TBE: Soul of Shabbat: Writing from the Kabbalat Shabbat Liturgy

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A 4-session program with Liturgist-in-Residence Alden Solovy

Soul of Shabbat is a unique opportunity to dig into the Kabbalat Shabbat liturgy as a doorway into writing prayers and poetry about Shabbat. We’ll examine core themes and metaphors of Shabbat, as well as related textual sources. The class will be divided between learning time and writing time, with the goal of inspiring participants to create personally meaningful Shabbat prayers, meditations, or songs. Meets once each week of the residency.

Alden Solovy spreads joy and excitement for prayer. An American Israeli liturgist, poet, lyricist, author, and educator, Alden is the Liturgist-in-Residence for the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. His writing was transformed by multiple tragedies, marked in 2009 by the sudden death of his wife from catastrophic brain injury. His teaching spans from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem to synagogues throughout North America, as well as Leo Baeck College in London and Limmud Conferences in the U.S., Canada, and the UK. He’s the author of five books of new liturgy in English, including a trilogy of poetic prayer books from CCAR Press: This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer, along with This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings and This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. His sixth book – These Words: Poetic Midrash on the Language of Torah – is scheduled for release from CCAR Press in early 2023. Alden’s work is anthologized in 20 volumes from Jewish, Christian, and Catholic publishers. Alden also writes for Ritualwell, RavBlog and the Times of Israel. He’s a three-time winner of the Peter Lisagor Award for Exemplary Journalism and the founder of ManKind Project Israel. In 2012, Alden made Aliyah to Jerusalem. Find his latest work at ToBendLight.com.