Jehon Grist

Click here for more information about the retreat, including classes and price.

Imagine an island in time: peaceful walks through meadows and forests, sweeping views of Tomales Bay, fine cuisine and lodging, the best of friends, old and new. Now imagine a weekend with fascinating explorations of compelling topics and dialog offered by your favorite teachers.

You don’t have to imagine. It’s all waiting for you, May 17-19, at Lehrhaus Judaica’s Learning Retreat at the Marconi Conference Center in Marin.

We’ll come here to refresh, to learn and to celebrate our time together, with seminars, song, prayer, beautiful vistas and delicious food. Our faculty includes Prof. Deena Aranoff, Rachel Brodie, Rabbi Lavey Derby, me (Jehon Grist), Rabbi Dorothy Richman, Fred Rosenbaum, and Rabbi Peretz Wolf-Prusan.

Of course, we’ll learn a lot: topics cover the rainbow of the Jewish experience: mysticism; Biblical, rabbinic, and modern history and texts; poetry and music; great literature, and meditation. We’ll meet in state-of-the-art conference rooms, but we’ll also share learning as we walk through the inspiring sixty-two acre grounds of our retreat center. Of course, all the learning choices are yours, as well as the freedom to wander the hiking paths, grab a tasty snack, or enjoy a restful Shabbat nap.

So you may ask: Jehon, what will you be teaching? I’m glad you brought that up. I have two topics to cover, and both go back to long ago and far away, but touch us to this day. I’ll be taking you on a visual tour of Egypt, the land of our ancestors’ four century sojourn, to explore how this fabled place is so richly intertwined with our own history, from Biblical times to today. But I also want to explore a question with you: what happened to the divine feminine in our faith? As you may have noticed, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are just a bit male-centered, so our job will be to seek out the goddess among our ancient ancestors and ponder the ways that the divine feminine might be given her due in our world.

Now that you know what I’ll be up to, you may be curious about our other presenters. Stay tuned to this page and they will share their plans with you over the next few months.

And speaking of the next few months, may I suggest that you consider signing up for our retreat as soon as possible? Space is limited and there’s a very attractive early discounted rate. Click here for details.