Renewal leaders gather in Berlin

The Jewish Renewal movement in Berlin hosted an educational and spiritual gathering. The Ohel Hachidush conference was hosted at the Centrum Judaicum from May 10 to 13 . It included a Kabbalat Shabbat with musical instruments – something forbidden in traditional congregations – and workshops on topics including “eco-kashrut,” “women and tallit,” “spiritual singing” and Talmud study. Leaders of the U.S.-based movement, including Rabbi Marcia Prager and Cantor Jack Kessler of Philadelphia, guided the classes.The movement, founded in 1973, remains the minority in an otherwise traditional city.