Women Gather at Chabad Center to ‘Stir the Soul,’ Celebrate the Hakhel Year

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Rebbetzin Rochel Kaplan (Courtesy)

“The Soul Talks Torah”: That is the title of a series of monthly events through June arranged by Rebbetzin Rochel Kaplan, founder and director of the Aleph Learning Institute, for Jewish women to celebrate the Hakhel year.

Kaplan founded the Aleph Learning Institute more than 10 years ago. She and her husband, Rabbi Shmuel Kaplan, co-direct Chabad Center and Lubavitch of Maryland in Baltimore, and have been serving the local Jewish community so for nearly 50 years.

In a phone interview, Kaplan spoke passionately about the gatherings she has organized, to be held once a month through June. Attendees met for the first such program on Jan. 24.

These get-togethers, said Kaplan, are prescribed in the Torah — specifically, in Deuteronomy, 31:10-12:

“At the end of every seven years, at an appointed time, in the Festival of Sukkot [following] the year of Shemitah. When all Israel comes to appear before the Lord, your G‑d, in the place He will choose, you shall read this Torah before all Israel, in their ears. Assemble the people: the men, the women, the children … .”

Twenty-five women registered for the first session, provided at no charge. Each meeting will have its own theme, noted Kaplan. The first included songs and “soul passports,” designed for attendees to get to know one another and themselves.

“I ordered a stack of blank passports and asked the participants to fill them out with their information to include their Hebrew name, residence and occupation — because all of these things are connected to your soul,” said Kaplan.

“According to Kabbalah,” she shared, “your occupation and whatever you do contain sparks of holiness with every single thing of creation, to include food and your home, with the exception of the unholy or non-kosher. Whatever you do when used in the service of G-d or for a G-dly purpose, you elevate those sparks connected to your soul.”

In ancient Israel, every man, woman and child, “infants and their great-grandmothers, scholars and laypeople,” according to Chabad.org, gathered in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount to read sections of the Torah and thus be “inspired and invigorated.”

The purpose of such gatherings in this Hakhel year, carried out at the end of every seventh year in ancient times, said Kaplan, was to emphasize “the unity and integration of people at various events.”

‘We all have a lot in common’

Bruriah Herman Schechter, one of the attendees for the first Hakhel session in January, described the evening as “soul-stirring.”

“I arrived to a warm greeting and the scent of marvelous food, beautiful decor and an anticipation of a malchus evening — one fit for a queen — and I was not disappointed in the slightest bit. My soul was stirred from all five senses: the taste and smell of delicious food; the sights of beautiful decor; women with open hearts and hugs; and the sounds of two marvelous musicians.”

Shaina Ettel Menda (Courtesy)

The evening included songs by Shaina Ettel Menda, a classically trained singer who performs for small groups “between her busy life as a mom and owner of SE Wigs.”

“She transported my soul to heaven with her voice that resonated peace, passion and love for G-d,” said Herman Schechter. “I learned that no matter how different women are in their Jewish walk, we all have a lot in common, and it is important to take the time to enjoy life, friendship and our femininity. I am so looking forward to the February event.”

Other music played via YouTube was Zusha, an American Chassidic folk/soul band from New York.

Kaplan added that while this was the first time holding a Hakhel gathering, she had thought about it for some time. “The Hakhel year is at the end of the shemitah [the sabbatical year] and after Sukkot — and follows the seven-year cycle, but somehow, maybe we need it more now, and more people are getting involved in actualizing it.”

Cynthia B. Rosenberg, a Pikesville-based attorney, remarked that “Rochel Kaplan brought together a cross-section of Jewish women to soar into their souls. As an immigration attorney, I am used to working with passports but never a passport to the soul. Fueled by Rochel’s delicious pareve soups, we were challenged to look within to discover our goals and recognize those who inspire us and start filling out these passports. It was an inspiring evening, and I look forward to the next get-together.”

Kaplan’s programs through the Aleph Learning Institute are designed to bring Judaism to life, and with the Hakhel gatherings, to provide a sense of awe and inspiration for the women attending the program, as well as to remind them that the Torah is “a life-giving force” in relation to both mind and body.

Women’s Hakhel gatherings will take place on Feb. 21, March 21, April 18, May 23 and June 20, all Tuesdays, beginning at 8 p.m. To register for any of the programs, call Aleph Learning Institute of Maryland at 443-220-9124 or email: [email protected].

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