Many Lights : Many lights grace Eitz Or, the Tree of Light

Congregation Eitz Or offers services, filled with joy and spiritual depth, led by local and visiting Jewish Renewal rabbis and teachers and by trained leaders from within our community.  To read profiles of the men and women who are leading Eitz Or's Shabbat and holiday services during 5767 & 5768 (2006-2008) select one of the links, above. 

See our calendar for details of services.

Visiting Rabbis

Many Lights : Reb Arik Labowitz

Arik Labowitz is a gardener of the Jewish spirit, using the soil and nutrients of the tradition to bring new growth into the present. As a service leader, Arik interweaves Chasidic teachings and soulful melodies, and opens up the transformative essence of Jewish prayers to all levels of participants. Arik comes from a family of rabbis, and has been teaching Jewish spirituality and leading services and life-cycle rituals for over a decade. He recently served for four years as a Rabbinic Assistant at Beth Chaim Congregation in Danville, California, and is currently working on the release of his second CD of Jewish music.

Many Lights : Rabbi Hanna Tiferet Siegel

Rabbi Hanna Tiferet Siegel is a singer/songwriter, liturgical artist, and spiritual guide. Rabbi Hanna was the first woman to receive the titles of “Eshet Hazon”—Woman of Vision—and “Miyoledet Neshama”—Midwife of the Soul. She received ordination as a rabbinic pastor and rabbi from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem as a Melton Senior Educator.

A creative liturgist, Rabbi Hanna has been blessed with the gift of writing new melodies for ancient Hebrew prayers. Her music is sung around the world in synagogues, havurot, homes, and spiritual gatherings.

Many Lights : Rabbi SaraLeya Schley

Rabbi SaraLeya Schley was ordained through ALEPH in January, 2005. Her rabbinic passions are Jewish prayer and text study. Living in Berkeley, she leads davening and life-cycle events for several communities. Mother of 3, her day job is as a Gynecologist. Her deepest desire: to remember to express gratitude as she walks through the world of daily living, feeling always full and complete—l’sova’—aware of the blessing of abundance and goodness.

About the Shabbaton: Joyful, heartfelt davening, Torah teachings for the parsha and season. Torah study based on teachings from the Slonimer Rebbe, the Netivot Shalom.

Many Lights : Rabbi Shefa Gold

Rabbi Shefa Gold is a leader in ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal and is the director of C-DEEP ~ Center for Devotional, Energy and Ecstatic Practice in Jemez Springs, New Mexico. She received her ordination both from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi.

Shefa composes and performs spiritual music, has produced nine albums, and her liturgies have been published in several new prayerbooks. She teaches workshops and retreats on the theory and art of Chanting, Devotional Healing, Spiritual Community building and Meditation.

Shefa combines her grounding in Judaism with a background in Buddhist, Christian, Islamic, and Native American spiritual traditions to make her uniquely qualified as a spiritual bridge celebrating the shared path of devotion. www.rabbishefagold.com

Many Lights : Rabbi Daniel Siegel

Rabbi Daniel Siegel is the Director of Spiritual Resources of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal which takes him around the country sharing, teaching and helping renewal communities stay vital and cohesive.

Reb Daniel was the first person to receive semicha from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. He has a BA from Rutgers University and an MA from Temple University.

Rabbi Siegel is a certified mediator and co-founded a successful mediation program at Dartmouth College. He teaches conflict resolution and is skilled in helping individuals and communities resolve conflict. His deep connection to Jewish texts and many years of working with Jews of all ages and varieties of practice make him especially sensitive to people's spiritual needs.

Reb Daniel and Reb Hanna Tiferet Siegel are the proud parents of three young men. 

Many Lights : Rabbi David Zaslow

Rabbi David Zaslow was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1947. He was ordained in 1995 by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi under the supervision and mentorship of Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfeld. In 2003 he completed his term as a Spiritual Advisor to ALEPH, the umbrella organization of the Jewish Renewal movement. Before his ordination he served as a rabbinic intern for the Jewish communities Crescent City, CA, Bend, OR, and Redding, CA.

During his years as a poet-in-the-schools for the southern Oregon region, David Zaslow wrote and edited more than a dozen of books of poetry as well as two albums of children's music for publishers like Good Apple; Harcourt Brace Javanovich; and Scott Foresman. In the late 1970s David, along with partner Steve Sacks, co-created what became the Peter Britt Jazz Festival by bringing jazz legends like Dave Brubeck, Count Basie, Dizzie Gillespie, Woodie Herman, and dozens of other jazz greats to southern Oregon for the first time. Along with poet Lawson Inada, in 1988 he was awarded an American Book Award for educational materials for a project he co-produced featuring Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows to music composed by Patti McCoy.