Rabbi Shendelman welcomes a new you

Rabbi Sara Shendelman invites you to enter High Holy Day services as if you’re arriving at your own wedding—the community as a whole and each person individually are your bride and beloved at this soulful and uplifting journey into the new year.

Let the joy and solemnity of being embraced by your beloved sift down through you, until gratitude and prayer well up in response.

Witness your soul bloom as your voice unties in song with others.

As your defenses and tensions melt away, enter the new year a spirit unprotected, cleansed—opened.

Celebrate the fall High Holy Days
with Rabbi Shendelman and the Chochmat HaLev extended community
Opening to the Beloved

Each year, we gather on the high holy days to pray for blessing in the coming year and to meditate on the deeds of our past. From Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, we examine ourselves, scrutinize our role in relationships, question our participation in the community, as well as the global impact of our lives.

This year, what if we choose to grow a little differently?
By opening.

What if we utilize the effort of internal inventory, to simply open to receiving the blessing that’s already all around us?
Life is here—in all its glory and challenge—waiting for us to experience it.

How much can you let in?
I Will Open To You My Beloved
Will You Open To Me

Blessing Ceremony honoring Rabbi Shendelman!

You are cordially invited to attend
the official "Blessing" ceremony
of Rabbi Sara Shendelman
on Saturday
the ninth of September,
two thousand and seven
at
Chochmat HaLev
2215 Prince St.
Berkeley CA 94705

Please join the extended community to share the blessings as Rabbi Gershon Winkler conducts a special ceremony to honor Rabbi Shendelman's anniversary of receiving smicha, recognizing her years of providing spiritual guidance, lighting the hearts, minds and souls of couples, students, new parents, newborns, and all attendees at religious and spiritual ceremonies where she has officiated.

The blessing will occur during Rabbi Winkler's talk "It's 5768--Do You Know Where You Are?" An evening of mind boggling wisdom from the Kabbalah that no one else is teaching, delving into the deeper meanings behind this intensive series of festivals: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Sh'mini Atzeret. Why so many in a single moon? What is it about autumn that makes the harvest festivals so cumbersome? Is there a lighter side to all of this? Come and find out with the rabbi from the far side. This evening is also a preview of Rabbi Gershon's upcoming 4-workshop series Life Cycling: Jewish Shamanic Wisdom of the Seasonal Celebrations, premiering this October.

Enjoy the celebration refreshments in honor of Rabbi Shendelman's deserved blessing.

You are the real deal!

"I am a wedding photographer seeking an officant for friends. In all my years of attending and photographing wedding ceremonies, I have witnessed a wide range and quantity of officiants. Sara, I honestly want you to know that you were my favorite of all those I have ever met. Your weddings are spiritual and bring in strong divine energy. The experience of what you contribute to the couple stands out in my memory as unique and unmatched. You are the real deal."

Preparing for the wedding

Dear Sara,

Here's your copy of the vows. We're each going to forward our individual
ones soon...

You are one of the most inspirational people we've met and can't thank you enough for your time, energy, and spirit you have shown through our few little pow-wows. We both love you and can't wait to see you again.

Thanks for being you