ALEPH Canada: Alliance for Jewish Renewal in Canada
ALEPH Canada inspires people to discover possibilities for an evolving, heart-based, eco-conscious Judaism that has meaning and purpose, so that together we can build and strengthen Jewish spiritual renewal in Canada.
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A message from Ralph Benmergui, the Executive Director of Aleph Canada.
“Over the last few months, we have been navigating a transition from Aleph Canada under the guidance of Rabbi Sherril Gilbert and others to my arrival as the new Executive Director. We have been revamping the website, reaching out to Renewal stakeholders across the country and adding new members to our Board of Directors.
Two things that made me want to take on this challenge-Spiritual but not Religious and Renewal as an answer to the dwindling attendance in our conventional sanctuaries.The age of big box Judaism has come to a crossroads. Ritual, for more and more, has lost its sacred energy. God has become a four letter word. A descriptor for a man on a throne with a beard and a naughty and nice list. Santa God.
Judaism itself over the last fifty or more years has become more about Zionism than the sacred unity of all. Renewal is about a new way of being Jewish. I am here for that and I want you to be here too. Let’s dive into ‘earth based Judaism’, deep ecumenism, Jewish meditation and movement. Let’s embody our spiritual lives together.
One more thing. If it resonates, consider donating on our website, whatever you can. Your generosity is the fuel that will sustain us on this journey together.”
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Ralph Benmergui | Executive Director Alephcanada.ca
Rabbi Zalman - Founder of the Worldwide Jewish Renewal Movement (1924 - 2014)
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi first came to Winnipeg, Canada in 1956 as an ultra-orthodox emissary for the Hassidic Chabad Lubavitch movement. By the time he left the city in 1975, he had parted ways with Chabad, gained the moniker of "hippie rabbi" and had tried and tested many of the ideas that evolved into the Jewish Renewal movement.
ALEPH Canada is about Connections
Looking for a Renewal community, synagogue or rabbi in Canada? Visit our Communities page to find out who’s doing the creative, sustaining work of renewing Judaism in Canada!
Renewal - A New Way To Be Jewish
ALEPH Canada is about Learning
The Integral Halachah Institute (IHI) is ALEPH Canada’s incubator project, which develops educational and ritual resources for individuals and communities to learn from and use.
The IHI also houses the Dayanim graduate curriculum, a program that trains Jewish clergy to respond to halachic/legal questions.
ALEPH Canada supports Canadian ALEPH Ordination Program students with the Rabbi Daniel Siegel and Rabbi Hanna Tiferet Siegel Scholarship Fund to help defray the cost of the ordination program.
Social justice is deeply embedded in Jewish Renewal. Visit our Sacred Foods Project materials to learn more about food justice and food security in Jewish communities.
Visit the ALEPH Ordination Program website to learn more about registering for upcoming programs available to everyone
ALEPH Canada is about ReSources
Visit our ReSources Library for some of the most important and hard-to-find books, siddurim (prayerbooks), monographs, articles, and other educational materials written by Jewish Renewal luminaries. Some of these materials are required reading for the ALEPH Ordination Program.
Go to our Links page to find Canadian Renewal-focused websites as well as others we think you will like and appreciate.
