Reconstructing Judaism’s Auerbach Launch Grants and Ignition Grants support rabbinical students and rabbis in reconstructing the Jewish landscape to be more inclusive and engaging. This year’s winners point the way to a dynamic Jewish future.
Auerbach Launch Grants
Coming soon!
Auerbach Grants
Lev DiPaolo
Lev’s innovative project is called: “Kol HaNeshamah“, and it aims to bridge the gap between “audience members” and “performers” by inviting the kahal (audience) into the performance experience. The hour-long program will consist of all original compositions by Lev DePaolo, scored for voice, viola da gamba, violin, and harpsichord, including settings of Yedid Nefesh, Kol HaNeshamah, Essa Einai, and verses from Yotzer Or. The ensemble will share fully-orchestrated versions of each
composition, interspersed with simplified refrains that invite the kahal to sing and immerse themselves in our melodies. Participants will take time to invite repetition, variation, and silent meditation. This experimental project aims to blur the boundaries between professional and communal music-making, asking: what can we learn from each other when we allow these boundaries to become more porous? By removing barriers to participation in classical music, we also hope to make the genre more accessible to those who have been historically excluded from classical music. In bringing newly composed Jewish music to audiences in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., Lev also hope to diversify the sound of Jewish music, offering new options for prayer leaders and clergy members to bring back to their own communities.
Rakhel Silverman-Gitin
Rakhel’s Innovative project aims to educate and engage the community of Or Haneshamah, Ottawa’s Reconstructionist Congregation, on disability justice, and place it in conversation with the tradition of Shabbat.
Instead of being focused on how to address the “issue” of disability within Judaism (i.e. what Jewish text thinks of disability), this project is focused on what Jews can
learn from the wisdom of the disability community regarding rest and joy, and how to apply these teachings to deepen personal and communal Shabbat practices.
Their project will consist of two in-person workshops titled: “Disability Wisdom and Sacred Rest.” The first workshop will be an introduction to disability justice. It will teach different perspectives on disability such as social and medical models. It will then explain the difference between tolerance, acceptance, inclusion, and justice, and will examine how disability justice benefits all people, through concepts such as universal design. The second workshop will talk about sacred rest: Participants will learn about the disability concept of “cripping time” and perspectives on radical rest. Concluding the workshop, participants will close by brainstorming how to apply these learnings to personal lives and communal practices. Both workshops will utilize different modalities: readings from disability scholars and activists, artistic performances, ancient Jewish texts, and small and large group conversations.
Mat Wilson
The Disability Torah Project began as a writing initiative to uplift disabled wisdom and expand the library of Torah commentary rooted in lived experience. Through the support of the Auerbach Ignition Grant, the project has been publishing weekly essays on the Torah portion that are written by disabled writers and engage disability and Torah together, offering perspectives that are too often missing from Jewish learning.
Now, with the support of the Auerbach Launch Grant, the Disability Torah Project will continue its core work of weekly Torah commentary while also expanding to meet the growing need for accessible learning opportunities and resources. These expanded offerings will include:
- Writings on Jewish holidays
- Short-form Rosh Chodesh video teachings through a disability lens
- New liturgical creations by and for disabled Jews
- Resources to support clergy engagement with disability Torah
- Independent study materials for self-guided learning
- A multi-week, accessible class series
- Quarterly standalone classes on themes at the intersection of Torah and disability
- Weekly virtual Torah study
The Disability Torah Project is rooted in the belief that disabled perspectives are not only valuable but vital to the richness of Jewish life and learning.
Elya Piazza
Elya’s innovative project: “Mindful Menches Mount Airy” aims to connect local Jewish individuals who haven’t found their place in local Jewish settings due to their accessibility needs, and wish to focus on mindfulness and meditation as part of their Jewish practice.
Mindful Menches will meet biweekly, in a space indoors or outdoors, that will allow individuals with immune compromised conditions or other disabilities to feel welcome fully. During the meeting, there will be silent sitting meditation, followed by a facilitate hour-long learning session wherein a Dharma topic will be introduced, that then will be paired with a source sheet of Jewish texts. This will allow the participants to explore the relationship between meditation teachings and Jewish tradition.
Since Many people are living with feelings of isolation and fear, it is more important than ever to develop skills for cultivating an inner refuge of peace and quiet. Constant exposure to distraction and repeated triggers, especially for highly sensitive people, inhibit our ability to move through grief and adjust to changing social climates. By meeting with other like-minded folks for learning, processing and meditating, Elya strives to provide a safe refuge that will nurture themselves and the individuals who will join them in the meetings.
Sai Koros and Molly Schulman
Sai and Molly’s innovative project focuses on an often overlooked moment in a person’s life: the end of a relationship. By creating a guide with creative rituals, grounded in the sefirot and other spiritual Kabbalistic concepts, they will offer an accessible resource to meet the various situations of ending a relationship, centering queer, platonic and other kinds of relationships.
By connecting and learning from experts in the field of Kabbalah, Molly and Sai will create useful resources that are not just practical, but also talks to the aspect of beauty and aesthetics, to support the healing process after the end of a relationship. This guide will bring much needed spiritual care to a moment of painful transition, occurring in the life of young adult who are queer and/or femme.
Their hope is to create a ritual for their friends and peer group, that will allow them to be more gentle with themselves, take the time they need for healing, and do all of that and more: from the knowledge and support of the Jewish wisdom and tradition.