c. 2008 Religion News Service

CLEVELAND _ The fourth- and fifth-graders can barely control their excitement, talking and smiling and moving in place as they reach to touch the Torah scroll carried by one of their own, Brandon Shaw.

In this Saturday morning Shabbat service, they could dress in sweatshirts and jeans and sneakers, and it was OK to dance and sing and share their thoughts.

The sanctuary was as intimate as a small semicircle and as big as the forest they could see from the November Lodge in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park about 25 miles south of Cleveland.

The night before, they prayed and played in an evening service and on a nighttime hike. Later on Saturday, they would play games, learn Jewish history,eat pizza and go on another hike.

Jewish retreats are fun, decided the youngsters from Temple Emanu El, a Reform congregation in University Heights, a Cleveland suburb.

“It makes you proud to feel Jewish and to do all this cool stuff,” said 10-year-old Brandon.

Jewish congregations, like their Christian counterparts more often associated with the word “retreat,” are providing ways people can leave the hectic pace of modern life. Going away with others of their faith provides a rare opportunity to concentrate on the search for greater meaning.

Forget the 1950s images of weekend retreats as places where the emphasis, both in monastic living arrangements and clergy lectures, was often on private spirituality. Today’s retreats can take place in hotels and lodges and can encourage people to participate in worship and games and conversations.

“Some of us like to not call it a `retreat,”’ said Rabbi Steven Denker of Temple Emanu El.

“We call it an `advance,’ bringing ourselves spiritually and physically to a point where we have a better connection with God and a better connection with our tradition.”

The renewed interest in retreats is part of a larger evolution toward more participatory, experiential expressions of faith outside of traditional synagogue worship. Contemporary services, small groups and classes in Jewish mysticism also are generating interest.

When it comes to retreats, northeastern Ohio has been ahead of the rest of the nation in seeking ways to build Jewish culture beyond the classroom.

Nearly 20 years ago, the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland founded the Retreat Institute of the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland, the first regional organization of its kind in the country.

Today, the institute helps put on 30 to 40 retreats a year, serving some 1,200 people, according to director Judith Schiller.

The institute serves all branches of Judaism, working with congregations and groups to tailor retreats to their needs rather than offering standardized programs.

Putting congregation members together for a couple of days in a Jewish setting to explore their faith helps create “what we as Jews really want _ a holy community,” said Cantor Laurel Barr of Temple Emanu El.

The most popular gathering is called a “Shabbaton,” which takes place over the Jewish Sabbath from Friday evening to Saturday evening.

The Shabbaton helps take the faithful away from cell phones, e-mail and wide-screen televisions, and to a time of worship, rest, play, prayer and reflection as was intended for the Sabbath, Jewish leaders said.

Putting everything else on hold allows people to disconnect from the stresses of everyday life and re-energize their souls, said Rabbi Stephen Weiss of B’Nai Jeshurun-Temple on the Heights, a Conservative congregation in Pepper Pike, Ohio.

Some 200 people attended a recent Shabbaton at the temple, which at one point featured a re-enactment of the crossing of the Red Sea as the song “When You Believe” from the movie “The Prince of Egypt” played in the background.

Weiss said he can teach people about Shabbat, but a retreat allows one to live the experience.

“Shabbat is the symphony, to step back and spend time with family, to study Torah and sing and celebrate. It’s the whole package.”

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Orthodox Rabbi Sruly Koval of the Shaker Heights, Ohio-based Jewish Family Experience said the number attending the organization’s main annual retreat has grown from 50 to 200 in five years.

The retreat at the Bertram Inn in Aurora, Ohio, serves families from all branches of Judaism “who are looking for an out-of-the-box Jewish experience,” he said. The event combines worship and learning with time together to help bond as a family.

At Cuyahoga Valley National Park last Saturday, the morning service ends with students happily yelling to one another “Shabbat Shalom,” then running or skipping over to the kitchen for juice and cookies.

Many of them hardly slept the night before, they said, but there was something energizing about being in a new place with their friends and without their parents.

Even something divine, some said.

“Having a retreat at a national park really helps you connect to God,” said 10-year-old Hannah Sullivan. “When you go on hikes, you can really see what he created.”

(David Briggs writes for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland.)

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