Chaverim means friends. Our Makom Shalom dream is to create an ever deepening circle of spiritually growing friends who support each other through the beauty and challenges of life. 

Chaverim Circle is a group aimed to support us to grow spiritually as individuals, friends, and community. We will meet one evening every month for two hours to explore dimensions of spirituality and spiritual growth through the wisdom of the Chasidic Masters, such as our relationship to soul, shadow, God, and how we relate to each other in community from these parts of ourselves. 

Each participant will have a Spiritual Chevrutah (learning partner) to learn with during the monthly Chaverim Circle session and to meet weekly at mutually convenient times to continue the exploration.

WHO: Chaverim Ciricle is for Adult Member Only - Please Join Makom Shalom to join this and other Member Only Offerings

WHERE: Location TBD - Once we have numbers interested, we will follow up with location and other details

WHEN: First Mtg is Wed. Nov.19, 2025. We may change time based on this SCHEDULING POLL *Please Fill out if Interested

HOW: Here is an outline of monthly Chaverim Circle Sessions:

1. Gather: Sing a niggun (wordless melody), meditate, Check-in together [~ 20 min.]

2. Study: Read and learn from a text of a *Chassidic master (English translation) to spark a theme of spiritual growth. We will break out into chevruta to read and glean from the text, then return to the whole group to share ideas and grok the text. [~ 30 min.]

3. Spiritual Chevrutah: Break out into Spiritual Chevrutah to discuss how this text applies to our lives personally, practicing deep share and listening, honoring confidentiality, and cultivating a deepening friendship. [~ 30 min.]

4. Completing the Circle: Return to the full circle to sing a niggun, meditate again, and harvest our learnings from the text and from ourselves [~ 30 min.]

5. Close: We will be given guidance for the month for Spiritual Chevrutah time and then close by inviting a different person each week to offer a closing blessing [~ 10 min.]

Commitment: Chaverim Circle is for Makom Shalom members only. The request is to commit for one year, which includes 12 monthly sessions and Spiritual Chevrutah time in between. Commitment is critical to support the container as a whole and for mutual support with your Spiritual Chevrutah. We can explore emergent needs as they arise. Members are invited to come to a first session to discern if they want to commit for the year. 

* We will begin the Chaverim Circle by learning from Rabbi Kalonymus Shapira (the Piaseczno Rebbe), the Rabbi of the Warsaw Ghetto, who left us with incredible insights about personal spiritual development and building conscious community. As we progress, we will expand our learning with other masters like Rabbi Nachman of Bresolv, Rebbe Yehuda Leib Alter of Ger (The Sefat Emet), and Rabbi Yisroel ben Eliezer (The Ba’al Shem Tov), among others. 

Join us at Harmony Elementary School’s Assembly Hall for Kabbalat Shabbat in the Assembly Hall building.

1935 Bohemian Highway, Occidental, CA 95465

6:00-6:30 Gather & Kids Potluck Dinner

(families please be sure to bring main dishes for the kids potluck area)

6:30-8:00 Kabbalat Shabbat

8:00-9:00 Potluck dinner

Join us in the cozy Harmony School Assembly Hall as we welcome Shabbat together.

Harmony School Address: 1935 Bohemian Hwy, Occidental, CA 95465

Shabbat prayer, music, and teaching will be co-led by Rabbi Zelig Golden, Joti Levy, Shoshanna Sosman, David Davis on cello, and Brian Lemish on percussion.

5:30-6:00 Gather & Kids Potluck Dinner

6:00-7:30 Kabbalat Shabbat

7:30-9:00 Potluck dinner & Hang

Sukkot Harvest Celebration

Lets Come together to Celebrate the Fall season and the joyful festival of booths with a hang, sukkah decorating, Sukkot teaching and ritual led by Rabbi Zelig, and a community potluck.

Sukkot is Z’man Simchateinu—the Season of Our Joy. In that spirit, we will gather to lift up sparks of joy, connection, and resilience. We will also hold space for the second anniversary of October 7th, honoring the memory of that day, the lives lost, and the ongoing pain and complexity that have followed. As we dwell in our sukkah—a strructure both fragile and sacred—we bring our whole selves: joy and sorrow, celebration and reflection, heartache and hope.

2:00 pm - 4:00 pm — Sukkah Decorating

4:00 pm - 5:30 pm — Gather at the pool

5:30 pm - 6:00 pm — Sukkot Teaching & Ritual

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm — Potluck

Rosh Hashanah (First Day)

Join us in the redwood grove for a soulful Rosh Hashanah morning of prayer, meditation, and Torah service, culminating in a powerful, heart-opening shofar ceremony to awaken the new year. After the service, we’ll share a community potluck lunch, followed by a Tashlich ritual at Salmon Creek to release what no longer serves and make space for renewal. Together, we begin the year in connection—with self, spirit, and the natural world.

Prayer and Music Leaders include

Zelig Golden (Rabbi), Suzannah Sosman (Cantorial Soloist), Sarai Shapiro (guitar & voice), Jen Myzel (guitar & voice), Melita Silberstein (guitar & voice), Casey Yurrow (mandolin), Candace Wase (upright bass), Brian Lemesh (percussion).

Youth Programming

Yael Raff Peskin

Schedule

9:30 am - 1:00 pm Shachart, Meditation, Torah service & Shofar Service

1:00 pm -3:00 pm Community Potluck and Pool Party

3:00 pm - 4:00 pm Community Tashlich ceremony at Salmon Creek

Israel/Palestine Dialogue Circle: In the spirit of soul accounting and relational repair during the month of Elul, we aim to build a community that can lean into holding and engaging in the hardest issues and conversations that confront us, and there is no tougher topic today in our community than the heartbreaking in the Middle East today and how it is polarizing our Jewish communities. In this “receiving and feeling” council circle, we will hold brave space together to share together how Israel/Palestine lives in us today and how we want to be known in relation to the devastating conflict. This will not be a conversation to argue politics or convince others of our views, but rather an opportunity to share our hearts and flex the muscle of engaging in difficult conversation. This conversation will be facilitated by Rabbi Zelig and Wowlvenn Seward-Katzmiller with clear ground rules, so please join this conversation in the spirit of vulnerability and respect for the container. 

Our Goals
1) Create brave space that is attuned to each nervous system
2) Hear and be heard by each other
3) Know and be known by each other
4) Build healthy community through healthy, difficult conversation

Our Approach
1) We will sit in council around a sacred fire, according basic principles of the Way of Council
2) We will hold clear boundaries that keep us focused on our personal feelings about Israel/Palestine, without debating, arguing, defending etc.
3) We will hold a 4-step process for each share:

1. Share: Sharing from the holy "I" (sharing with "I feel..." will be the basic invitation)
2. Feel: Everyone feels how share lands in a sacred pause after each share
3. Receive: Person sharing Invites "receiving" comments if open to it - "receiving" comments simply reflect what was heard without response or rebuttal
4. Nervous system check: circle can each briefly share how their nervous system was impacted by share

Elul Fundamentals: Join Rabbi Zelig to explore the core themes of Heshbon Hanefesh ('soul accounting'), examining our personal lives for areas of growth and realignment, as well Teshuvah ('spiritual return'), engaging in relationship repair. We will also explore core Elul practices such as daily chanting of Psalm 27 and blowing the shofar to wake up during this transformational season. Finally, we will hold a heart-share council to explore and share the themes and material that is alive for us as we approach the High Holidays. 

💕 Gather OUTDOORS in REDWOODS

**BRING** - Readiness to Sing, Pray & Connect -

Cozy Clothes to stay Warm after sunset -

Chair or blanket to sit upon -

Siddur (prayer book) if you want the full liturgy -

POTLUCK ITEMS: Nourish People!! and If you have kid(dos), please also bring KID FOOD

• Gather (5:30pm +)

• Kid Potluck & Appetizer (6:00pm) Childcare for children ages 4 and up

• Kabbalat Shabbat Song & Rituals (6:30pm)

• Potluck Shabbat Dinner & Hang (8:00pm)

• Gather * Sing * Pray * Connect Shabbat Song & Ritual will be led by Rabbi Zelig Golden and amazing musicians

RSVP HERE