The Shalom Center

The Shalom Center The Shalom Center is a prophetic voice for Jewish, multireligious, and American life.

We’re happy to share this podcast episode from Gabriel Meyer Halevy, one of The Shalom Center’s Cohort Aleph members. Th...
05/28/2026

We’re happy to share this podcast episode from Gabriel Meyer Halevy, one of The Shalom Center’s Cohort Aleph members. The episode is an interview with Shalom Center Director Rabbi Nate DeGroot, not coincidentally done during the month of Sivan.

Gabriel observes:

“According to the first extant book of Kabalah : Sefer Yetzirah, each moon in the Hebrew Calendar has a sense or verb ascribed to it.

The moon of Sivan’s verb is to walk : ‘hiluch’

The spiritual lunar journey begins in the Hebrew month of Nisan - the new year for anointing kings in ancient Israel - and relate to speech.

Iyar follows with recapitulation and embodiment of our speech and story.

In Sivan we begin to walk our story.”

In resonance with this theme, Gabriel describes his podcast conversation with Rabbi Nate as an exploration of “walking sacred justice”. Enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Gabriel’s Substack, “Sacred Rhythms”. Link in comments

We’re happy to share this podcast episode from Gabriel Meyer Halevy, one of The Shalom Center’s Cohort Aleph members. Th...
05/28/2026

We’re happy to share this podcast episode from Gabriel Meyer Halevy, one of The Shalom Center’s Cohort Aleph members. The episode is an interview with Shalom Center Director Rabbi Nate DeGroot, not coincidentally done during the month of Sivan. Gabriel greets Sivan as the month of walking, a call “to walk our talk... [t]o be coherent in thought, speech, and action”.

In resonance with that coherence, Gabriel invites Rabbi Nate into a conversation that touches Rabbi Arthur Waskow’s legacy and The Shalom Center’s current work to steward an emergent Jewish sacred justice.

Listen to the episode on Gabriel’s Substack, “Sacred Rhythms”. Link in comments

/ The Shalom Report / • ShavuotLIVE Torah of Wordplay in honor of Reb Arthur z"l   • 🎟️  REGISTRATION LINK IN COMMENTS 🎟...
05/21/2026

/ The Shalom Report /
• ShavuotLIVE Torah of Wordplay in honor of Reb Arthur z"l •

🎟️ REGISTRATION LINK IN COMMENTS 🎟️

On the cusp of Shavuot, we are glad to uplift ShavuotLIVE, Judaism Unbound's 7th annual 24-hour festival of digital learning and unlearning, starting this Friday at 6pm ET.

Of course, we love the work that Judaism Unbound does generally and have partnered with them over the years, with both Arthur and Nate teaching at ShavuotLIVE and being featured on their podcast, amongst other collaborations. This year we’re especially excited about the kickoff session for the festival, taught by Shalom Center board member and Judaism Unbound Senior Jewish Educator, Lex Rofeberg, which will serve as a tribute to Reb Arthur.

In Lex’s own words:

"It’s not uncommon to say that words matter. But what if words ARE matter? Most of our contemporary societies offer us the notion that words are symbols that convey meaning. The words 'apple' and 'grape' are not the same as the actual fruits 'apple' and 'grape' that we might taste. So if I argued 'whenever we "grapple" with an argument, we are channeling the essence of grapes and apples, because "grapple" is a portmanteau of "grape" and "apple,"' people would think I’m being kitschy – at best – or speaking utter gibberish at worst.

Jewish communities – across the denominational spectrum, in widely different eras and geographic contexts – have operated with the framework that Hebrew words are matter. Come explore what this means, and what might happen when we expand that understanding beyond Hebrew, to English and all other human languages? This session will incorporate and honor the memory of Arthur Waskow z”l, as we la-a-soak into some of his torah."

We hope you will join the more than 650 folks from all around the world who have already registered for ShavuotLIVE, and make it a special point to be there for the kickoff session, The Torah of Wordplay, in honor of our beloved Arthur.

🎟️ REGISTRATION LINK IN COMMENTS 🎟️

05/21/2026

"I'm used to being in the minority. Hey, I'm a left-handed gay Jew. I've never felt, automatically, a member of any majority." - Representative Barney Frank

Representative Barney Frank's leadership, brilliance, chutzpah, and wit changed our country for the better. Keshet honors his legacy as the first congressperson to come out publicly on his own terms, and the work he did to shape economic, gay, and other civil rights policy over the decades. Representative Frank remained a proud voice and advocate for the Jewish community.

A Keshet Hacham Lev Award recipient at the 2013 Keshet Cabaret, his impact, which sits at the many intersections Keshet does as well, is too broad to measure, and we carry his legacy with us.

Zichrono livracha, we mourn his loss and know that his memory will be for many blessings.

📷 Rep. Barney Frank at the 44th annual San Francisco Pride Parade, 2014
📷 Rep. Barney Frank and Idit Klein, Keshet founding President & CEO, at Keshet Cabaret, 2013

05/21/2026

May Shavuot bring you connection, inspiration and revelation.

Chag Samaech!

A time for tending - Dreaming class begins TONIGHT!>> Registration link in comments
05/04/2026

A time for tending - Dreaming class begins TONIGHT!

>> Registration link in comments

We are so excited for the Dreaming New Worlds into Being course with Kohenet Keshira HaLev Fife which begins next week! ...
05/01/2026

We are so excited for the Dreaming New Worlds into Being course with Kohenet Keshira HaLev Fife which begins next week! Read below for a message all about it from Keshira and check the link in the comments to register!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dear dreamers, artists, and fellow omer journeyers,

I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself and invite you to join me for Dreaming New Worlds Into Being, a three-part class hosted by The Shalom Center and Jewish Studio Project, starting this Monday night.

I'm Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife and I’m a facilitator of the Jewish Studio Project. I'll share more about how I came to this work with those who gather on Monday but, for now, I wanted to let you know a little bit about what's in store, should you join this special class.

In this season of preparing to receive revelation, over three sessions leading up to Shavuot, we will begin to peel back the layers to uncover what wants to be revealed to and through you.

To do this, we’ll be using the Jewish Studio Process, which brings together text study and creative practice in a way that's intended to help us deepen both our learning and our creative capacity, while allowing what happens "on the page" to help us make sense of what's happening "off the page".

In our first session this coming Monday, May 4, our focus will be “Receiving and Renewing Timeless Revelation.” We will explore what it means to experience time as spiralinear, returning anew to each season, asking how might we open ourselves to receive the wisdom that wants to be revealed with this next arrival? And how do we hold the tension of timeless revelation with what wants to come through for this specific moment?

On May 11, we will hone in on “Embodying our Ancestors’ Dreams.” If one source of wisdom comes through dreams - our own and the dreams of those who came before us - what do we do with the dreams we receive? How do we make those dreams manifest? And how do we hold the balance between the dreams that others have for us and those which originate with us?

Then finally, on May 18, just days before Shavuot, we will end with “New Futures Revealed on the Mountain.” As we approach the holiday of revelation, we’ll open to the revelation that wants to come to and through us, inviting the creative process to help us receive, sense-make, and root our intentions toward what we might do with this newfound wisdom, insight, and truth.

For each session, all you need to bring are some simple creative art-making materials (could be whatever you have at home, including just a paper and pen), along with your curiosity and playfulness. I'll be there to guide us through and am excited for what dreams and revelations will come through.

I do hope you’ll join us!

With Shabbat shalom blessings and excitement,

Keshira

Yesterday, around the country, people came out in person to say Jews Demand ICE OUT!  The Shalom Center stands with this...
05/01/2026

Yesterday, around the country, people came out in person to say Jews Demand ICE OUT! The Shalom Center stands with this call, and Rabbi Nate DeGroot and joined Detroit Jews for Justice in person in standing up against a local ICE facility in the area. Excellent photos and video in this post by DJJ!

Jews Demand: ICE Out! National Day of ActionThursday, April 30The Shalom Center is proud to join T'ruah  and Bend the Ar...
04/29/2026

Jews Demand: ICE Out! National Day of Action
Thursday, April 30

The Shalom Center is proud to join T'ruah and Bend the Arc Jewish Action and over 60 other organizations as a cosponsor for this Jewish community Day of Action

This Day of Action is part of a larger day of action for Jewish communities across the country who want to send a clear message: Jewish leaders and the Jewish community completely reject an immigration system that dehumanizes people.

On April 30, stay tuned for ways to amplify this message together through social media.

There are also in-person actions happening across the country -- click the link in the comments to find one near you!

The Day of Action will make visible the powerful Jewish opposition to ICE’s cruel and unfounded immigration enforcement system. ICE is killing civilians, separating families, kidnapping students, and racially profiling and targeting vulnerable communities. As Jews, we know in our bones and through our moral teachings, that this cruelty and injustice must stop.

At this action, we will not only take a moral stand against ICE, we will also hold accountable corporations responsible for enabling the detention and deportation machine. From major brands like Target to small companies like Signature Aviation, corporations across the country are complicit in the cruelty of this system. By putting public pressure on them, we hope to get them to drop ICE contracts and stand on the right side of history.

We’re proud to support this action online from afar.

And tune in tomorrow for more!

New class begins May 4th! Dreaming New Worlds into Being with Kohenet Keshira haLev FifeMay 4, 11, 187:30-9pm ET[ To reg...
04/24/2026

New class begins May 4th!
Dreaming New Worlds into Being with Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife

May 4, 11, 18
7:30-9pm ET
[ To register, see link in comments ]

Join The Shalom Center, Kohenet Keshira HaLev Fife, and Jewish Studio Project for a three-part Shavuot series on revelation, dreams, and creative futures.

We are living in the Jewish diaspora, in a world that’s being created in every moment, and we are its co-creators. As Divine agents of creation and as living links between our ancestors and our distant descendents, we are the ones who will set the blueprint for the future. So what will we dream? And what will we create?

Through the Jewish Studio Process - a unique methodology that builds creative capacity by combining art therapy practices with a reimagined approach to Jewish learning - this series invites participants to learn, imagine, play, dream, create, and connect. By bringing text study and art making together in a facilitated way, we cultivate curiosity, openness, and resilience. No artistic experience or special materials needed; just openness and curiosity!

May 4 - Receiving and Renewing Timeless Revelation - We will explore what it means to experience time as spiralinear, returning anew to each season. How we might we open ourselves to receive the wisdom that wants to be revealed with this next arrival? And how do we hold the tension of timeless revelation with what wants to come through for this specific moment?

May 11 - Embodying our Ancestors’ Dreams - If one source of wisdom comes through dreams - our own and the dreams of those who came before us - what do we do with the dreams we receive? How do we make those dreams manifest? And how do we hold the balance between the dreams that others have for us and those which originate with us?

May 18 - New Futures Revealed on the Mountain - As we approach Shavuot, we open to the revelation that wants to come to and through us, inviting the creative process to help us receive, sense-make, and root our intentions toward what we might do with this newfound wisdom, insight, and truth.

In this season of preparing to receive revelation, why not begin peeling back the layers to uncover what wants to be revealed to and through you?

REGISTRATION LINK IN COMMENTS

One-time registration includes Zoom links for all three class sessions in the series. All sessions will be recorded and registrants will receive links to all three recordings.

Address

6024 Ridge Avenue Ste 116/327
Philadelphia, PA
19128

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