Retreat Recap 2009

By Susan E. Meyer

We drove in the rain to get there on Friday, May 1, and we drove in the rain as we returned on Sunday, May 3. In between, we had a weekend of cloudless skies. The good weather was just the icing on the cake: CBST’s 9th annual retreat, held at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, was a resounding success all around. The retreat was completely sold out, with 81 adults and 23 children in attendance—an all-time record. Only in a location as spacious as the Freedman Center is it possible to accommodate so many people and such a variety of activities, organized beautifully by many CBST volunteers. Everywhere you turned, something was happening: workshops, softball, children playing, and thanks to Ruth Friedkin, Doug Edelson, Ron Weiss, Steve Fruh, and Paul Marsolini, some very fine bird watching.

The theme of the retreat this year was “Sacred Time, Sacred Space: Searching for Holiness in our Lives throughout the Year,” which was translated into a number of very interesting text studies and workshops.

While some guests joined a meditation class and the children were engaged in Limmud B’Shabbat and Alef Bet Shabbat B’Yachad , the majority of the group attended a very special Shabbat Morning Service enhanced by a superb introduction to spiritual dance by choreographer and CBST member Sasha Soreff. Sasha began by suggesting we share with one another our memory of a sacred moment in our lives. She then invited four people to describe their sacred moments to the entire congregation: one person cited her coming out; another her experience in the hospital of receiving blood transfusions from loved ones; another described cradling a baby in her arms while raindrops were tapping on the window; while the last recalled the miracle of giving birth. Sasha represented each of these with a movement, then led everyone in a silent spiritual dance that incorporated each of the four movements together.

It wasn’t easy selecting from the afternoon workshops: Cooper-Rittmaster Rabbinical Intern Cecelia Beyer led a text study, “Adding Kodesh to Chol : Bringing the Holy to the Everyday (and into the bathroom!);” Melissa Simon conducted a text study on “What to Wear When One Prays;” Irene Javors led a session on “Companion Animal Loss: A Psycho-Educational Workshop,” and Yonah Levine presided over Arts & Crafts, while children went with their parents to visit the farm animals and managed to see a baby goat born only minutes before their arrival.

Workshops on Shabbat afternoon included “Shir Hama’alot —Songs of Ascent” with Cantor Berger and Joyce Rosenzweig; “Taking Prayer Outside of the Synagogue” with Rabbi Cohen; “Finding Holiness in Community” with CBST president Steve Frank and Rabbi Kleinbaum, and two programs for children led by Melissa Simon and Yonah Levine.

For those faint of heart, the afternoon was also the best time to catch up on reading or napping, but for the stalwart a softball game offered lots of exercise and even more in laughter, while others boated on the lake or joined a mincha walk led by Rabbi Cohen.

Saturday evening, when the children were having a havdalah pajama party, Marsha Melnick and Adam Berger presented an update on Koleinu and the social action teams that have begun to form. This was followed by a “Ritual Skills Fair,” with the clergy demonstrating the proper method for lifting and wrapping a Torah, putting on tefillin , and wearing a tallit .

A ping pong tournament and a film screening were overwhelmed by the music in the adjoining room. Thanks to the generosity of Erica Karp and Sari Kessler, a lively DJ was hired to provide us with the kind of dance music we haven’t heard for a very long time. A babysitter made it possible for even parents to dance way into the night.

After a relaxed Sunday morning highlighted by a Shacharit service on the dock and a farewell lunch, we left Isabella Freedman Jewish Center. It had begun to rain again.

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