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SDI Educators Gathering
Return to the Land of Your Soul, Rabbi Shawn Zevit
Join us on September 10th, 2025, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PST for the Spiritual Director Formation Program Leaders and Spiritual Companion Mentors Gathering.
“Ratz v’shov” (also spelled “ratzo v’shov”) is an ancient phrase meaning “running and returning”. It represents a core concept in Kabbalah and Jewish philosophy that informs Jewish approaches to spiritual companionship, describing the dynamic, cyclical nature of both the Divine flow and Presence and human spiritual experience. All the while, being with God as Hamakom, The Place, the Everywhere we are, regardless of what we’re yearning for, or experience as absent.
The concept of ratzo v’shov emphasizes that true spirituality is not about escaping the world but about integrating the spiritual and the physical. It encourages a healthy balance between seeking transcendent experiences and applying those insights to enhance everyday life and make a positive impact on the world. In this fraught times,
In our Education Formation circle, we will explore these ideas, eleven days from the Jewish New Year, and reflect on them in relation to our own Formation Programs, within our particular faith tradition and personal work as spiritual directors.
About the Presenter:
RABBI SHAWN ISRAEL ZEVIT, is the lead rabbi at congregation Mishkan Shalom, in Philadelphia, PA, committed to the integration of meaningful spiritual living, life-long learning and acts of caring and social justice. Rabbi Zevit has worked for over thirty years consulting to and supporting dozens of congregations, organizations, social justice and sustainability initiatives in the Jewish and larger world.
He is co-director with Rabbi Marcia Prager of the award-winning Davennen Leader’s Training Institute and is a spiritual director and Associate Director for the ALEPH Hashpa’ah (Spiritual Direction) program, working at the nexus of spiritual development and healing on a personal, interpersonal and communal level.
He is also a recording and performing artist with six CDs of original and traditional music and a founding member of the original “Shabbat Unplugged” musical group. An organizer for over twenty years of men’s programming and retreats, he is co-editor with Harry Brod of Brother Keepers: New Perspectives in Jewish Masculinity as well as “Offerings of the Heart: Money and Values in Faith Community” and numerous publications for congregational and organizational life.
Rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit serves as a consultant for numerous organizations in the areas of leadership, community building, money and values, creativity, and spirituality in the workplace. He has consulted with and presented to hundreds of institutions and faith communities across North America, and has taught Interpersonal and Organizational Communications at the University of Toronto and Temple University.
Rabbi Zevit is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and also has smicha/ordination from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi z”l and ALEPH.
September 10 @ 11:00 am – 12:30 pm PDT
