A Deepening of Shabbat in New Mexico: Introducing Minyan Midbar/Desert Minyan

One of my goals in founding Shabbat with Friends was to deepen and broaden the experience of Shabbat in New Mexico. I believe that Shabbat is the wellspring of Jewish life. The more ways people can experience profound Shabbat spirituality, the stronger and deeper our community becomes.

Shabbat with Friends over the past three years has focused on the home traditions of Sabbath: shared meals, song and study, and the rich Jewish teachings on hosting and hospitality. The response to this focus has been very gratifying as hundreds of people have been touched by our Shabbat gatherings, and many households have discovered the joy of hosting Shabbat meals and gatherings with others.

While Shabbat with Friends continues to thrive, I am now expanding my attention to another dimension of Shabbat: Shabbat as a profound opportunity for transformative communal prayer, study, and gathering. This has led to an exciting collaboration in creating Minyan Midbar.

The inaugural meeting of the new Minyan Midbar will take place on Shabbat morning, April 25th, in Santa Fe. Over the next 10 days (Minyan is a quorum of 10 Jews for collective prayer), I will share each day something unique about the communal practices, customs, and approach Minyan Midbar will embrace. Minyan Midbar incorporates many of the best practices of other dynamic Jewish minyanim across the country. We aspire to create an intentional, participatory, and moral/spiritual community of substance.

I invite you to attend the inaugural service. You may sign up to get updates on the Minyan Midbar and to receive Rabbi Dov's posts HERE. You may also visit the website where Minyan Midbar information is posted at rabbidovnm.com.

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New Office in Santa Fe

I now have moved into a new physical office space that serves as the base for all my rabbinic work. You are welcome to visit, send correspondence, and contributions to the address below. Also, I’ll be glad to meet you at one of the great places nearby for coffee or nosh: The Bread Shop, Iconik Lena, Kakawa Chocolate Shop and Chocolate Maven. 

Rabbi Dov Gartenberg

CoLab

1807 Second Street, Unit 40‑04; 

Santa Fe, NM 87505

General Email: shalom@rabbidovnm.com SWF Email: dov@shabbatwithfriends.org: Mobile: 505‑500‑9040

*Panim Hadashot-Hebrew for New Faces is the original name of Shabbat with Friends.