Ruach Ha'Aretz 2010 - Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center

Ruach Ha'Aretz 2010 – Greening the Godfield
Join us at the Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center, in Reisterstown, Maryland
July 5–11, 2010

Wonderful classes, featuring many of your favorite Jewish Renewal teachers, musicians, and artists,
plus exciting programs for children and teens.
To register, click here.

Each day at Ruach Ha’Aretz: Your morning begins with an opportunity to enter into the Godfield through prayer, movement, or silence. Then plunge into a deep encounter with our theme and the teachers of your choice. Delicious meals and the sweet encounters with other retreat participants will provide nourishment between the spiritual and intellectual courses. Following our afternoon classes, Mincha Time offers opportunities for enrichment... and rest. Our entire community will gather each evening for programs that celebrate and enhance our experience, with beautiful music, moving poetry, dancing, drumming circles, lively discussions and inspired dream work. Our week together will lead to a Shabbat full of beauty and love in which the davvening may become the fullest expression of our true selves. Exciting Programs for Children and Teens: Ruach Ha’Aretz sets the standard for fabulously fun and creative programs for children. For a description of the children's program, click here. Teens who enjoy spending time with younger children may apply to work as Children’s Program assistants and receive compensation in the form of a reduced fee. (To apply, see the online registration page.) Mitzvah Core: Ruach Ha’Aretz offers opportunities to deepen your practice of Mitzvah and service. The Mitzvah Core is a “work-study” exchange program that manifests the Malchut (grounded reality) of the retreat by assisting teachers, helping with child-care, setting up for Shabbat, and all other informal Mitzvot that may arise during the week. For more information, and to apply, click here.		Quick links on this page: Info about Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center Lodging Getting There Daily Schedule

		Link to: Classes & Teachers Children's Program Fees & Registration Mitzvah Core Shabbat

		Other Ruach Links: West Coast Retreat Ruach Ha'Aretz Home Page (other retreats)

Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center is set in 165 acres of rolling farmlands just 25 minutes from downtown Baltimore and the BWI airport in Reisterstown, MD.

Situated on a partially wooded knoll overlooking a pond, the Retreat Center has been conceived as a “rustic Jewish inn”. It boasts a beautifully appointed Conference Hall with many state of the art meeting and classrooms, lobbies in each floor with comfortable seating areas, and dining hall.

Pearlstone is a glatt kosher facility. The Pearlstone dining hall is a spacious room with large windows overlooking the Kayam Farm. Just outside the dining room, a snack and beverage station is open throughout the day and evening.

The Pearlstone Dormitory buildings are separated by public lounges. Each lounge has different furniture and amenities including:

Library Lounge - with comfortable seating and a part of their collection of over 1200 novels and non-fiction books.
Game Room - with ping pong table, foosball, TV with DVD player and a large collection of board games.
Social Lounge - with comfortable seating, TV with DVD player, and hot and cold drinks station.
Exercise Room - with mirrored wall, TV, and a selection of equipment including: treadmill, elliptical, nautilus, free weights, bikes, and yoga tools.

The Pearlstone campus is studded with comfortable outdoor meeting areas, and is surrounded by miles of beautiful, well-marked, hiking and walking trails. Kayam Farm at Pearlstone also boasts a working, self-sustaining, organic farm and greenhouse which will be an important part of our Ruach Kids programming.

The entire facility is wheelchair accessible.

Pearlstone shares the property with Camp Milldale. When camp is not in session, Ruach will have access to the facilities at Camp Milldale next door including sports fields and courts and the swimming pool.

In their own words, Pearlstone is a state-of-the-art, warm, welcoming, kosher, rustic Jewish setting, with great food, wonderful flexible facilities, and an in-house hospitality staff. And, a GREEN facility throughout.

LODGING OPTIONS:
Pearlstone has 3 different types of overnight accommodations that are appropriate for all different types of guests. Each of the overnight rooms and cabins has its own bathroom, and Pearlstone provides linens, towels, and soap for all guests.

Lodge Rooms
The 35 lodge rooms are hotel-style rooms that open to a covered walkway between buildings. Each room has 2 queen size beds, a private bathroom, a dresser, a closet, and a small table and chairs.

Family and Teen Center
The Family & Teen Center has 2 separate floors. Each floor has a central lounge area surrounded by rooms. The top floor has 5 rooms with 24 beds. The bottom floor has 7 rooms with 36 beds. Each room has a mix of twin beds and bunk beds, and each room has its own bathroom.

Cabins
Pearlstone’s “Fidler’s Grove” has 4 log cabins. 3 small cabins have 1 room with 2 beds, 1 room with 2 bunk beds, a loft with 3 twin beds, a bathroom, a living room, and a large porch. 1 large cabin has additional beds and an additional bathroom in the loft, a larger living room, and a full kitchen.

GETTING THERE:
Participants traveling by air should fly into BWI (Baltimore airport). For driving directions from the airport and other areas in the East, see www.pearlstonecenter.org/directions.html

Make your plans to arrive by mid-day on Monday, July 5th. Registration begins at 2:00 pm, and the program will formally begin with dinner at 5:30 pm.

We have made a special arrangement with The Airport Shuttle, Inc for discounted shuttle service to/from BWI and Pearlstone:

The link, below, will take you to the reservation and payment pages for Ruach Ha'Aretz shuttle service - where you'll enter your flight arrival and departure times, and have your reservation charged to your credit card. [Please note: the website is set up to ask for your departure before your arrival - pay close attention to the dates you're entering.] They will track your flight in real time. And, you go directly to the vehicle from baggage claim. In other words, you are NOT put in a waiting area at the airport to be put on a line run thru multiple hotels. From Pearlstone you are given a pick-up time based on your airport flight departure time. Again, NO multiple stops! They enjoy guarantying to their customers no more than 2 stops and often you go straight in!

The fee is $33 each way (discounted from their regular rate of $42), and each additional passenger in your reservation is $8. [A couple traveling together will pay $41 total, each way. You may want to make one reservation for yourself and friends arriving at the same time, and share in the savings.]

If you find yourself within 24 hours of arrival, and have not yet made your reservation, you may call them at 1-800-776-0323 and use code #150498 to receive the same discounted rate. They cannot, however, guarantee that they can accommodate your time needs in less than 24 hours - though they will do their very best.

Just click on this link to begin: Airport Transfers Online

SCHEDULE MONDAY:
2:00 – 5:00 p.m.	Registration
5:30 – 6:30 p.m.	Dinner
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.	Mincha Activities
8:15 – 10:00 p.m.	Opening Ceremony

TUES., WED., THURS., & FRI. through breakfast:
6:30 – 7:00 a.m.	Meditation or Yoga
7:00 – 8:00 a.m.	Davennen
8:00 – 9:00 a.m.	Breakfast
9:15 – Noon	Morning Classes
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.	Lunch
1:30 – 2:30 p.m.	Sacred Time (study, sleep)
2:30 – 5:15 p.m.	Afternoon Classes
5:30 – 6:30 p.m.	Dinner
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.	Mincha Activities
8:15 – 10:00 p.m.	Evening Program

FRIDAY:
9:15 – 11:45 a.m.	Morning Classes
12:00 – 1:00 p.m.	Lunch
1:30 – 4:00 p.m.	Afternoon Classes
4:30 – 6:00 p.m.	“Mikvah” & more
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.	Kabbalat Shabbat
8:15 p.m.	Dinner & Z’mirot (song)

SHABBAT:
8:00 – 9:00 a.m.	Breakfast
9:30 - 12:00 noon	Shabbat Shacharit
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.	Lunch
1:30 – 3:30 p.m.	Shabbat Menucha (rest)
3:45 – 5:15 p.m.	Shabbat Mincha
5:30 – 7:00 p.m.	Seudah Sh’lishit (dinner & z’mirot)
7:15 – 10:30 p.m.	Evening Program & Havdalah

SUNDAY:
6:30 – 7:00 a.m.	Meditation or Yoga
7:00 – 8:00 a.m.	Davvenen
8:00 – 9:00 a.m.	Breakfast
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.	Pack & Clean up
11:00 – 12:30 p.m.	Closing Ritual
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.	Lunch

Make a credit card payment for any of our programs.

Ruach Ha'Aretz
1612 Holeman Dr.
Erie, CO 80516
415.339.8677
info@ruachhaaretz.com
Ruach Ha'Aretz is a Project of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal