B’Tzelem (In the Image): a Queer/ Trans Rosh ha Shana Gathering for Jews on an anti-Zionist path (and those who love us!)
5 PM Wednesday, October 2nd - Noon Friday October 4th
@ the Mariposa Institute (Northern Pomo land - colonially known as Ukiah, CA)
Sliding Scale Registration: $180 - $720 (suggested $450)
Join Elana-June Margolis, Jonah Aline Daniel and Hannah Mayree as we welcome 5785 in the sweet embrace of beloved queer/ trans anti-Zionist Jewish community on the beautiful, rugged landscape of the Mariposa Institute, located on Northern Pomo land (colonially known as Ukiah, CA).
Together we will:
SING songs of liberation, prayer & grief
SAVOR the SWEETNESS of apples, honey & community
MIKVEH (ritually wash away/ release 5784)
MAKE SOUL CANDLES to connect to and honor our ancestors
DYE FABRICS in natural fibers infused with magic, transforming old garments into new skins for a new year
GAZE at the STARS in the infinite depths of the deep dark new moon skies
CONNECT to the BODY of the EARTH
PRACTICE COMMUNITY CARE as PRAYER
FALL DEEPER IN LOVE with the power of community care
REST. RENEW. RELEASE. RECOMMIT.
This Rosh ha Shana gathering is dedicated to serving our souls’ participation in the Great Turning - helping us to transform & release that which inhibits our journey towards liberation while stewarding in the sweetness, steadfastness, clarity, connection, courage, strength and love we require to embody the world we know is possible. Join us. We need you.
TACHLIS (RETREAT DETAILS)
LODGING: Mariposa offers limited indoor sleeping options in dorm-style rooms and ample space for camping in tents. There is limited space for car camping for participants who rely on this option.
MEALS: As part of our commitment to community care, all meals will be collectively prepared, served and cleaned up by participants under the loving guidance of our Kitchen Top, Willow. Meals will be Kosher style, though uur kitchen is not Kosher. All efforts will be made to attend to the diversity of our food needs and preferences to ensure a nourishing, sustaining, delightful digestive experience for all.
ACCESS INFORMATION: The Mariposa Institute is located on 115 acres of unceded Northern Pomo land, colonially known as Ukiah, CA. Our grounds are rugged. We are currently in the process of working towards increased accessibility. Our access information is outlined below, with additional information as you proceed with registration. If you'd like more information before proceeding with registration please check out our full
Access Statement.
MOBILITY ACCESS: All main retreat spaces are accessible by car, with a short walk on unpaved roads door to door. Some paths are grassy, some are dusty/ rocky. Rides can be provided to/ from spaces within the retreat center. The insides of our main retreat spaces/ bathrooms are currently accessible to community members who use walkers, canes & some wheelchairs/ scooters, as well as community members who walk without assistance. If you are a wheelchair/ scooter user & are curious if this space could work for you, please reach out. We are eager to be in conversation with you.
ASL: ASL may be available for programming upon request. If you would benefit from ASL, please reach out! We are currently crowd-sourcing/ seeking grants for ASL and are eager to be in conversation with you.
COVID: Our COVID protocol is detailed in the form below. In short, after in-depth consideration & consultation, we are offering the following strategy for navigating the interlocking difficulties presented by COVID-19, in the hopes of increasing access for the widest range of our community members:
- Please limit exposure to COVID-19 in the week leading up to the retreat by wearing a mask in public & avoiding crowded spaces whenever possible.
- All participants are required to take a molecular test (such as the ones provided by PlusLife/ Altruran) on the day the retreat begins BEFORE arrival. If you are unable to access a test and/or a reader, please take a rapid test on the day of the retreat BEFORE arriving & we will test you again as soon as you arrive.
- Molecular tests will be provided (and required) each day of the retreat and administered by trained community members. Plans will be in place in the event that someone tests positive.
- The majority of programming and meals will be outside, with indoor programming occurring in well-ventilated spaces with huge windows/doors.
- Masking will be optional outdoors & encouraged indoors (more on this in the form below)
SCENTSITIVIES:
MYSTICAL DOWNLOAD:
Our Rosh ha Shana gathering will be framed by Kabbalistic teachings on the tzelem transference that occurs during the Ya’amim Noraim (Rosh ha Shana through Hoshana Rabba).
What’s a tzelem?
In the Torah, in Bereshit, we are told that we are made in the tzelem (image) of the Divine. Kabbalistic wisdom instructs that each tzelem is unique - a specific refraction of cosmic possibility, seeking to be embodied through us. Our tzelem arrives with the birth of our physical body, and remains with us until the time of our physical death; it carries us through all of our days, drawing us towards the fulfillment of our Divine potential. We can imagine it as a sculptural form with rivets and pathways, directing Divine energy as it flows through us, in much the same way that the river-bed guides the flow of the river.
What does this have to do with Rosh ha Shana?
Each year, on Erev Rosh ha Shana, our tzelem begins to go through a death/ rebirth process, as the version of our tzelem that has carried us through the past year begins to be released, and the version of our tzelem uniquely prepared to carry us through the unknown tides of the year to come begins to be born.
As we look ahead to 5785, with all its known and unknown challenges, we welcome you to join us as we collectively invoke the power and potency of this cosmic tzelem transfer. What might our world look like if we each committed to hospicing the shapes of empire out with our outdated tzelem and welcoming the forces of Olam ha Ba (the World that is Coming, Constantly Coming, Always Coming) in through our tzelem’s rebirth?
MORE ABOUT THE FACILITATORS:
CORE FACILITATOR: Elana-June Margolis (she/they/we) AKA Kohenet Chalav u Dvash ba Tehomo (Priestexxx of Milk & Honey in the Gay Void) is a white, queer, femme, Ashkenazi, anti-Zionist Jewish mystic, teacher, artist & community organizer. Her life’s work is dedicated to liberating ancestral texts, technologies & tales in service of personal healing towards collective liberation. Elana June's teachings are rooted in abolitionism, feminism, anti-racism, queer/ trans theory & praxis, Zoharic Kabbalah, de-colonized Anthroposophy & earth-based Judaism.
SOUL CANDLE WORKSHOP LEADER: JONAH ALINE DANIEL. jonah aline Daniel is a Jewish ritual candle maker, ritualist and herbalist, currently living on Skokomish Land, Union, Washington. jonah began the anti-zionist spiritual and political project
Narrow Bridge Candles (a Jewish ritual candle making project formed to materially support and lift up the full
Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel, and to create more space for ritual with integrity and liberatory potential) in 2010, and has been hand dipping beeswax ritual candles year-round since then! Their herbal project
Sick Witch Herbs seeks to uplift the brilliance and resilience of queer, trans, sick, and disabled communities.
jonah is passionate about the radical potential of rural spaces, the process of decolonization of land, the protection of endangered and at-risk plant communities. and exposing, confronting and ENDING Zionism, once and for all.
SONG LEADER: HANNAH MAYREE (she/her/they/them) is a creative facilitator and musician who's work and art lends itself as a tool for redesigning and reconnecting to our roots as humans on this planet. A banjoist, multi-instrumentalist, producer and vocalist, Hannah shares original and traditional banjo compositions as well as harmonies through acoustic live vocal looping and reminds us of the power found in our relationship to the earth, music and community.
Who is this retreat for?
This gathering is led by and centered around queer/trans anti-Zionist Jews. Anyone who wishes to practice, pray and play with us is welcome, regardless of your sexual orientation, gender or religious affiliation. Folks who are in an early stage of unlearning/ recovering from Zionism are welcome, as are folks who never Zionist and those who identify as non-Zionist or anti-Zionist. We acknowledge that being anti-Zionist is a practice (rather than a fixed location); it is a life-long commitment to dismantling Zionism wherever we find it (including in ourselves) every day for the rest of our lives. If you are still wondering if you belong here, you may be comforted by knowing that we belong to each even (and perhaps especially) in our fear that we do not belong. If you are still wondering if you belong here, feel free to email Elana-June. XO
This retreat is part of MAY WE BECOME READY (a series of High Holy Day Offerings) You can check out the others here:
Questions?
Please email Elana.june.margolis@gmail.com
Ready to Register?
Wonderful! Please fill out the lengthy form below and press SUBMIT. It will probably take 15 - 30 minutes to read & fill it out.
WHAT IF I AM ATTENDING MULTIPLE RETREATS? DO I NEED TO FILL THIS FORM OUT MULTIPLE TIMES??? Nope! If you are hoping to attend multiple retreats, please indicate that below & we will merge your information.
With deepest blessing,
Elana-June, in collaboration with Jonah Aline Daniel & Hannah Mayree
