Awareness: Awakening Today, Everyday

Contemplative Practices In Stillness and Motion

June 22–29, 2008

This retreat is almost full and we can no longer accept registrations online. Please call (800) 398-2630 to register.

This silent retreat emphasizes an awareness practice that will liberate the mind, open the heart and lead to awakening and transformation. Participants will be guided through levels of contemplative inquiry as we explore the true nature of wisdom and compassion. The course includes a dance component that will introduce and embody the empty stillness that exists at the center of all movement — a metaphor for meditation in action.

This is the first time this kind of retreat is being offered. No special skills are required; just bring your willingness to allow the mind/body to relax and simply be open to whatever arises.

Teachers

Rabbi David A. Cooper is the author of many books, including God is a Verb and Ecstatic Kabbalah. He has published a number of audio-sets, including Kabbalah Meditation, The Mystical Kabbalah and The Holy Chariot. Rabbi Cooper has led workshops and retreats in the USA, Israel, Holland, Poland, New Zealand and Australia. His teachings offer a Jewish perspective that is complemented by the wisdom of other schools including Sufism, Zen and Tibetan Buddhism.

Shoshana Cooper is an artist, Tea Ceremony teacher, meditation instructor, composer and former nursing instructor. Shoshana has become a leader in the growing popularity of Jewish Meditation. She and her husband David taught at the Jewish Renewal Kallah for twelve years and they lived in the Old City of Jerusalem for the previous eight years.

Eliezer Sobel is a musician and the author of Wild Heart Dancing and the novel Minyan: Ten Jewish Men in a World that is Heartbroken, winner of the Peter Taylor Prize for the Novel. His newest book is The 99th Monkey: A Spiritual Journalist’s Misadventures with Gurus, Messiahs, Sex, Psychedelics & Other Consciousness-Raising Experiments.

Registration Information

The program fee for this class is $0; by donation. Fees are per person, and do not include the cost of Room and Board (below). We strive to make our programs affordable to everyone. For information about Financial Assistance, please see below.

Room and Board

Room and board includes housing, meals, evening activities, hot tub, yoga, meditation, and full use of our facility. All rooms are air-conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter. Adults fees apply to ages 18 and higher. Rates are per person, and include all meals. For double or triple occupancy, you may either request a roommate, or be matched with one by our staff.

Deluxe rooms

Deluxe rooms have private bathrooms. Single and double occupancy are provided with queen-sized beds, triple occupancy has twin beds. Handicap accessibility available, please call (800) 398-2630 x307.

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Plus rooms

Plus rooms have private bathrooms. A limited number of queen-sized beds are available for a $15/night surcharge, please call for availability.

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Standard rooms

Standard rooms share a bathroom with one other room. A limited number of queen-sized beds are available for a $15/night surcharge, please call for availability.

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Economy rooms

Economy rooms have twin beds with the bathroom in the hall.

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Dormitory rooms

Dormitory rooms are either triple or quadruple occupancy with bunk beds and bathrooms on the hall. Campers supply their own tents and equipment. The commuter fee includes all meals and snacks, use of the facility and its amenities, and participation in any open programming provided, such as prayer, meditation, or yoga.

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Financial Assistance

Financial Aid for Room and Board

We provide limited scholarship funding to reduce room and board fees for those in extreme financial need. Financial aid is only available for dormitory rooms with hall baths for single adults and economy rooms for couples and families. If you would like to request financial aid, please complete the financial aid form. Please note financial aid requests must be received at least three weeks prior to the retreat.

Student Aid Provided by The Lasko Foundations

Up to 50% scholarship is available for graduate students in rabbinical school, cantorial school or in Master’s degree programs in Jewish Studies. To apply for this scholarship, please complete the Lasko Scholarship form. Lasko awards may not be combined with any other financial aid provided through Isabella Freedman.

Financial Aid for the Jewish Arts Institute

A grant from the Mazer Family Fund of UJA-New York covers up to 50% of the program fee for the Jewish Arts Institute. To apply for this grant, please complete the financial aid form.

The Harold Grinspoon Foundation's
Jewish Experience Fund for Adults

Thanks to a generous grant from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, adults 21 years of age or older who are residents of Western Massachusetts and want to participate in a program at Isabella Freedman are eligible to apply for up to a 50% subsidy of the total cost of the program to a maximum of $500 per program. This funding can be applied to Program Fees and Room and Board Fees. To apply for this grant, please contact The Harold Grinspoon Foundation directly.

Cancellation Policy

Payments made will be refunded in full (less a $75 processing fee) if you cancel more than 10 days prior to a retreat for which you are registered. If you cancel within 10 days or less, a non-refundable credit (less a $75 processing fee) will be held for one year from the date of issue. This credit is non-transferable. No credit or refund is available if you cancel less than 24 hours prior to or on the workshop’s arrival day, if you do not show up, or if you leave a retreat early for any reason.

Isabella Freedman reserves the right to cancel any program at any time. In the event of such cancellation, you will be given a complete refund. A full transportation refund is available if you cancel at least 3 days (72 hours) in advance. No transportation refund is available with less than 3 days notice.

If you are participating in a Training Institute and you miss or cancel one retreat session, your Room and Board Fee will be refunded according to the policy above, but the program fee for a missed or cancelled retreat session is still due. Withdrawal is permitted only after the first retreat session. If you withdraw from a Training Institute after the first retreat session, or if you are asked by faculty to leave the institute, you will receive a full Program Fee refund for any remaining pre-paid retreats.