Compassion. Integrity. Spirit.
IN THIS ISSUE OF BROTHERKEEPER: BrotherKeeper Online Magazine begins a new feature, My Jewish Journey, to highlight our brothers’ paths to their Jewish identity and practice. Not coincidentally, this is the theme for JMR33. Want to write about your … Continued
Read BrotherKeeper Magazine online FEATURES IN THIS ISSUE OF BROTHERKEEPER ONLINE MAGAZINE: • Sweet Memories of JMR32 (and JMR31 too): Phil Wachsler Photos • David Shaw’s Play Opens in New York City • Remembering Our Deceased JMR Brothers: Joe Brenner … Continued
What you will find in the June 11, 2023 Brother Keeper newsletter: 1. Remembering Our Deceased Brothers, 2. Update About JMR32 Planning, 3.Meet Your Menschwork Wisdom Council, 4.What Our Brothers Have to Say About Their MenschGroup Experience, 5. Artists Among … Continued
What’s in the January 2023 Brother Keeper newsletter? 1. Meet the JMR32 Co-chairs and planning team, 2. Reb Shawn Zevit Sings His Beautiful Song, Come Into My Garden, 3. Mensch Group Spends a Weekend Together, 4. JMR Founder’s Reflections, 5. Menschwork’s … Continued
Thank you to The Canadian Jewish News for allowing Menschwork to post this edition of Yehupetzville with Ralph Benmergui – an interview with Rabbi Mark Biller. About Yehupetzville with Ralph Benmergui: From Moncton to Moose Jaw, Glace Bay to Thunder … Continued
By Cobi Waxman and David Strauss In honor of the JMR25‘s theme Our Fathers, Our Brothers, Ourselves: Building Bridges, several of the younger JMR men reached out that year to JMR “elders”, and interviewed them about their feelings and recollections … Continued
By Harvey Freedenberg, Published in the January/February 2022 (Tevet/Shevat 5782) edition of Hashaliach, by Beth El Temple, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Imagine the pleasure of spending an invigorating andyet deeply restful Shabbat at a 400-acre retreat center insouthern New England at the … Continued
By Rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit The Nature of Our Calling was published October 14, 2021 in Jewish Exponent. Parshat Lech-Lecha Dedicated to All the sacred work of menschwork.org and my father Lester Zevit, Eliezer Shimon b. Shoshana V’Ahron Yosef HaKohen … Continued
Let’s Connect! State of the Spirit Winter 5781 (2020-21) State of the Spirit Winter 5781 Dear Brothers/Achim (אחים), We are clearly living in troubled times. Political, health, economic and personal strife abounds. And there is much cause for concern, wariness and … Continued
Passover is the story of our Resiliency as a Jewish people, retold as an example for us and all peoples today. Beginning with the first Seder this Wednesday evening, we gather, perhaps in a different form than in past years, to commemorate the Will to Continue that the exodus from Egypt exemplifies. Many of us may be experiencing a wide range of feelings. Perhaps our fears can be tempered by the many stories in our history of human beings, with the help of God, overcoming so many obstacles.
State of the Spirit – December 2019www.menschwork.orgHanukkah 2019/5780 Dear Brothers/Achim (אחים), December 21, 2019 will be the shortest day of the year. Isn’t it fitting that on the next night we light our first Hanukkah candle? With so much division … Continued
Continuity and Change on Our Soul Journeys – Parshat Lech Lecha
By Rabbi Shawn Zevit
November 8, 2019
From Jewish Exponent
This episode features my conversation with Rabbi Shawn Zevit of Miskan Shalom and Menschwork. We discuss his work with congregants of all genders, his personal history in the men’s movement, relationships between fathers and sons, the limitations of language, and how to (and how not to) engage men in consciousness-raising work.
State of the Spirit – February 5, 2019 “They go from strength to strength.” Psalm 84. We in Menschwork interpret that phrase as “their spiritual course should gain in vigor.” Our last State of the Spirit spoke of our sadness … Continued
A photo from the Touro synagogue museum in Newport, RI describing what may have been the first Jewish men’s group in the Colonies. We’ve come a long way.
NOTE: On October 27 we were shocked and deeply saddened by the heinous attack on the congregations in Pittsburgh. Watch for details for a Menschwork ZOOM call where we can share our concerns and responses on Thursday November 15, 9-10pm. … Continued
State of the Spirit – January 30, 2018 Jewish Men’s Retreat UpdateSix years ago, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, spoke to the JMR20 group by video conference from Boulder on the Sunday morning of the retreat. When Zalman was asked about how we could … Continued
Allen Spivack and Yosaif August
(excerpted from “Brother Keepers: New Perspectives on Jewish Masculinity”, edited by Rabbi Shawn Zevit and Harry Brod)
Jewish men gather-to pray, share stories, solve a vexing problem, to complain, and even to worry a bit. Yes, generations of Jewish men have found their ways of connecting and through a variety of affiliations have found unique opportunities to connect as men and as Jews. The typical synagogue not so many years ago depended on men to bring their skills to ensure that the “shul” remained a vibrant, thriving institution.
Enjoy this reflection by Rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit, published in the Jewish Exponent in October 2017/5778: From Your father’s House: Jewish Men Today BY RABBI SHAWN ISRAEL ZEVIT PARSHAT LECH LECHA Dedicated to the life and memory of groundbreaking thinker … Continued
Posted June 13, 2017 by Elliott Myrowitz. By Elliott Myrowitz About 15 years ago I was attracted to a father-teenage son weekend at Elat Chayyim Jewish Retreat Center. After driving from Baltimore to Accord, New York, my son and I … Continued
Creating a Legacy: The Hand We’re Dealt and How We Play It. Posted February 1, 2017 by Jim Grossman A Community Message from Jim Grossman Jim Grossman lives in Vermont where he does community development and social work, spends a … Continued
Inspiration on the Path to Aliyah Posted February 1, 2017 Pavlos Miyakis wrote in this email about the important role that his involvement with JMR played in his personal Jewish journey. Inspiration on the Path to Aliyah. Inspiration on the Path … Continued
Posted February 1, 2017 by Jay Lewkowitz and Jeff Schwartz We want to tell you our story of a 45 year friendship and how the Jewish Men’s Retreat has sustained our deep connection with each other over these many years. One … Continued