NEW!
Prayer as Medicine Class Through Writing
New Class will begin December 2
Thursdays, 5 pm PST, Zoom.
This class is geared to take a deep dive into Jewish liturgy through writing. We explore where our lives are woven into selected prayers. The goal is to create a community of learners who share and listen to one another while finding new ways to interface with Jewish prayer and prayer in general. The class is limited to six-eight people. DATES AND TIME: Thursdays, Dec. 2, 16, 30, January 13, 5 p.m. PST (1.5 hours). FEE: $144 due by November 22. Please contact me here for more information and to apply to save your spot.
Don’t forget to look up.
Seven Minute Immersion Ceremony for the National Partnership for Hospice and Healthcare Innovation (NPHI) Annual Summit
November 3 – 5, 2021
Kavod v’Nichum Spiritual Accompaniment Group
Starts November 10, 9am – 12pm PST, Zoom
Four sessions, every other Wednesday.
See details below for a Spiritual Direction/accompaniment group I will be offering to those caring for parents or other loved ones.
Please contact me here for more information and to apply to save your spot.
Torahscope Class Will Begin in the Winter
I have developed a unique approach to studying Torah that I call Torahscope. We begin with each participant’s birth portion, the Torah portion that was being read in synagogue the week you were born. This approach has been highly successful helping the most skeptical grasp the power of Torah study. I am also available for other forms of Torah study. I believe that we need to ask the question, “how can Torah guide me, our communities, or the world?” This class will be offered again in the Winter. This class is limited to 7 people and runs for 8 weeks. Please contact me here for more information and to apply to save your spot in the next opening.
Spiritual Direction Groups Using Writing and Devotional Listening
Group Spiritual Direction is a process of listening to the still small voice within, in a group setting. We use writing and devotional listening to deepen our awareness of the Sacred in our lives. You don’t have to be religious or Jewish to join. We often use Jewish texts as portals into our reflections.
Each group is limited to five or six people each. We meet for four sessions (every other week). At the end of this time, some people continue, some join, and some people feel complete. Please contact me here for more information and to apply to save your spot in the next opening.
These two groups are now full.
Also see the Group Spiritual Direction page.
Second Day Morning Rosh Hashanah Service (September 8) with Eve Decker at Kehilla Community Synagogue
September 8, 2021
Eve and I co-lead for our 10th year a contemplative and personal second day Rosh Hashanah service drawing on Jewish and Buddhist teachings.
For the recording of this drash, go here: Rabbi Chaya Gusfield’s Second Day Rosh Hashanah Sermon. Also see the text of my teaching on Chaya’s Garden, my blog.
Give Me Your Hand: Exploring our Tradition – Visiting the Sick and Why it Matters
Sunday, May 15, 2021
Shavuot JCC East Bay
Hospice Chaplain Support Through Creative Expression (Capital Hospice)
May 18, 2021
We will use writing to explore our own grief and resilience, as well as practice offering blessings to those who have no religious affiliation.
Guest Rabbi: Torah Study, Congregation Beth Shalom, Modesto and Chadeish Yameinu, Santa Cruz (online)
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
Welcome to the Cancer Cafe, performance and discussion
Thursday, February 4, 2021
Virtual broadcast of performance, and Q&A discussion with Judith Dambowic and Rabbi Chaya Gusfield. Learn more here.
Watch the performance on YouTube | Watch the Q&A Session
Introducing the Artists’ Grief Deck
January 28, 2021
Join me at the Reimagine event where artists will share their work developing a deck to assist people grieving. I will be reading a poem I wrote.
See The Artist’s Grief Deck project here.