Beit Kohanot Inc dba Chevra haChachamot is a 501c3 nonprofit Jewish congregation and social justice organization. We are a certified PayPal charity, too! Our mission is to establish a new welcoming and inclusive Jewish community for all; to support Jewish women in their journey toward the Divine; to provide an accepting and diverse minyan for tefilah, shabbat, and yom tovim; and eventually to train women as lay leaders in their home community; and to build a synagogue, retreat center, and kibbutz in a woman-friendly location.
Join us on our path!
Bloomscrolling from October 2024 to December 2025 with beautiful floral images!
All proceeds benefit the Chevra!
Come Daven with us!
We are committed to providing inclusive and egalitarian places to pray and connect in peace and acceptance. Check out the Events calendar for Chevra services! Prayer services and other classes and events will begin after the High Holidays. We can't wait to get started!
Not your Bubbe's Jewish Mutual Aid Society. Providing financial support and resources to Jewish women in need through contribution membership and donations. The General Fund is for members only. Our specialty funds, by application, will focus on emergent issues: reproductive health, antisemitism, LGTBQIA+ rights.
Support the Chevra!
One time or recurring donations are appreciated, even if you don't wish to join the Chevra or the Mutual Aid Society at this time.
Help support the Jewish community, programming, goals and aspirations.
We are virtual for now, so we can reach you anywhere. Reach out, join our davening, or donate today.
Bling! Support the Chevra and treat yourself, too!
This link will go to a separate e-commerce site that is strictly to support the Chevra, and is not part of Ahavah Ariel Sacred Arts.
Offerings will include a variety of beautiful items to brighten your day.
We dream of building a synagogue for the congregation and a miqvah for the community, a retreat center for classes and shabbaton, and eventually a kibbutz home for Jewish women on its own land and centered in peace, Judaism, and earth-guided wisdom.
Capital campaign launching in 2025.
Our social media home is Babka! Babka Social is a Mastodon instance for the Jews and Jewish allies from around the world. We are values oriented (see https://blog.babka.social/values ) and see our goal as making a safe, supportive space for Jews to live full, authentic lives online. We welcome diversity and are welcome to LGBTQ+ Jews, Queer Jews, Jews of Color, Converts, Disabled Jews, and others from around the world. We are openly welcoming to those who do not identify as Jewish but are either Jewish adjacent or are allies of the Jewish community.
It begins with Shekhina. It never truly ends. Ours is a story of love, devotion, and dedication to a new style of Jewish practice that connects all parts of our rich tapestry of culture and tradition together, cherishing the structure, the systems, the practices, and customs, while weaving together a return to Earth-Based Feminist Jewish practices which center on Chochmat Nashim – Women’s Wisdom. This organization is a labor of love, dedicated to uplifting Jewish women’s lay-leadership capabilities across the US. We are part of klal Yisrael, all of it, and we weave our community, past and present, together in a beautiful whole.
The Story of Beit Kohanot Inc dba Chevra haChachamot – In 2022 a vision was born for a new Jewish Women’s organization where we and our families, partners, and friends can create a new reality.
So we incorporated Beit Kohanot Inc in August of 2022 and set out to manifest this dream. In Demember of 2022, we applied for 501c3 status as a congregation and nonprofit, and landed on the name Chevra haChachamot for our congregation. In July of 2023, we received notice from the IRS that we were approved, and we planned to announce right after the high holidays.
Then October 7th changed everything.
We didn’t feel the time was right, and when Chanukkah arrived, the hoped for resolution didn’t arrive with it. But we don’t want to wait forever, so our soft opening, the announcement of our first program, Miriam’s Wellspring Mutual Aid Society, took place at the Aleph New Year’s 2024 evening online event. Our Official Opening will hopefully be by Rosh HaShanah! Until then, we'll be testing out the software and doing trials runs of prayer services and classes. Stay tuned!
We believe in being actively involved in ecological sustainability and recognize the current course of business-as-usual leads to catastrophic climate collapse. We reject consumerism and commercialism and embrace the renew, reuse, recycle, and repurpose ideal. We value the experiential reality of community, not the accumulation of personal wealth.
We believe that we must strive to repair the world, engage in charitable works, and provide support – especially for the disempowered, disenfranchised, and economically oppressed. We reject predatory capitalism in all its forms. We embrace a democratic socialist framework for our community. If all are not free, then none are free.
We believe in the right of the State of Israel to exist as a Jewish state in our ancient homeland. We reject all anti-zionist rhetoric as antisemitic and hold both positions of loving the State of Israel and its people while challenging Israel’s government to strive for constant improvement.
We believe in the unified continuity and continuation of Judaism as a beautiful, multifaceted faith community in the modern world. We recognize the existence of LGBTQ persons as a scientific, innate reality, and happily welcome everyone as part of our congregational family. We reject bigoted translations and interpretations of Torah that exclude persons based on LGBTQ status. community. Join us for a fun and inspiring experience!
We know that Jewish Divinity is more than just male, or even binary. We acknowledge that each person connects to the Ribbono Shel Olam in their own way. We highlight the Divine Feminine in our practice and encourage everyone to use whatever name(s) for the Divine they feel comfortable with, and to connect in any way that feels authentic to them. We reject the exclusion and/or devaluing of women’s contributions as leaders of ritual and as community spiritual tenders
Egalitarian and Equity-Centered – We believe in the empowerment of women to serve the congregation in every capacity. We recognize that women are half of the Jewish community’s equation and have immense gifts to share on equal footing with men. We acknowledge the nuance of community leadership as both active participation in events and rituals while simultaneously engaging in different roles, modalities, and serving different demographics to support the community as a whole.
We believe in the power and influence of Jewish women to shape worlds and future generations through wisdom and understanding. We embrace the practices of traditional halakah in a personal and meaningful way, as well as affirming that the mystical practices of the ancient kabbalah masters & adepts should not be denied to women on the basis of their gender.
We love all Jews, regardless of affiliation. We accept all persons of any Jewish denomination as part of our congregation, including but not limited to Humanist, Secular, Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative, Renewal, Orthodox, and the unaffiliated. We embrace the framework of mainstream Judaism. We encourage patrilineal Jewish persons to explore furthering their ties to Am Yisrael via a formal conversion process.
Members of the Chevra have free access to all online events and activities. Membership fees are under development, but will be very reasonable. Non-members can attend any virtual event or class with online registration and a one-off fee. Some online prayer services will be free to all.
Copyright © 2019-2024 Ahavah Ariel Sacred Arts - All Rights Reserved.
Far Star Farm, Rosh Chodesh Lex, and Miss Gayle Catering are registered trade names of Ahavah Ariel Sacred Arts LLC.
Beit Kohanot Inc dba Chevra haChachamot is a 501c3 nonprofit.
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