller is a singer/songwriter of Jewish and acoustic music. As a teacher, she specializes in helping others access their full creative potentials. Julie has released four CDs and performs regularly around Colorado and the country. Susan Kaplan, M.S.W., M.P.A. has taught Compassionate Communication for over 15 years. She is an Adjunct Professor for the Graduate School of Social Work, University of Denver, and a Courage & Renewal Facilitator. Susan uses story to help understand and transform our narratives and stories. Teena Slatkin has been a student of Kabbalah for the past fifteen years. She leads women s spiritual missions to Israel. Teena teaches In Tune with Time, a monthly (new moon) women s class. She is a writer, storyteller and community activist. Dr. Anne Goldberg Wernimont is a graduate of the Kabbalah Experience Teacher s Institute and has studied Kabbalah for eight years. She has special interest in the interaction of quantum physics and ancient faith. Anne is a forensic psychologist in the field of health and chronic pain. Lili Zohar, trained lawyer and conflict professional, is a lifelong yogi, spiritual seeker, teacher and student of the world s great wisdom traditions. Lili has delved deeply into Kabbalah and yoga for the last eight years and uses her insights from both as teacher, spiritual counselor and coach. Registration form on page 8 7

10 Kabbalah Experience Fall 2013 (September 16 December 11, 2013) Send registration form & payment to: Kabbalah Experience, 3599 South Ivanhoe St., Denver, CO Register online at: Call us at: or to: Student Name Address City/ST/Zip Home Phone Cell Phone Year One Core Curriculum Soul: Intro to Unseen Reality - Dr. David Sanders Monday 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm $ $ Soul: Intro to Unseen Reality - Dr. David Sanders Tuesday 1:15 pm - 2:15 pm $ $ Soul: Intro to Unseen Reality - Dr. Anne Goldberg Wernimont Tuesday 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm $ $ Space: The Tree of Life - Dr. Ivor Garlick (JCC) Monday 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm $ $ Space: The Tree of Life - Dr. David Sanders Tuesday 12:00 pm -1:00 pm $ $ Year Two Core Curriculum Inner Transformation: Who Are You? - Dr. David Sanders Monday 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm $ $ Inner Transformation: Who Are You? - Lili Zohar (JCC) Monday 7:15 pm - 8:15 pm $ $ Inner Transformation: Who Are You? - Dr. David Sanders Wednesday 11:15 am - 12:15 pm $ $ Year Three Core Curriculum Holding Opposites: Action (Asiyah) - Dr. David Sanders Monday 11:30 am - 12:30 pm $ $ Holding Opposites: Action (Asiyah) - Dr. David Sanders Tuesday 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm $ $ Year Long Courses Kabbalah and the Divine Feminine - Lili Zohar (JCC) Monday 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm $ $ Kabbalah and the Divine Feminine - Lili Zohar Wednesday 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm $ $ Manifesting Self - Dr. David Sanders Tuesday 10:30 am - 11:30 am $ $ Manifesting Self - Dr. David Sanders Wednesday 9:00 am - 10:00 am $ $ Messiah and the Messianic Age - Dr. David Sanders Monday 3:45 pm - 4:45 pm $ $ Sefer Yetzirah - Dr. David Sanders Wednesday 10:05 am - 11:05 am $ $ Soul of Anatomy - Dr. David Sanders Tuesday 9:15 am - 10:15 am $ $ Spirituality and Interior Design - Dr. Lorell Frysh Tuesday 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm $ $ Writing as a Spiritual Practice - Lili Zohar Wednesday 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm $ $ The Zohar: Book of Radiance - Dr. David Sanders Monday 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm $ $ Electives and Four Week Mini Courses* Kabbalah Review - Dr. David Sanders Tuesday 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm $ $ World Mystics - Dr. Lorell Frysh Tuesday 11:00 am - 12:00 pm $ $ *Communication as a Spiritual Practice - Susan Kaplan Tuesday 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm $ $ (Oct 1, 8, 15 & 22) *Kabbalah and Dreams - Dr. David Sanders Tuesday 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm $ $ (Oct 28, Nov 4, 11 & 18) *Meditations from World Traditions - Dr. Lorell Frysh Tuesday 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm $ $ (Oct 1, 8, 15 & 22) Total $ Other q Annual Membership Fee $ $ q Sponsorship (Donation) q Yesod Sponsor $100+ q Tiferet Sponsor $500+ q Keter Sponsor $1,000+ $ q Tuition Assistance/Payment Plan (arrange with KE staff) $ - q New Student Discount - $50 discount for first class (*$25 New Student Discount for Mini Course) -$ 50/-$25 $ - q New Student Referral Credit (one per semester) New Student Name: -$ $ - Total Amount $ Name on Credit Card Expiration Date 8 Credit Card Number CVC (3 digits from back of Card) Signature Billing Zip q Visa q MC q AmEx

11 Fall Scholars-in-Residence The Denver Jewish Learning Collaborative presents renowned teacher of Jewish Mindfulness Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg acts as spiritual director to rabbis, cantors and Jewish educators across the country. Rabbi Weinberg is a senior teacher of the Institute of Jewish Spirituality and served as a congregational rabbi for 13 years in Amherst, Massachusetts. She will be giving two public lectures and offering smaller group seminars and workshops during her stay in Denver, November 3-5, Sunday, November 3rd Public Lecture at JAAMMFest 7:00 pm, Surprisingly Happy: An Atypical Religious Memoir, Robert E. Loup JCC Monday, November 4th Text Study Seminars By Reservation 9:30-11:30 am, Mindful Parenting and Grandparenting, Kabbalah Experience 2:00-4:00 pm, Varieties of Spirituality: A Writing Workshop on Creating Spiritual Memoirs, The University of Denver Time and date subject to change. Tuesday, November 5th Text Study Seminar at Robert E. Loup JCC 10:00 am-12:00 pm, Talking and Listening to God Time and date subject to change. Public Lecture at Kabbalah Experience 3:45-5:30 pm, Chassidic Teachings on Mindfulness Tickets are $18 for each event. For tickets and information Call the MACC Box Office at or visit the MACC Box Office M-F, 9a-5p, 350 S. Dahlia St. Kabbalah Experience presents three nights of mystical study with scholar-in-residence Rabbi Tirzah Firestone Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, M.A. is an author, psycho therapist, and founding rabbi of Congregation Nevei Kodesh in Boulder, Colorado. A dynamic and engaging presenter, she lectures and teaches throughout the United States on spirituality, meditation, and the integration of ancient mystical wisdom into contemporary life. She is a doctoral candidate in depth psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Reb Tirzah will present three seminars on second Tuesdays of the month. Tuesday, October 8th Tuesday, November 12th Tuesday, December 10th 7:00-9:00 pm, Weaving a Radiant Garment Here and Now The Zohar, the central text of Kabbalah, teaches that each of us must prepare for the ultimate leap that death will bring. In order to enter and experience the luminous dimensions of the next world, the soul is enveloped in a radiant garment. This garment of light is woven here and now, out of our actions in this world. Join Reb Tirzah for study and meditation on these powerful images and practices in preparation for the greatest soul work of our lives. $18 each for KE members, $20 for non-members. All 3 seminars $45 for KE members, $50 for non-members. For tickets and information call Kabbalah Experience at or visit The Denver Jewish Learning Collaborative is a joint project of Kabbalah Experience, the Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Denver, and The Department of Jewish Life & Learning at the Robert E. Loup JCC.

12 Kabbalah Experience Engage your spirit So. Ivanhoe Street, Denver, CO Kabbalah Experience, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, is a beneficiary of the Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado and is supported by grants from the Rose Community Foundation. Kabbalah Experience relies on the generosity of its donors. Please consider making a donation online at We offer tuition assistance and scholarships so that everyone in the community has the opportunity for continuing education. Design: Hal Aqua / halaquastudio.com