Big Jewish Gathering: Rerooting Judaism 2/15

January 24, 2026

2:15 PM

Spirituality & Wellbeing

Big Jewish Gathering: Rerooting Judaism

100 Sutton Studios

100 Sutton St 2fl, Brooklyn, NY 11222, USA

We are now sold out for our January gathering - to join the standby list and sign up for the mailing list to be notified for future gatherings by filling out this form.

Welcome to the Big Jewish Gathering – a two-day spiritual convening in Brooklyn weaving immersive ritual, embodied learning, and creative renewal.

On January 24–25, we’ll gather with spiritual leaders, teachers, and artists from across Jewish time and tradition — converging through mystical and ancestral pathways of awakening.

This year's theme, Rerooted Judaism, invites us to journey between our collective past and ever-expanding future. What Jewish practices, ancient and emerging, can help us meet this moment?

The Details

January 24 - 25, 2026

Saturday, Jan. 24 | 9:15 AM - 9:30 PM

Sunday, Jan. 25 | 9:45 AM - 6:00 PM

100 Sutton Studios (Greenpoint, Brooklyn)

Registration includes access to all of our programming and meals for the two days of the retreat. You can learn more about Big Jewish Gathering HERE.

The Team

Big Jewish Gathering is created and produced by The Neighborhood: An Urban Center for Jewish Life and Miriam's Tent, in collaboration with a group of practitioners, community conveners, and Jewish organizations platforming one another as we collectively explore ancient and innovative modes of Jewish life. Read more about our partners and guides below!

If the cost of this event is an issue for you please reach out to info@theneighborhoodbk.org

Featuring

Shira Abramowitz

Shira Abramowitz is a meditation teacher, social impact leader, and community-builder. She completed the Institute for Jewish Spirituality JMMTT teacher training program, and teaches meditation for various programs online and in-person. She is the founder of Summit Impact, a 501(c)(3) focused on activating the power of community for social good. and a co-founder of Up & Up Creative, an agency focused on program design, events, and social impact campaigns. Shira holds a bachelors in commerce from McGill University and a masters degree in Mind, Brain, and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she focused on social cognitive neuroscience and adult group learning.

Shira Averbuch

Named "the golden-voiced singer" by the New York Times, Shira Averbuch, is a NYC based fairy-folk singer-songwriter and sacred musician. She serves as the Artist-in-Residence at B'nai Jeshurun Synagogue in NYC and is a Beit Toratah Fellow. Shira moved to NYC where she studied music, theatre and music therapy at The New School. Shira met music producer Paul Carbonara (Blondie) when she starred in his Off Broadway musical, Solitary Light, to much critical acclaim. Together they recorded two EPs, creating a live fairy-folk-acoustic sound so raw you could almost hear the wooden floors creaking under their feet. Since her song Am I Beautiful, following her friend's battle with stage 3 breast cancer, went viral, Shira has been touring across the US, Europe and Israel playing heart stopping music bringing people together in joy and healing both the Jewish world and the world at large. “Shira presents an authentic narrative of longing for places we call home, as we head toward new frontiers — a metaphor we can all relate to right now.” -Americana Highways.

Siona Benjamin

Siona Benjamin (she/her) is a painter from Mumbai, India, now living in the U.S., whose work reflects her experience as a Jew in a Hindu and Muslim context. She holds MFAs in painting and theater set design and has exhibited her work across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Siona creates private and public commissions and shows in galleries and museums, exploring identity, faith, and cross-cultural storytelling.
She was awarded Fulbright Fellowships to India (2011) and Israel (2017), and her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Jewish Week, The Jerusalem Post, and more. A documentary, Blue Like Me: The Art of Siona Benjamin, highlights her practice. She has illustrated three children’s books and appears in Growing Up Jewish in India, edited by Prof. Ori Soltes.

Keshira haLev Fife

Keshira haLev Fife (she/they) is a bi-racial, queer Kohenet (Hebrew Priestess) who lives delights in serving as a facilitator, teacher, consultant, lifespiral ceremony/ritual creatrix, davennatrix (shlichat tzibbur), liturgist and songstress. She serves as Founding Kohenet of Kesher Pittsburgh and Core Faculty Member with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, and also enjoys working with Beloved, Jewish Studio Project, Kirva, and the Jewish Learning Collaborative, among other Jewish organisations. Though both the lands of the Osage & Haudenosaunee people (Pittsburgh, PA) and the Gadigal people (Sydney, AUS) feel like home, Keshira and her beloved have been in an extended period of travel since January 2023. www.keshirahalev.com

Rabbi Yosef Goldman

Rabbi Yosef Goldman is a composer, prayer leader, and ritual artist whose work lives at the intersection of sacred music, ritual, and healing. He weaves ancient devotional music from his Mizrahi and Ashkenazi heritage together with contemporary Jewish traditions through immersive singing—Hasidic nigunim, sacred poetry (piyyut), and original compositions—creating transformative communal experiences through embodied song and deep spiritual presence. His music opens pathways for connection, grief, joy, and awakening—honoring the fullness of the human journey.

Becca Goldstein

Becca Goldstein is an urban mystic, strategist, field builder, and spiritual guide who designs experiences at the intersection of culture, embodiment, ritual, and legacy. With an MBA from Stanford and a background in real estate, philanthropic advisory, and Jewish ancestral imagination, she guides people toward deeper alignment with their values, purpose, and power. Her work integrates somatic practice, ritual design, and modern organizational frameworks to create spaces where transformation becomes communal, courageous, and actionable. Becca imagined the Big Jewish Gathering into reality as a living experiment in reclaiming sacred spaces for learning, celebration, and connection.

Olivia Guterson

Olivia Guterson (she/her) is a Black and Jewish multi-disciplinary artist and mother working in painting, sculpture, and carework. Exploring themes of brokenness, refusal, and fugitivity, she choreographs bones, shells, beads, seeds, soil, and colors into textures, gestures, and rhythms, examining the relationship between nature, memory, and ancestral wisdom. In 2024, Olivia earned her MFA in Painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art. She has received the Beau Award (2024), Gilbert Fellowships (2022, 2023), and the 2022 Emerging Artist Fellowship. She has held residencies at Modern Ancient Brown (Detroit, MI), Sibyls Shrine (Pittsburgh, PA), and El Sur (Mexico City), and was the inaugural visual artist for Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's Juneteenth Proclamation in 2022. Her work has been shown at Cranbrook Art Museum, Arab American National Museum, EXPO Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, and more. Public commissions include the Book Tower and Shinola Hotel in Detroit and the Zekelman Holocaust Center. She is also a published author, muralist, and birth advocate.

Rabbi Jill Hammer

Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD, author, scholar, ritualist, poet, dreamworker, midrashist, and priestess, is the Director of Learning and Ritual at Beit Kohenet, a house of Jewish, mystical, earth-based, feminist seeking (beitkohenet.org), and the Director of Spiritual Education at the Academy for Jewish Religion (www.ajr.edu), . She is the author of Undertorah: An Earth-Based Kabbalah of Dreaming, Return to the Place: The Magic, Meditation, and Mystery of Sefer Yetzirah, The Hebrew Priestess: Ancient and New Visions of Jewish Women’s Spiritual Leadership (with Taya Shere), The Jewish Book of Days: A Companion for All Seasons, The Omer Calendar of Biblical Women, Sisters at Sinai: New Tales of Biblical Women, and The Book of Earth and Other Mysteries. Her fantasy novel is called The Moonstone Covenant. She is also the author of academic articles, essays, and poems and the translator of The Romemu Siddur and of Siddur haKohanot: A Hebrew Priestess Prayerbook. She lives in Manhattan with her family.

Tom Haviv

Tom Haviv (he/him) is a writer, publisher, and cofounder of Ayin Press. His debut poetry collection, A Flag of No Nation, was first published by Jewish Currents Press in 2019 and republished by Ayin in 2024. Tom is also the author of two children’s books, Woven (2018) and The Porcupine Prince (2023), and he is the creator of The Hamsa Flag Project, a global participatory art initiative. His next children’s book, How the Sun Was Won, will be published by Ayin in 2026. Through his work, Tom weaves together poetry, storytelling, and creative community projects, inviting readers of all ages to explore imagination, heritage, and connection.

Charly Jaffe

Charly Jaffe is a creative producer, facilitator, and experiential storyteller who creates transformative spaces for people to meet—and make—the moments that matter. Working at the intersection of story, strategy, and spirit, Charly is the co-writer, creative director, and host of DIASPORA by StoryCourse, the hit theatrical culinary experience acclaimed for its emotional power and nuanced Jewish complexity.
Walking between worlds, her background spans suicide hotlines, corporate boardrooms, rural classrooms, and keynote stages. She has co-led a tantric yoga school and holds a master’s in Clinical Psychology and Education from Columbia University, with a certificate from the Spirituality Mind Body Institute. She is also a best-selling author, with work featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the BBC, and more.
Weaving together science and spirit, story and systems, Charly crafts communal experiences that are honest, brave, and defiantly joyful.

Shoshana Jedwab

Shoshana Jedwab (she/her) is an award-winning Jewish educator, intuitive percussionist, and singer-songwriter. She has taught at the A.J. Heschel Middle School for over thirty years, where she serves as Jewish Life Coordinator.
As “Batshemesh,” she was a founding faculty member of the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, using drumming, ritual theater, worship, and humor to guide exploration of Jewish texts, history, and ancestral practice. She now leads worship at Beit Kohenet and facilitates its Practical Mystics Circle.
Shoshana’s music blends ancestral tradition with contemporary embodied practice, featuring chants and songs that ground body and spirit. Her debut album I Remember (2016) and her 2018 single Where You Go have traveled from ceremonies to synagogues, weddings, and protests worldwide. Jewish Rock Radio named her one of the “Jewish Women Who Rock the Worship World.”

Naomi Katz

Naomi Katz (she/her) is an ordained ritualist in the lineage of Carmen Vicente, a medicine woman and spiritual leader from the high Andes of Ecuador. For the past 15 years, Naomi has explored how traditional altars and ceremonial designs adapt and renew themselves, bringing ancient healing practices to people raised in Western culture. She is an internationally recognized ceremonial leader, guiding retreats, workshops, and sacred ceremonies across three continents. Naomi is the founder and lead teacher of Return to Your Animal Body, a collective helping women integrate cyclical wisdom and sacred awareness into daily life through ritual, ceremony, and somatic practice. Naomi works with communities engaging reborn traditional rituals in psychospiritual contexts grounded in reverence for the earth. She has studied how ceremonies support collective health, particularly in Israel/Palestine, as well as in Europe, the USA, and South America. She carries altars passed down by Carmen, including the chanupa (peace pipe), temazcal (sweat lodge), and media luna (half moon), each used to honor spirit, community, and natural cycles.

Yael Kanarek

Yael Kanarek is an Israeli-American artist and the founder of BeitToratah.org, an initiative that regenders the Hebrew Bible by centering women in the narrative and locating men within the domestic sphere. Through this work, she expands Biblical Hebrew from within the language itself, using its feminine forms to reopen meaning in the foundational stories.

Her ongoing creation of the Toratah library includes regendered translations of Biblical books, public learning, and collaborations with educators, artists, and spiritual leaders. Last year, she introduced ZimraTah, a collaborative album of songs drawn from Toratah’s language. Together, these works challenge long-standing interpretive assumptions and propose a Torah that speaks to a broader humanity.

Kanarek’s artistic practice informs her textual work. Trained as a visual artist and fluent in Hebrew, she bridges sacred language and contemporary art, treating the act of regendering as both creative methodology and cultural intervention. Her artwork has been exhibited internationally, including at the Whitney Biennial, SFMOMA, The Jewish Museum in New York, and the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens. Her work has been covered in The New York Times and in other major publications. She teaches, writes, and presents widely in progressive Jewish contexts. Alongside Toratah, Kanarek maintains an active studio practice and designs fine jewelry.

Her work can be viewed here:
beittoratah.org
yaelkanarek.com
Kanareknyc.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yael_Kanarek

Shira Kline

Shira Kline is an internationally acclaimed performance and ritual artist, recognized as a revolutionary educator and named one of the new re-engineers of Jewish life today. Known on the kiddie-rock stage as ShirLaLa and in the sanctuary as a spiritual adventurist, she practices in the field of sacred play where she weaves radical imagination, expansive heart and collective soul. With her unique combination of spiritual leadership, immersive artistry and education, she has toured extensively for almost three decades. In 2024, she received the Covenant Foundation Award for her profound impact on the field of Jewish Education. Her award winning music has been featured on NPR, XM Radio, JKids Radio, Disney and Hulu. She is a frequent guest of numerous international leadership conferences and seminaries with a series of vibrant professional development and musical invitations to connect, for a new and realized conscious world. Visit her in her primary playground, artist driven, experimental and God-optional Lab/Shul NYC, where she is a Co-Founder and serves as Spiritual Leader.

Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie

Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie (he/him) is a social activist, storyteller, writer, and community leader. He is the Co-Founding Spiritual Leader of Lab/Shul in NYC and the creator of the ritual theater company Storahtelling, Inc. Israeli-born, he has lived in New York since 1998 and received his rabbinical ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 2016, the 39th generation in his family and the first openly queer rabbi. He is the star of Sabbath Queen, an award-winning documentary premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival. Rabbi Amichai serves on the Executive Board of Rabbis for Human Rights, the Advisory Board of the Sulha Peace Project, the Leadership Council of the New York Jewish Agenda, and as an advisor to Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance. He is also a founding faculty member of the Reboot and Jewish Emergent Networks. Named “an iconoclastic mystic” by Time Out New York and a “rock star” by the New York Times, he is Abba to Alice, Ezra, and Cai-Hallel.

Shaul Magid

Shaul Magid is Professor of Modern Judaism in Residence at Harvard Divinity School, a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard, the co-editor of Harvard Theological Review, a contributing editor to ARC Journal, and the rabbi of the Fire Island Synagogue in New York. He studied for his M.A. in Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University and earned his Ph.D. from Brandeis University in 1994. His rabbinical ordination is from Jerusalem in 1984.

He is the author of many books and essays, including Hasidism on the Margin (University of Wisconsin Press, 2005); From Metaphysics to Midrash (Indiana University Press, 2008); American Post-Judaism: Identity and Renewal in a Postethnic Society (Indiana University Press, 2013); Hasidism Incarnate: Hasidism, Christianity, and the Construction of Modern Judaism (Stanford University Press, 2014); Piety and Rebellion: Essays in Hasidism (Academic Studies Press, 2019); The Bible, the Talmud, and the New Testament: Elijah Zvi Soloveitchik's Commentary to the New Testament (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019); Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical (Princeton University Press, 2021); The Necessity of Exile: Essays from a Distance (Ayin Press, 2023); and Jewish Anti-Zionism as Political Theology: The Major Writings of Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum (University of California Press, 2026).

Benjamin Richman

Benjamin Richman is the founder of Openlev, a Brooklyn-based community nonprofit that cultivates purpose and belonging in daily life, rooted in ancestral Jewish wisdom. Openlev brings together curious minds for inspiring programming, intentional coworking, and intimate gatherings. Benjamin also serves as VP of Digital Assets at Nexus, a technology startup based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Lex Rofeberg

Lex Rofeberg (he/him) is a Jewish educator and activist. He works as senior Jewish educator for Judaism Unbound, co-hosting and producing its flagship podcast, along with overseeing (and teaching in) its UnYeshiva: a digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning. In addition to his work with Judaism Unbound, Lex serves on the boards of Tikkun Olam Productions, The Shalom Center, and Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations. A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin now living in (divine) Providence, Rhode Island, he is a graduate of Brown University and was ordained as a rabbi through ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal. He thinks sacred Jewish experiences can be found in synagogues -- but tries to also find them in the woods, at an IHOP, on Zoom, or while going bowling.

Miriam Rubin

Miriam Rubin is a mystic, mother, Interfaith and Spiritual Minister, somatic practitioner, and composer of sacred music. She serves as a ritual guide for girls and women journeying through life’s great thresholds—rites of passage, moments of transition, and pathways toward wholeness.

As a spiritual leader and healer, Miriam is committed to supporting individuals—particularly girls, women, and families—through embodied practices that foster resilience, healing, and collective care. Her work blends earth-based wisdom, ancient teachings, and modern tools, restoring honoring practices for girls, mothers, and elders so that feminine wisdom may once again flow freely across generations.

Her forthcoming album, At Her Well, features original compositions, lyrics, and melodies, many of which were recorded while pregnant with her daughter. Rooted in Jewish mystical codices and living ritual traditions, the album weaves ancestral lineage with contemporary devotional practice. Through song, somatic work, and ritual, the album dances around the ancient metaphor of the wellspring—a source of spiritual nourishment for our ancestors during times of growth, grief, awakening, and change. Drawing from the mythical Well of Miriam, her music flows through healing words, melody, and prayer-scapes, lovingly courting the Shechina to dwell once again in this world—and within each person as a temple of divine presence.

Basya Schechter

Basya Schechter (she/her) is a musician, composer, and spiritual songleader, best known for her ensemble Pharaoh’s Daughter. The seven-piece group travels effortlessly across continents, languages, and genres, blending world music with Basya’s experiences hitchhiking through Africa and the Middle East. She also serves as Hazzan and musical director at Romemu Brooklyn, a progressive and spiritually adventurous community, and brings her music to Fire Island during the summers. With nearly ten albums, Basya has toured across the U.S., Europe, South America, Israel, and Canada, performing at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, SummerStage, and Joe’s Pub. Her work blends tradition, improvisation, and contemporary musical storytelling, creating spaces where music, ritual, and community converge.

Rebecca Schisler

Rebecca Schisler is a meditation teacher, artist, and Jewish educator. A devoted contemplative practitioner, she is a full-time core faculty member at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, where she founded and directs the Shevet Jewish Mindfulness Community, a space for folks in or near their twenties and thirties to dive deep into Jewish spirituality and mindfulness practice in online and virtual spaces. Rebecca has taught with Or HaLev, Stanford School of Medicine, Wilderness Torah, Urban Adamah, HaMakom, Awakened Heart Project and the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators, where she co-authored the Mahloket Matters Schools Curriculum. A rabbinical student at ALEPH, Rebecca is passionate about integrating ancestral wisdom traditions with innovative approaches to personal and collective healing and liberation, and teaches Jewish spirituality as an embodied, transformational, and accessible path, with relevant and timely wisdom for all. Learn more at www.rebeccaschisler.com.

Yoshi Silverstein

Yoshi Silverstein (he/him) is a Chinese-Ashkenazi-American Jew, founder and executive director at Mitsui Collective, and creator of the Mitsui Method system of Jewish embodiment. A student of the human body and spirit, he has over 25 years of experience as a Jewish educator, facilitator, and creative practitioner in disciplines including movement and somatics, martial arts, music, outdoor education, and landscape design. Yoshi is a recipient of the 2022 Pomegranate Prize from the Covenant Foundation, and a 2021 “Grist 50 Fixer” building a more just and equitable future. He earned his Masters Degree in Landscape Architecture at University of Maryland with a thesis exploring Jewish landscape journey and experience, and holds certificates in spiritual entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, permaculture design, and environmental education. Yoshi holds a 2nd degree blackbelt in Lotus Kajukenbo and currently studies Chinese martial arts – including Tai Chi, Baguazhang, and Shuai Chiao (Chinese wrestling). In October 2024, Yoshi was a member of Team USA competing at the World Shuai Chiao Games in Baoding, China, followed by ten days of intensive martial arts study in the Wudang Mountains. He lives in the Cleveland area in Shaker Heights, OH on Erie, Mississauga, and Haudenosaunee land with his wife and daughter.

DJ Noah Souder-Russo

Noah Souder-Russo is an artist, liminal space holder, and frequency guide. His DJ sets attune to resonance and joy, helping you to remember yourself amidst the cacophony of these times. Noah has been producing music and DJing for over 15 years including a long-term residency at his favorite Brooklyn establishment, House of Yes. Noah also holds an MA in Women's and Gender Studies and is a reiki practitioner and energy worker.

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