By Rabbi Alicia Magal
All in our community are invited to attend a weekend-long series of services, study sessions, concert, and workshops hosted at the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley, April 5 – 7, 2024. Rabbi Alicia Magal will co-lead along with guest Rabbi David Zaslow and his wife Devorah Zaslow.
The topic of this weekend of study, story, and song will intertwine themes relevant both to Easter and Passover, although Easter will fall much earlier (on March 31) than Passover this year, since it is a leap year on the Hebrew calendar, with Passover beginning on the evening of April 22.
Such a weekend of activities is called a “Shabbaton,” an expanded Sabbath celebration. The Shabbaton will begin on Friday evening, April 5, at 5:30 pm, with Friday evening services co-led by Rabbi Magal, Rabbi David Zaslow, and Devorah Zaslow.
Torah study will begin at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, April 6, led by Rabbi Zaslow, and will be followed by a luncheon.
An interfaith concert of storytelling and songs will be held at the JCSVV at 7:00 pm on Saturday evening at which Rabbi David and his wife Devorah will tell interfaith stories and share special songs from the Psalms. The concert is aimed at celebrating the beauty of what G-d has done by creating the diversity that each of our faith traditions represents.
Sunday workshops on April 7 will be held from 2:00 – 5:00 pm. The first workshop, with Rabbi Zaslow, will delve into the history of Rabbinic Judaism and its influence on other monotheistic religions. Participants will learn about the birth of Rabbinic Judaism, which arose out of the ashes of the holy Temple in Jerusalem, and how out of that destruction came the innovations of congregational worship that are the hallmarks of modern Judaism and Christianity today. We’ll also look at the unique features of Christianity and Judaism, and how their uniqueness expresses the kind of diversity that we see in all of G-d’s creation.
The second workshop, led by Devorah Zaslow, will be “Telling Your Story,” looking at how we share the key moments from our lives and turn the memories into tellable tales. Through visualization, imagery, story mapping and small group sharing participants will create oral stories reflecting the narratives of their lives. Devorah will guide participants in experiencing how each of our unique narratives can be woven together into a captivating, personal story.
Rabbi Zaslow is the recipient of the Church-Synagogue Library Association’s Book of the Year for his breakthrough, interfaith book “Jesus: First-Century Rabbi.”
Devorah Zaslow is a master storyteller and teacher.
Cost for the Saturday evening concert alone is $20. Cost for the entire weekend of activities, including the workshops, is $36. No cost to JCSVV members. To register, go to the JCSVV website, JCSVV.org. For questions, call the synagogue office 928 204-1286.
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