A Day at the Institute

 

The 2008 Institute Theme is Baruch She-amar v'Hayah Ha-Olam, Blessed is the One who spoke the World Into Being. This phrase, from the morning liturgy, resonates with our overall interest in turning speech into action and learning into doing, connecting Torah with social and environmental justice. It resonates with creation themes, both ecologically and metaphorically, and opens the door to courses about worlds we create with our words.

Franklin Pierce College

Franklin Pierce College is located among the beautiful forests, lakes, and mountains of southern New Hampshire, just 90 minutes from Boston and 4.5 hours from New York City. The campus features ample conference facilities with free internet access, a variety of comfortable housing choices, and a fitness center. Mt. Monadnock and the White Mountains overlook the campus, which also contains walking trails and a lake for swimming and boating. Optional side trips during the Institute include a sunrise hike up Mt. Monadnock (the second most-climbed-mountain in the world) and an outdoor morning service at the interfaith Cathedral of the Pines.

A Day at the Institute

• A Day at the Institute
• Take two classes with dynamic teachers
• Attend (or lead!) stimulating optional workshops
• Children ages 6 months to 12 years old enjoy Kids Camp
• Choose from exciting prayer, Havurah davvening, text study, and yoga options
• Enjoy delicious, kosher, vegetarian food 
• Walk, swim, hike, or work out at the fully-equipped indoor gym
• Spend free time relaxing in a beautiful natural setting
• Participate in evening programs and entertainment
• Make and renew friendships, have great conversations, laugh, think, sing, dance, and learn
  

Sample Schedule:

7:00 – Traditional Egalitarian services
7:30 – Breakfast
8:30 – Yoga
9:30 – Morning Class: Introduction to Talmud Study
11:00 – Kippah Crocheting Workshop
12:30 – Lunch
1:30 – Afternoon Class: Jewish Memoir Writing
3:00 – Building Interfaith Families Discussion
4:30 – Swim with children in the lake
5:30 – 12 Step Meeting
6:15 – Dinner at Yiddish Language Table
7:00 – Mincha / Ma’ariv prayer services
8:00 – Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Trans/Questioning Schmooze
9:00 – Klezmer Jam

Courses

At the center of the Institute are a wide array of courses offered in morning and afternoon sessions. Each course has a maximum of 20 students and is led by a teacher who is also an Institute participant, presenting material that she or he loves in an inclusive style that encourages everyone to participate. Choose from classes in traditional texts, Jewish politics, poetry, Jewish ethics, dance and singing, Judaism and world religions, and contemporary topics. Your background is not important – your desire to learn is.

Workshops

The Institute also offers informal hour-long workshops led by Institute participants on topics of their choice. Last year's workshop topics included the Friday night liturgy, kippah crocheting, rabbinic texts, the Jews of Africa, yoga, and Judaism through comic books. Participants will decide this year's topics by volunteering to teach workshops! Please indicate on the registration form if you would like to lead a workshop ? we encourage you to share your knowledge and skills.

Minyanim (Prayer Services)

Every day will offer a different menu of spirited prayer (and prayer alternative) options in a range of styles: praying in Hebrew, in English, in silence, in song, indoors, outdoors, with instruments, without instruments, and in any other style that participants bring to the Institute. There is also a traditional egalitarian service three times daily. Please indicate on the registration form if you would like to lead a service in any style. All minyanim organized and sponsored by the NHC are fully egalitarian, with equal participation by men and women, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.  Individual participants who wish to organize minyanim where eligibility for leading or participation is based on gender may contact the NHC office to arrange a meeting space.

Shabbat

Shabbat is the culmination of the Institute. The intense experience of Jewish living, the creation of community, the intellectual and spiritual excitement of the courses, and our new and renewed friendships all lead to a special, joyful Shabbat. Before Shabbat starts, participants build an eruv (boundary) and make other Shabbat preparations. Shabbat then begins with a rousing kabbalat shabbat(welcoming Shabbat) service for the entire community, followed by a festive dinner and opportunities for text study, storytelling, poetry reading, and singing late into the night. A number of different minyanim meet on Saturday morning, after which the community gathers for lunch, further study and recreational activities, and seudah shelishit (the third Shabbat meal). Shabbat ends on a high note with a beautiful havdalah (end of Shabbat ceremony) under the stars.

 

NEW: Mishpacha Groups

Mishpacha groups are small groups that meet several times during the Institute to discuss participants’ experiences and feelings as the week progresses. Guided by a facilitator, participants have the opportunity to connect in a safe and intimate group with the same people throughout the week. If you are interested, you may sign up for a randomly assigned group, or for a specialinterest group on the registration form. We ask that everyone who signs up commits to attending all meetings of their  mishpacha group.