Beit Midrash and Breath for Elul

Join us for a deep dive into the ancient relationship between breath and spirituality in Jewish tradition. Together, we'll use the Jewish model of the Beit Midrash ("House of Learning," or study hall made fun) to explore foundational stories with fresh eyes, from the Garden of Eden to the parting of the Red Sea, as well as surprising Talmudic insights around the power of conscious breathing. In Elul's season of return to the ground of our being, this learning experience will leave you with concrete tools and texts to enter the High Holidays.

In this 75-minute session, we will offer:

• Jewish wisdom around the breath as a healing and redemptive force in life
• Traditional havruta pair-learning (make a new friend in the community, or come with a study buddy!)

All-levels, accessible breath practice, as a chance to deepen the learning through experience. Whether you're a first-timer to Jewish texts or a ringer, this all-levels learning experience is for you! All you need is curiosity, your thinking cap, and a reflective spirit. No prior breathwork experience needed. This event is offered in partnership with RUACH, a Boston-based collective of teachers in embodied Jewish spirituality and practice.

Register to join us on Tuesday, August 18 at 7:00 p.m. onsite. Contact cajl@tisrael.org with questions.

Yaakov Ginsberg-Schreck is the Founder and Executive Director of RUACH, a collective of teachers in embodied spirituality across a range of modalities. Since 2019, RUACH has grown from a breath-focused program experiment into one of the most exciting Jewish startups in the nation (UpStart UpLift Summer 2024).

Applying his education in American Studies (BA Yale, concentration in Cultural Theory), his experience with social movement organizing, and his belief in the healing nexus of science and spirituality, Yaakov began RUACH with a vision of Jewish community that embraces embodied practice, cross-cultural dialogue, and holistic wellbeing. In 2023, after four years of program testing through Hebrew College's pluralistic rabbinical program, RUACH incorporated as a nonprofit, and Yaakov left the Beit Midrash (study hall) to move into full-time organizational leadership. Along with stewarding the development of RUACH's teaching collective, organizational capacity, and community, his great joy is learning and offering practices that animate Jewish wisdom through experiences that engage the whole person — mind, body, and soul.

Based in Boston, he shares his home with a bevy of plants, some favorite books, and a closet with more sequins than suits.