Ending is Beginning: a Queer/Trans Jewish anti-Zionist Simchat Torah/ Shemini Atzeret/ Simchat Torah Retreat
Ending is Beginning
A Queer/Trans Jewish anti-Zionist Simchat Torah/ Shemini Atzeret/ Simchat Torah Retreat
Facilitated by Ayelet Hashachar & Elana-June Margolis 
3 PM Thursday, October 24th - Noon Sunday October 27th
@ the Mariposa Institute (Northern Pomo land - colonially known as Ukiah, CA)
Sliding Scale Registration: $180 - $720 (suggested $450)

Beloveds, 

We gather, and we invite you to gather with us. One year later. A full rotation of the wheel of Jewish time.  The catastrophic genocidal machine rages on, ramped up in full force. The destruction. The devastation. The endless horrific relentless news. 

And yet, each day, we wake up. We pray. We fight. We live. We die. We gather. 

The end of Sukkot is a potent elemental, ecological, interpersonal and sensual portal. This is a time when Jewish ancestors engaged with some real freaky magic. Whether it’s shadow divination, willow ritual, sensual plant play, water reverence, ancestral invitations, tzelem reflections, or ecstatic dance with unfurled scrolls, celebrating the cyclicality of all things, what’s true is that our people knew it could only happen in a setting of more porousness between bodies and land. 

Join us in beautiful Ukiah California, 2 hours north of the bay at the Mariposa Institue, a retreat center nestled into the Mendocino County Hills. On these ancestral lands of the Northern Pomo nation. 

Together, in ritual, in contemplation, in land and ancestral connection, in fierce solidarity with full Palestinian liberation between the river and the sea, we invite the questions:

“What are we practicing?”
“What are we stewarding?”
“What are we hospicing?”
“Have you even noticed, you’re alive?” 

Let us tend to ourselves so we can tend to each other. Let us nourish our spirits in service of showing up for the struggle against Empire. Let us prepare the land for the cold wintery lulls, and prepare ourselves to hospice zionism and empire towards its expiring end. And midwife the World to Come into being.

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 & are not currently wheelchair accessible. We are currently in the process of working towards increased accessibility.

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:
We ask that all participants arrive to the retreat scent-free and do not use scented products for the duration of the retreat. If you have questions about this, you can read this fabulous Resource on being Fragrance Free from EBMC (East Bay Meditation Center)

MORE ABOUT THE FACILITATORS:
AYELET HASHACHAR is a Jewish educator and clinical herbalist with a focus on trans feminine health. Full bio forth coming! 

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. 

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.

WHAT IF I AM ATTENDING MULTIPLE RETREATS? DO I NEED TO FILL THIS FORM OUT MULTIPLE TIMES???
Nope! If you are attending multiple retreats, please indicate that below and we will merge your information for you!

With deepest blessing,
Elana-June & Ayelet
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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. 

While Mariposa has some bedding, it is recommended that ALL participants bring bedding/ pillows. Participants who are camping must bring all their own camping gear, as well as bedding. 

What is your plan for lodging?
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There will be opportunities for participants to propose meal time conversations/ caucuses & workshops. Is there anything you're considering proposing?
KITCHEN WITCHERY: 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. 

All community members will be invited to sign up for one or more kitchen shift (with options for both indoor & outdoor tasks), helping either to prep/ serve or clean-up after meals. 

We believe that the kitchen is the heart of any temple (and any community) and that working together to create/ clean-up from nourishing, beautiful meals is a fun, meaningful way of connecting and collaborating through practicing community care. 

As the systemic fractures and oppressive roots of dominant culture are unveiled, more & more of us are confronting the reality that (as our comrade Dean Spade says) “the state will never save us”. We are all we’ve got, and that’s a lot, when we learn to work in intersectional community to share resources and offer care within community. 

This kitchen model is an experiment in radicalizing the retreat model towards a gathering framework, in service of economic viability, communal resilience and collective care. 

We hope you will experience joy and inspiration during your kitchen shifts! 
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HA MOTZI LECHEM MIN HA'ARETZ!
We are a hungry bunch with many diverse food needs! Our kitchen is not Kosher, though meals will be Kosher style. 

Please check all that apply about your relationship to food:
 *
Required
Do you have any allergies to food (or anything else) we should be aware of?  If so, please let us know how serious it is and what to do if you are exposed. 
The Mariposa Institute is located on 115 acres of rugged terrain, with unpaved pathways. Rides can be provided from place to place if needed, and all efforts will be made to ensure that programming occurs ONLY in places that are accessible to ALL participants.
Clear selection
SLIDING SCALE REGISTRATION: 
$180 - $720

Very limited partial scholarships and work-trade options available for community members for whom contributing $180 towards this gathering is a barrier to participation (for any reason). If you want to join us and require a scholarship and/or if you would like to offer work-trade please email elana.june.margolis@gmail.com 

Where the money goes/ Notes on Sliding Scale: 
Financial contributions towards this retreat cover the cost of lodging at Mariposa ($35/ night for dorms and $25/night for camping), food ($9/meal/person), materials (including COVID test readers & tests), ASL (if requested), paying staff and offering modest honorariums to facilitators and covering facilitator travel costs. 

If everyone who is attending contributes $450, the retreat financially sustains itself. However, we know that $450 is not doable for many community members, for many reasons, most of which are connected to the impacts of systemic marginalization, oppression and resource hoarding. 

In honor of this, we request that those community members who are able to contribute up to $720 to support those community members who are unable to contribute more than $180, while knowing that some may also be attending on scholarship.

Please indicate the range that you anticipate your offering will fall in. 
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REGISTRATION DEADLINES

Registration for this retreat opens August 22nd and closes October 1st. 

Registered participants will receive an email with information on when/ how to send in registration 

Deposit
A non-refundable $90 deposit is required by September 24th!

Full registration Deadline
Full registration is due by October 4th!

Refunds
Registration fees (minus the $90 non-refundable deposit) will be fully refunded if participants withdraw on or before October 17th. Cancellations after this point will be non-refundable. We apologize in advance for holding this policy firmly with NO exceptions. 

Please confirm you read and agree to this below!
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COVID: 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: 

HARM REDUCTION: We request that all participants limit exposure to COVID-19 in the week leading up to the retreat by wearing a mask in public & avoiding crowded spaces whenever possible. MOLECULAR 

TESTING BEFORE ARRIVAL: All participants are required to take a molecular test (such as the ones provided by PlusLife/ Altruran) on the day the retreat begins BEFORE arriving at the retreat center. 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 and we will test you again as soon as you arrive. 

PROOF OF NEGATIVE TEST: Please bring proof your negative test with you to the retreat. 

DAILY MOLECULAR TESTING: 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. 

OUTDOOR PROGRAMMING/MEALS: The majority of programming and meals will be outside. In the event that we are indoors for meals or programming, our main spaces are well ventilated with huge windows/ doors.

MASKING GUIDELINES: In order to protect our most immuno-compromised community members as much as possible, we invite all participants who are able to wear a well-fitting KN95 (or similar quality mask) as much as possible, especially when indoors in shared space. We understand that mandatory masking presents a health-risk/ barrier to participation for some community members (including our hearing-impaired/ deaf community members) and trust everyone to make the decision that best supports their health and participation, with mindfulness towards the care of our sacred constellation.  

If you have questions about this, please do not hesitate to reach out. 
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COVID SUPPORT

We need all the help we can get! Please check all that apply!
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Required
COMMUNITY CARE OF OUR BEAUTIFULLY BROKEN HEARTS

There will be a care team in place to support emotional/spiritual needs as they arise. Would you like to be part of this care team?
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ATTENDING MULTIPLE RETREATS? WANT TO COME EARLY OR STAY LATE AND/OR FOR THE WHOLE MONTH? DON'T WANT TO FILL THIS FORM OUT MULTIPLE TIMES & WOULD LOVE FOR US TO CONSOLIDATE YOUR INFO?

If so, please let us know your plans, hopes and dreams below.
Do you have any questions, feedback or unaddressed access needs to share at this time?
A copy of your responses will be emailed to the address you provided.
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