AN INTIMATE ENCOUNTER WITH THE PSALMS: Songs of Humanity with Rabbi Shir Meira Feit
The Psalms are sacred poetry with an extraordinary honesty and rawness about the vulnerability of human experience. They span suffering and celebration, the human and more than human, in a voice that is sometimes overwhelmed and sometimes exalted. In this ongoing series led by Rabbi Shir Meira Feit, we’ll sing the psalms, learn about them, discuss them, meditate on them, with the intention of knowing psalms and ourselves more deeply. We’ll use a nonbinary/nondual lens, informed by kabbalah, to widen our perspective on this ancient literature.
This series will unfold in three editions: Tu B’Shevat, Purim, and Passover. You’re welcome to join us for the full series or for individual editions. Please scroll down to view registration options.
This series will be taught via Zoom and can also be accessed via phone. Though live attendance is encouraged, all sessions will be recorded, allowing you to engage with the material even if you’re unable to attend in real time. For financial assistance and scholarship opportunities, please contact liviah@beitkohenet.org.
Rabbi Shir Meira Feit
Rabbi Shir Meira Feit is a musician, composer, ritual facilitator, and spiritual director. Shir has released several solo and collaborative albums of Jewish mystical music and has facilitated countless circles of communal ritual prayer and song, helping people of all backgrounds connect with their inner wisdom and joy.
Shir worked as a serial spiritual entrepreneur for over twenty years. They co-founded the Kol Zimrah independent minyan; was the Creative and Music Director for Romemu, New York City’s largest Renewal synagogue; served as Director of Engagement at ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal; and founded the Kol Hai: Hudson Valley Jewish Renewal spiritual community in New Paltz, New York. Today, Shir offers their teachings as an independent educator and musician and as a spiritual director, helping others to grow and flourish at the dynamic edge of spiritual emergence.
Shir received rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and the ALEPH Ordination Program and is a former Wexner Graduate Fellow. Shir is also a member of the Zen Peacemakers and served as council facilitator and clergy for five years’ Bearing Witness Retreats in Auschwitz-Birkenau.
In the last several years, Shir’s work and life have been heavily influenced by the spiritual practice of parenting, interpersonal neurobiology, somatic psychology, neuroqueer theory, artificial intelligence, and the wisdom of plant medicines. Shir lives with their partner and three children in the ancestral lands of the Esopus band of the Lenape Peoples, today known as New York’s Hudson Valley.
THE FULL SERIES: Mondays, January 19-March 30, 12-1:15 pm ET / 9-10:15 am PT
This registration option grants you full access to all three editions of the series: Tu B’Shevat, Purim, and Passover.
Cost: $335 + $25 non-refundable registration fee
TU B’SHEVAT EDITION: Mondays, January 19, 26, and February 2, 12-1:15 pm ET / 9-10:15 am PT - $125
In this edition of the series, we’ll focus on the psalms related to trees and the season of Tu b’Shevat.
Cost: $100 + $25 non-refundable registration fee
PURIM EDITION: Mondays, February 16, 23, and March 2, 12-1:15 pm ET / 9-10:15 am PT - $125
In this Purim edition of the series, we’ll focus on the psalms related to God’s hiddenness and the way God wears “costumes” that both reveal and conceal.
Cost: $100 + $25 non-refundable registration fee
PASSOVER EDITION: Mondays, March 16, 23, and 30, 12-1:15 pm ET / 9-10:15 am PT - $125
In this Passover edition of the series, we’ll focus on the psalms related to liberation and the journey out of the narrow place and into the wide expanse.
Cost: $100 + $25 non-refundable registration fee