The month of Elul is a sacred time for introspection, spiritual growth, and preparation for the High Holy Days. This three-session course, led by diverse and knowledgeable teachers, offers a unique opportunity to deepen your understanding and experience of this significant period in the Jewish calendar. Each session will focus on different aspects of spiritual preparation, providing participants with practical insights, reflective practices, and communal learning.
The sessions are on three consecutive Tuesday evenings. Tickets will provide you with admission either in person or via a Zoom link.
Please register for each evening separately. You will receive a single ticket for the one(s) you have chosen. You can re-register if later on you wish to attend ones for which you have not reserved.
ONCE A TICKET IS ISSUED, NO REFUND IS POSSIBLE. ALSO, WE CANNOT REFUND DONATIONS FOR TAX RECEIPTS ALREADY ISSUED.
Our Teachers:
Arielle Friedtanzer, M.A., has spent the last six years trying to convince people of all ages that talking about death will not make it happen any sooner. Trained as an interfaith chaplain with a background in Judaic Studies, Bioethics, and Social Work, Arielle has offered countless opportunities to individuals of all ages and backgrounds to explore their experiences with advanced-care planning, loss, death, and grief. Arielle hosted a weekly Facebook Live series, Millennials and Mortality Mondays, during the pandemic, and began facilitating virtual memorials and celebrations of life. Arielle is determined to reduce the stigma around aging and the fear of death by helping people have these thoughtful conversations early and often, and she feels tremendous privilege in being present with individuals and families during these difficult, but intimate moments.
Aaron Rotenberg serves as the Spiritual Leader of Annex Shul in downtown Toronto and is studying towards rabbinic ordination through ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal. He completed a certificate program in Earth-Based Judaism from ALEPH and loves learning about embodied spiritual practices, like mikvah.
Rabbi Tina Grimberg grew up in the Ukrainian city of Kiev, and moved to North America with her family when she was sixteen. She soon took up the cause of the rights of “refuseniks” in the USSR, which led her to develop a passionate interest in the Jewish heritage that was so hard to access during her childhood behind the Iron Curtain. This led her to immediately become involved in the Jewish community of Indianapolis.
Rabbi Grimberg was initially trained as a family therapist, specializing in women’s issues and domestic violence. Her love of Jewish tradition and family life led her to the doors of the Hebrew Union College’s Jewish Institute of Religion, and in 2001, she was ordained as a Rabbi.
Rabbi Grimberg’s care for Darchei Noam’s members is most evident in the spiritual and emotional support she provides through her pastoral counselling, and by presiding over life cycle events. She is also particularly committed to working with the community’s young women to better their self- esteem and sense of Jewish belonging.
Rabbi Grimberg’s love of the ancient craft of storytelling creates an environment of teaching and prayer that never fails to engage and captivate students and worshippers alike. Her passion for all kinds of ancient and contemporary literature provides her with an endless well of stories with which she illuminates and clarifies Jewish lessons, traditions and ethics from our multifaceted heritage. Her first book, Out of Line: Growing Up Soviet, was published in 2007 by Tundra Press, and received numerous awards, including the Stein Memorial Award in Youth Literature and the Bronze Award for Book of the Year from ForeWord Magazine. This autobiographical work offers a unique window into the life of a young Jewish girl growing up with her family in Kiev in the 1960s and 1970s. Her short stories have also been published in various anthologies.
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