Scholar-in-Residnce Spending a weekend with a congregation Rabbi David Kominsky can provide a wide variety of programs. Below, you will find some sample schedules for weekends.
| Finding a Spritual Connection to Judaism | This weekend is designed for a congregetation which wants a focused spirituality theme for a weekend | | Friday Evening | Shabbat Services led by Rabbi Kominsky, utilizing the familiar congregationla melodies. During the service, various spiritual intentions will be highlighted for the different prayers | | Saturday Morning | Either a contemplative Shabbat morning service or a session of Torah study focusing on drawing spiritual meaning from the text | | Saturday Afternoon | Workshop on finding spiritual fulfillment in Shabbat--an opportunity for each of us to explore how we, individually, can make spiritual use of Shabbat | | Sunday Morning | Workshop: Becoming a spiritual community--an exploratoin into how a community can become not only a congregation but a spiritual home | | Sunday Afternoon | Tools for sustaining spiritual Judaism: how does the community continue to keep spirituality an active part of its program? |
| Introduction to Jewish Text Study | Over the course of this weekend the congregatoin will spend a series of sessoins looking at a variety of different types of Jewish texts and also learning to interact with these sacred texts in traditional Jewish ways. | | Friday Evening | During Kabbalat Shabbat services, in place of a sermon Rabbi Kominsky will lead a discussion on how Jews study text. In order to get a feel for Jewish text study as a method, we will look at the preamble to the United States Constitution and engage in study of it as though it were a Jewish text. | | Saturday Morning | Together we'll study the Torah portion, looking at it from a variety of viewpoints: spiritual, socio-historical, traditional and whatever viewpoint each of us brings this Shabbat morning. | | Saturday Afternoon | Mishnah and Talmud: we'll explore what is often considered the most uniquely Jewish text, but also the least accessible. We'll slowly move through a piece of text discovering why it has such a central place in the Jewish tradition and what it means for us today. | | Sunday Morning | Mystical Texts: Looking at some of the Jewish mystical texts we will delve into the truths being presented and explore the hold these texts have on mystics, Jewish and non-Jewish alike. | | Sunday Afternoon | Contemporary Jewish Texts: while most contemporary Jewish writing can simply be read through as though it were a newspaper article, what happens when we slow down and explore the words more carefully? This session brings us to the present day, but explores how careful study reveals pearls of wisdom that we might otherwise miss. |
To discuss what I can do for your congregation, please contact me. |