Spotlight on CLAL
Welcome to Spotlight on CLAL. Here you will find stories about what is happening at CLAL and about the work that CLAL is doing across North America. Sometimes we will focus on a program, or a special event, or upon a CLAL faculty member's work and interests. Bookmark this page if you want to get to know us better.
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Playing the Jewish Futures: A CLAL Retreat in Aspen
By Judy Epstein, Director of Public Affairs
How can we create meaningful identities and ethical communities in a period of change?
How will our own lives be affected and what kinds of social and ethical questions will
need to be addressed?
These are the central questions to be explored at a unique CLAL program in Aspen, Colorado
on August 8-9, 2001. Bringing together close to forty lay people, CLAL Rabbis Irwin Kula
and Brad Hirschfield will be joined by Dr. Shari Cohen, a political scientist and Director
of the Jewish Public Forum (JPF) at CLAL, and Dr. Saul Perlmutter, a leading
astrophysicist and head of the Supernova Cosmology Project at the University of
California, Berkeley.
"This is an opportunity to bring together our own personal journeys, as we look to
address building more ethical communities," said Rabbi Brad Hirschfield. "There
is no anointed leader. Together we are going to create new possibilities for what our
lives, or Jewish life might look like and the personal and communal implications for those
creations."
Entitled "Playing the Jewish Futures," and drawing on many of the methods
developed through the JPF, participants will explore a new kind of learning through text
study, experiential exercises, boundary crossing conversations, and imaginative approaches
for envisioning new pictures for Jewish life in the future. Outdoor activities and a
morning sunrise service will be held.
"Building a network of lay people who see this kind of cross boundary conversation as
necessary for the future of the Jewish community is in itself exciting," said Rabbi
Kula. "But, in addition, there is a wide range of ways to experience meaning. People
from different fields of expertise engaged in a Jewish conversation about critical issues
generate new ideas and insights about the Jewish way. A vital Judaism requires a profound
connection between Torah and society, and we need to see and understand that connection on
a deep personal level to build a vital community for the 21st century."
Topics offered at the retreat will include "Challenging assumptions: Taking the long
view," and "Experiencing discovery and wonder: Heaven through a scientist's
eyes." Rethinking and experiencing the sacred, and examining the links between the
Jewish and scientific traditions will be considered. Sessions will be held at the Aspen
Mountain Club and the St. Regis Hotel in Aspen. The cost for the program is $1,250.
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