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 PROGRAM OF STUDY
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
FACULTY
SCHEDULE
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photo © Marcia Prager 2007
| Rosh Hashpa’ah and Founding Director: |
Rabbi Shohama Wiener, D.Min. |
Yoetzet and Associate Director: |
Rabbi Nadya Gross, M.A. |
“Becoming a 'Mashpia' has been a turning point in my life. The journey
has opened up places within me waiting for this opportunity. The thoughtfulness and
guidance of my teachers has been uplifting, bringing me to a place from which I
can be invisibly present for my 'mushpa’im'.” Hazzan Adalah Caplowe
ALEPH Ordination Program in Spiritual Direction/Guidance
participants participants
 
photo © Marcia Prager 2007 photo © Marcia Prager 2007
Hashpa’ah is the traditional term for the relationship with a spiritual director or mashpia who offers guidance and teaching on matters of Jewish faith and practice, and on a personal relationship with the Divine. The ALEPH Hashpa’ah path was designed with the guidance and blessing of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, founder of Jewish Renewal.
In January 2009, the ALEPH Ordination Program will begin the second cohort of its program, unique in Jewish history, leading to Certification as Spiritual Director and Ordination (Smicha) as Mashpia. This program, called HASHPA’AH, offers a three-year concentration in Jewish Spiritual Counseling and Guidance which is open to graduates and students of all Jewish seminaries who feel a kinship with Jewish Renewal, and become members of OHaLaH: The Association of Rabbis for Jewish Renewal. ALEPH ordination students may take and earn credits for Hashpa’ah as part of their Rabbinic, Cantorial or Rabbinic Pastor Program.
The requirements of the training program include four Intensives, three semesters of teleconference coursework, three semesters of supervised practice with individuals and groups, and supplemental learning in related areas. Participants train individually and in group settings with mashpi'im who support their spiritual growth in relationship to G*d and sacred service, and model for them diverse modalities of spiritual counseling and spiritual direction.
HASHPA’AH is multi-disciplinary, integrating diverse spiritual guidance approaches and skills, while emphasizing the legacy of hashpa’ah that can be found in the literature and praxis of Hasidism and the Jewish mystical tradition. The curriculum integrates the sacred arts of spiritual and pastoral counseling; personal, intercessory and communal prayer and ritual; the art of the maggid (story teller); spiritual approaches to Torah and mitzvot; personal and communal ethical development/mussar; exposure to contemporary issues of bio-ethics, and other areas of learning.
HASHPA’AH ’09 will hold its first learning intensive January 6-9, 2009, immediately preceding the Annual OHaLaH Conference in Boulder, Colorado. Faculty members will present and demonstrate various models of spiritual guidance as they engage the participants in prayer, meditation, and probing dialogues, intended to explore new possibilities of receiving guidance in the presence of the Divine.
Those interested in entering this next training group should contact RebShohama@yahoo.com, or phone Reb Shohama at 914 636-2504. It is important to be working with a Mashpia for at least six months prior to entering the training. Additional related requirements can be fulfilled before formally entering the program.
**Trainees may charge a modest fee for service in the third year of their program. |
