Members
Members

Who We Are

Our Mission

Chochmat HaLev is a source of fresh, relevant, and inspiring pathways into Jewish practice.

Explore your spirituality through: study, music, dance, the arts, meditation, ritual and celebration rooted in values drawn from Torah, Kabbalah, traditional texts, contemporary commentary and the lived experiences of our diverse community.

We engage, we volunteer, we welcome all people regardless of age, gender identity, sexual orientation, racial and ethnic background, and economic status. We are a home for your Jewish heart.

Chochmat HaLev means Wisdom of the Heart.

The name comes directly from Torah, Tetzaveh (Exodus) 27:20 – 30:11. We are in the desert building the mishkan, the portable sanctuary.  Once it is built, there is a commandment to keep an eternal flame at this center of our community, and then we can make the special vestments to be worn by the priests. Moses is told to speak to “all that are wise-hearted, for they will be able to make such clothing for honor and for beauty.”

Chochmat is a Jewish Renewal Congregation

Jewish Renewal is a trans-denominational approach to revitalizing Judaism.  As an attitude, not a denomination, it is a doorway through which we can access all branches of Judaism to explore how they might inform our contemporary vision of a socially progressive, egalitarian, and celebratory connection with the Divine and with each other. Jewish mystical tradition teaches that we live simultaneously in four worlds: action, emotion, thought, and spirit. Jewish Renewal provides opportunities for all of us to fully embody this teaching and invites us to live lives that matter.

CHL-Logo-Web

Our Logo

The Chochmat HaLev logo is an ancient representation of the ten sefirot. Sefirot, a Hebrew word meaning emanations, are the attributes in Kabbalah through which Ein Sof (God) reveals Itself. The first Sefira, Keter, is the center of the circle.

The wedge of emptiness that cuts through the circles is carved by a ray of Divine light, leaving room for us. In that space, we enjoy the freedom to open and attune ourselves to higher influences.

Our logo can be thought of as a Jewish mandala for simultaneously expanding and focusing awareness.

We are part of an international community of ALEPH members. Founded in 1993, ALEPH envisions a contemporary Judaism that is joyous, creative, spiritually rich, socially progressive, and earth-aware. They bring spiritual vitality and passion into the daily lives of Jews through programs that empower leadership, build communities, and generate powerful experiences and practical resources. ALEPH currently has about 40 member communities located both in the US and abroad.

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