Jewish Renewal


Pardes Hannah is the Jewish Renewal Community of Ann Arbor in affiliation with ALEPH: The Alliance for Jewish Renewal.

The goals of Jewish Renewal are to empower individuals to respond to the call of Torah and to provide the resources that assist individuals and communities in the search for a meaningful, Jewish spiritual practice. Jewish Renewal draws on Jewish tradition, sacred text, mysticism, culture, history, modern life experience, and our own inner truths.

ALEPH: the Alliance for Jewish Renewal serves as the international umbrella organization and supports a network of more than 50 Renewal communities throughout the world. It conducts retreats, offers rabbinic programs for rabbis, cantors, and chaplains, supports social justice initiatives, and provides leadership programs for young adults. The “grandfather” of Jewish Renewal is Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi who was ordained in the Lubavitch yeshiva and received his PhD from the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. Reb Zalman held the Chair in World Religions at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. Learn more from this article honoring Reb Zalman.