Ha'Orot: The Lights of Rav Kook

Join us Thursday evening, September 1st for a special concert with Greg Wall's Later Prophets, featuring Rabbi Itzchak Marmorstein

Kula Shira:
Music as Spiritual Practice

Full Week: Workshops, Shabbaton, and Festival
August 29 – September 5

Weekday/Rosh Hodesh Elul: Workshops and Performances
August 29 – September 2

Labor Day Weekend: Music Festival featuring Neshama Carlebach
September 2 – 5

Ha'Orot: The Lights of Rav Kook
Thursday evening concert, September 1

Featuring Neshama Carlebach, Rabbi Greg Wall,
Shir Yaakov Feinstein-Feit, Shoshana Jedwab,
Eden “Eprhyme” Pearlstein, Basya Schechter,
and Rabbi Itzchak Marmorstein

Join an inspired and diverse cadre of musicians and teachers for an exploration of the Torah of music and the music of Torah.

Through traditional sources as well as contemporary creative practices and perspectives, we’ll collaborate, create and contemplate music as a spiritual practice.

• Engage prayer as music and music as prayer.
• Explore the social and spiritual implications of music for our communities.
• Enhance or develop new skills in songwriting, music theory, guitar playing, shofar blowing and more.
• Participate in open jams, nusach labs, user-friendly workshops in Jewish text literacy, poetry workshops and other skill-shares.
• There will also be evening performances by featured artists and a full-time jam studio.

This retreat takes place during Rosh Hodesh Elul (the beginning of the Hebrew month that precedes Rosh Hashanah) and also marks the yahrzeit of Rav Kook, one of the most celebrated and influential rabbis of the 20th century. During the week we will celebrate the beginning of the month of Elul. Over the long weekend, we will explore the mystical teachings of Rav Kook and the spirituality of music with Rabbi Itzchak Marmorstein.

On Thursday evening, September 1st, Greg Wall’s Later Prophets, featuring Rabbi Itzchak Marmorstein, will perform Ha'Orot: The Lights of Rav Kook, a musical journey into the illuminated poetry of Rabbi Avraham Itzchak HaCohen Kook, TZ’L, presented in honor of and on the evening of his 76th Yaartzeit (Elul 3, Sept 1). This groundbreaking collaboration, which is made possible by the generosity of the Harry and Jane Fischel Foundation, blends soulful modern jazz and timeless texts for an ecstatic cultural fusion that reaches for the divine.

Neshama Carlebach will be our artist-in-residence for Shabbat. Join us for a Carlebach-style Kabbalat Shabbat and Neshama's post-Shabbat performance.

Neshama Carlebach is a leading superstar in Jewish Entertainment whose talent and charisma captivate people worldwide. With her incredible band and in collaboration with The Green Pastures Baptist Church Choir, she is continuing the legacy established by her father Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. Her seventh recording Higher & Higher was an Entrant in the 2011 Grammy Awards. Neshama brings you the gift of songs that are danceable, sing-able and unforgettable. neshamacarlebach.com

Rabbi Greg Wall was ordained in 2006, and may well be the only recording and touring jazz musician who is also a rabbi. He has long incorporated Jewish themes into his adventurous and inclusive sonic universe; his rich saxophone and clarinet playing is heard with important bands such as Hasidic New Wave, Later Prophets and The Ayn Sof Arkestra. Greg has been the spiritual leader of the Sixth St. Community Synagogue in New York’s historic east Village since 2009. gregwall.com

Shir Yaakov Feinstein-Feit is a singer, composer, designer and producer. He has written liturgical chants and melodies that are used in prayer circles and synagogues around the world. Shir Yaakov was an Elat Chayyim Residential Intern, Isabella Freedman’s Creative Director and an ADAMAH fellow. He is currently the Musical Director of Romemu: NYC’s Shul for Body, Mind and Spirit. shiryaakov.com

Shoshana Jedwab is an award-winning Jewish educator and “primal percussionist” who facilitates Jewish-oriented drum circles nationwide. She drums for the Kirtan Rabbi, Romemu, Chana Rothman, earth-based celebrations, healing circles, retreats and synagogues. Shoshana has taught Jewish Studies for more than twenty years and she co-creates ritual experience and embodied prayer for Kohenet, Nehirim and Storahtelling. shoshanajedwab.com

Eden "Eprhyme" Pearlstein is a radical Jewish renaissance rapper. His music and lyrics combine cutting edge cultural expression with consciousness expanding kabbalistic commentary. Eden has performed and presented his work in major clubs, colleges and conferences around the world in secular, academic and religious settings. Eden is currently a K Records and Shemspeed recording artist, as well as one half of the musical midrash project Darshan with co-creator Shir Yaakov. eprhyme.com

Basya Schechter leads the neo-hasidic band Pharaoh’s Daughter. She travels through continents, key signatures and languages with a genre-bending sound that mixes echoes of the Mediterranean with flashes of Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic chants from her orthodox childhood. Basya tours internationally and has recorded six albums, including Haran, Daddy’s Pockets, Out Of The Reeds, Exile and Queen’s Dominion. She is currently a musical resident at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in NYC. pharaohsdaughter.com

Rabbi Itzchak Marmorstein, MSW is a rabbi whose teachings integrate the depths of the ancient teachings and the breadths of the contemporary unfolding. As a passionate student of the teachings of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook (1865-1935) for over 30 years, he is doing pioneering work in bringing Rav Kook to the public. His current focus is a creative jazz poetry collaboration with Greg Wall’s Later Prophets known as HA’OROT:The Lights of Rav Kook. Their acclaimed CD was recently released on John Zorn’s Tzadik Records.

Registration Information

Fees are per person and are all-inclusive. Prices are for double occupancy housing, in rooms with private or shared baths. Single supplement is $50 per night. We strive to make our programs affordable to everyone and we offer Financial Assistance.

• 7-Night Full Week (Workshops, Shabbaton, and Festival): $860 (Commuters: $430)
• 4-Night Weekday/Rosh Hodesh Elul (Workshops and Performances): $520 (Commuters: $260)
• 3-Night Shabbaton/Labor Day Weekend (Music Festival): $520 (Commuters: $260)
• 3-Night Shabbaton/Labor Day Weekend Camping Rate (Music Festival): $350
• Ha'Orot: The Lights of Rav Kook (Thurs concert Sept 1st @ 8 pm): $18

A Note about Hurricane Irene: Isabella Freedman is a great place to take shelter from the storm! We are set up with backup generators so you'll always be warm, fed, and in good company even when the weather outside is frightful. In an emergency, call 860-824-3068 to reach us here.

Room and Board

Our goal is to help you feel at home while on retreat. We provide you with comfortable accommodations in a beautiful, natural setting and three homemade meals prepared each day with your health and well-being in mind.

Prices are per person and include housing, meals and full use of our facility. All rooms are air-conditioned in the summer, heated in the winter and simply decorated in a country style without modern multimedia distractions.

If you are coming alone and request a shared room, you will be paired with a roommate of the same gender. Please note, however, that some cabins and shared bathrooms may be co-ed.

Back to top

Financial Assistance

We strive to make our programs affordable to everyone. We provide limited financial aid of up to 50% off Room and Board fees. This financial support is only available for dormitory rooms with hall baths and economy rooms for couples and families. If you would like to request financial support, please complete the Application for Financial Aid. In your request, please consider that we have a limited pool of resources. We are committed to helping you in any we can, and we ask you to help us help others by limiting your request to your genuine need.

All requests must be received at least three weeks prior to the retreat.

Please note that we are not able to make any refunds in order to grant an aid request. If you choose to register prior to being awarded aid, and your remaining balance is less than the aid award, you will forfeit any award in excess of your outstanding balance.

Cancellation Policy

Payments made will be refunded in full (less a $50 processing fee) if you cancel more than 14 days prior to your arrival. If you cancel between 13 days and 72 hours prior to a retreat for which you have registered, a non-refundable credit (less a $50 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 within 72 hours of a retreat or on the retreat 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.

Inclement Weather: Isabella Freedman reserves the right to cancel a retreat due to inclement weather if, in its judgment, it will be unable to operate safely. In the event of such a cancellation, a full refund will be made to all registrants. In the event that the retreat proceeds as scheduled, no refund or credit will be available.

Shuttle and Transportation Fees: A full transportation refund is available if you cancel a transportation reservation at least 3 days (72 hours) in advance. No refund is available if less than 3 days notice is given.

Training Institutes: If you are participating in a two-year training institute and you miss or cancel one of the weeklong retreat sessions, 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 refund on your program fee for any remaining pre-paid retreats.

Travel Insurance: We recommend you contact your travel agent to purchase travel insurance in the event that you need to cancel or change your travel plans.

Exceptions: Exceptions to these policies may be available in the event of severe weather emergencies or the death of a close family member. To request a non-transferable credit for one of these reasons, please submit a written request to registrar@isabellafreedman.org no more than three days after the start of the event.