Torah Trek: A Jewish Wilderness Experience August 13, 2007

Join Rabbi Mike Comins for a week of inner and outer exploration in the exquisite Taconic State Park in Copake Falls, New York. We will leave Isabella Freedman on Tuesday morning and return on Friday afternoon, spending four nights camping in the park. From the base camp we will take day hikes that explore one of New York’s most beautiful natural areas. Shabbat will be spent camping at Isabella Freedman with the rest of the Elat Chayyim summer community.

The course will teach how to be fully present in the natural world through silent hiking, walking meditation and other mindfulness exercises on the trail. With Qigong-style moving meditation, we will learn to sense the shefa, the divine energy, in God’s creation. In the heightened awareness of the sacred that wilderness evokes, we then invite God’s presence through blessings, chant, Torah study, four-winds ceremony and prayer (contemplative and traditional). Each day will culminate in hitbodedut, safe and supervised alone time. There will also be time each day for personal prayer, journaling, yoga and general merry making.

Appropriate for experienced campers and novices.

Official Website: http://isabellafreedman.org/torahtrek/