IF07: Seeking Sharing Through Silence

As Isabella Freedman enters the first of two weeks of silent meditation retreats this evening, I find myself with energy and focus enough to write about some of my recent experiences. In the seven weeks since I last wrote, an annual folk festival has taken place here; I moved into a different room in Brown House, which I shared for a month with Bryan, one of the most peaceful souls I've ever known; our dear rebbe, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, founder of the Jewish Havurah and Renewal movements, spent his first 10 days at Freedman (and he publicly announced his desire to be buried here); and I've transitioned from full time staff to participating in the Elat Chayyim summer internship program, Neshamah. And unhappily, I have gone two weeks in Neshamah without more than a peep to the outside world about my experiences so far.

The first week was hard, with a lot of sitting in learning spaces, not much open discussion nor movement, and not enough free time either. Topics during the week included cultivating sacred community and sharing stories of personal spiritual journeys. This was also the first week of the summer ADAMAH Jewish Environmental Fellowship, as well as the arrival of the first five of 11 summer international staff. So, in about 12 hours, the size of the residential staff skyrocketed from a quaint dozen of us to about 40.

The second week (just past) was much better for me, with more work hours—maintenance and Super Ben, as usual—balancing learning spaces. It was my first summer Elat Chayyim retreat since 1995, when I first and ever visited the old EC property in Accord, New York. I spent a few mornings in Rabbi David Cooper's class, which he graciously scheduled last minute after Rabbi David Zeller died a just few weeks ago. Most interesting to me were his thoughts on God in unity with Universe and all existence, and a reinterpretation of the first line of Genesis, which suggests that if one translates the words in order, God becomes the subject instead of the object of the sentence: "In beginning (with beginningness), it (a universal force/divine energy) created God, the heavens, and the Earth."

I'll keep my post brief for the moment and start logging my daily activities to keep you up to speed. Today, I helped assemble new BackJack chairs, unpacked new yoga blankets (which were far overpackaged for a bulk order, with individual plastic sleeves and fabric ties), and rode back and forth quite happily on our newly paved main road as we moved furniture and yoga/sitting equipment into the correct rooms for the week. The beautiful weather has made for lots of fun cycling. The summer will also be filled with Ultimate Frisbee, tennis, ping pong, billiards, and more! Oh, and since Chef Celena finally has enough help in the kitchen, meals have drastically improved, gotten really creative, and been especially delicious and well presented at every meal. Yay Kitchen!