• NHC's Summer Institute: July 29- August 4, 2024. Registration opens April 25th

    This year’s theme of עִיר מִקְלָט “Ir Miklat: City of Refuge” can be found in a small corner of parshat Matot-Masei (Numbers 30:2 - 36:13). It epitomizes how we want this year’s institute to feel: a space where both the individual and the community at the heart of the Havurah ethos can come together in a safe space to create something meaningful, where our connections are welcoming and inclusive, fun and exciting, relaxing and energizing, and insightful and spiritually significant for our diverse community of participants.

    The Core Team envisions Institute as our City of Refuge--a place that’s safe--this year more than ever. What is it YOU need refuge from? We welcome you to join us at Pearlstone Center for sanctuary and refuge, to renew and refresh, and to play, rest, create and learn with us!

2021 Summer Institute Update & Call for Volunteers

Dear Havurahniks,

It recently came to my attention that NHC leadership had failed to inform the community of decisions we made regarding Institute 2021. On behalf of the board and the executive committee, I would like to sincerely apologize for this oversight and take the opportunity to share our hopes and plans for the coming summer.

On November 22, 2020 the NHC board voted to plan an online Institute July 25 – August 8, 2021. It is our hope that public health conditions and volunteer capacity will allow for volunteer-driven local, regional, or even larger in-person gatherings to supplement this online program.  However, due to uncertainty surrounding the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, it is not possible to begin planning an in-person Institute of the kind we are accustomed to, and because recruiting  teachers and volunteers takes significant time and energy, we felt that it was not in the best interest of our community to continue to put off planning Institute altogether.

We understand that this decision will likely be disappointing to many. Rest assured it was not taken lightly and the board shares the disappointment at not being able to move forward in planning a week in Hartford next summer. If you are interested in helping to organize an online event to process as a community what Institute 2021 will look like, please contact me at chairnhc@gmail.com

In the best of times, putting together a Summer Institute is a big undertaking for a volunteer-led community. This is all the more true as members of our community and volunteer team are coping with isolation, loss of work and income, increased demands and health risks at work, working without childcare, illness, and loss of loved ones as a result of the pandemic. In light of that, we would like to express special thanks to our core team, Glenda, Bobbi, and Amy for taking on the task of bringing our community together in 2021. We also want to highlight the need to fill significant volunteer roles within the NHC in the coming year. These include:

At-large Board Members

Board Treasurer (Spring 2021)

Board Chair (November 2021)

We remain, as always a volunteer-led community and a reflection of the commitment, energy, and investment of our volunteer leaders. The more involvement we have, the richer our programs are, both online and in person. If you are interested in learning more about one or more of these roles, please contact volunteer@havurah.org and/or go to https://havurah.org/getinvolved/

If you have any questions or concerns about Institute 2021 or about the NHC in general, please feel free to contact me at chairnhc@gmail.com.

b’Havurah,

Darius Sivin

NHC Board Chair

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