Part One (Parts One and Two may be taken in any order.)
Rabbi Shaya Isenberg, Bahira Sugarman & Lynne Iser
Then what are elders? They are wisdomkeepers… they are pioneers in consciousness… Serving as mentors, they pass on the distilled essence of their life experience…
~Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi–Rabbi Akiva.
This course will introduce some of the major concepts and exercises of the Mentoring Program. You will gain experience with the transformations of consciousness that are the fruits of our Spiritual Eldering™. Building on the teachings of Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, this class offers powerful contemplative tools for gathering and giving expression to the wisdom of our own ripening lives.
This new vision of growing older empowers us to:
• Harvest the wisdom of our life experience to enrich the present moment.
• Face our mortality and learn from it.
• Mature in our relationships & in our communities.
• Develop a regenerative spirit.
• Take active leadership roles in society.
While learning transformative practices based in Jewish practices, we will also draw on the wisdom of other traditions as well as current transpersonal and integral teachers and therapists. We view this as a deeply ecumenical process, which is one of the deep roots of Reb Zalman’s teaching, and invite all participants to connect their aging to their spiritual life.
Many traditional cultures, including Judaism, teach that acquiring wisdom is the learning specific to Sage-ing®.
Think of it as spiritual alchemy!
Parts One and Two may taken for the insight and skills they offer in one’s own life path, and may also serve as a prerequisite for the Sage-ing® Mentorship Training. They may be taken in any order.
DEATH AS HOMECOMING: LIFE IS THE ANSWER
Part Two (Parts One and Two may be taken in any order.)
Rabbi Nadya Gross & Rabbi Victor Gross
People have been dying ever since the world began
and yet each one of us clings to the illusion
that death is something that happens
to other people but not to us.
~Rabbi Jack Reimer
When we recognize that life is finite we are challenged to live each moment fully and to accept the gift of our soul’s breath as our most precious commodity. Part TWO of our program focuses on facing our mortality and learning from it how to reprioritize and redefine the values in OUR lives.
We may choose to BE rather than DO. We can freely choose to NOW focus on the meaning of our lives and make the adjustments that allow for that meaning to be expressed before we are faced with the “final curtain call.”
Using processes and tools that take us into the imaginal realm, we will visit the end of our life to explore medical and ethical choices and the psycho-spiritual obstacles to a ‘beautiful death’. We will encounter the Soul, and what our Jewish mystical tradition, as well as other traditions, teach us about the journey our soul takes—before, during and after this lifetime.
Each of us will write our own vidui/“deathbed confession,” and begin the process of writing a Spiritual-Ethical Will. We will take home with us the tools to update and expand both of these gifts as life continues to unfold.
PASSING ON THE LEGACY
Part Three
…[a Sage] is a person who deserves respect and honor and whose work it is to synthesize wisdom from long life experience and to formulate this into a legacy for future generations. ~The Live Oak Project
This course will provide the training and support that is needed to take the Sage-ing® work home and to then serve as a mentor to others who are following the Sage-ing® path.
The training period for this course is 1 year and includes:
• Two 5-day Intensive Workshops
• A tele-course that focuses on Jewish,
and other sources, for Sage-ing®
• Tele-conferences with an instructor
• Monthly coaching with your spirit buddy
As a mentor-in-training, you will learn and/or brush up on the skills to work effectively with the Sage-ing Tools™ including:
• Learning to guide participants safely through the major Sage-ing® exercises
• Learning to communicate the goals and values of Sage-ing®
• Learning how to use your life skills as a Sage-ing® mentor
During the training period, you will work with the faculty and receive their guidance in designing a mentoring project that utilizes your particular skills and addresses your professional goals. For instance, if you are a congregational rabbi, you’ll have support in introducing the Sage-ing® work to your membership; if you are a therapist, you’ll have help integrating it into your practice.
To enroll for Part Three you must have successfully completed Part One and Part Two which may be taken in any order. To apply for Part Three, contact bahiras@aol.com or sri@religion.ufl.edu
Rabbi Shaya Isenberg is past Chair of the Department of Religion and Emeritus at the University of Florida. He is co-founder and co-director of UF’s Center for Spirituality and Health. Rabbi for P’nai Or, Gainesville, he serves on the faculty of the Aleph Rabbinical program and on the faculty of the Aleph Spiritual Direction Program.Bahira Sugarman, a traditional Reiki Master, is ordained as a spiritual guide and has been celebrated as an Eyshet Hazon (Woman of Vision). Licensed as a clinical social worker, as a marriage and family therapist, and as a massage therapist, she teaches T’ai Chi Chuan and Reiki and combines psychotherapy and healing work in her private practice.
Shaya and Bahira are senior faculty emeritus of the Spiritual Eldering Institute where they designed and implemented its leadership training program.
Lynne Iser is a facilitator, teacher and advocate whose professional passion is to create elder communities designed to add value to our world and culture. She teaches classes and workshops on Spiritual Eldering and Growing Older in Community. She was the co-founder and the first Executive Director of the Spiritual Eldering Institute and brings over 30 years experience and a wealth of information to community non-profit organizations.
Rabbi Victor Gross is a congregational Rabbi and Educator. He serves as faculty and Director of Studies in the Aleph Rabbinical Program, and also serves on the faculty of the Anamcara Project of the Sacred Art of Living Center for Spiritual Formation in Bend, OR. Reb Victor is the author of Educating for Reverence: The Legacy of Abraham Joshua Heschel.
Rabbi Nadya Gross has developed a program to train End-Of-Life Doulas, and serves on the faculty of the Anamcara Project of the Sacred Art of Living, Center for Spiritual Formation in Bend, OR, where she was awarded an Honorary Anamcara. Reb Nadya also serves as Mashpi’ah (Spiritual Director) with individuals, couples, and clergy, and is the Associate Director of HASHPA’AH (ALEPH Ordination Program in Spiritual Direction).
Together, Nadya & Victor serve as co-Rabbis of Pardes Levavot: a Jewish Renewal Congregation in Boulder, CO and co-Project Directors of Ruach Ha’Aretz, ALEPH’s Mobile Retreat Center.