B’nai Nefesh

Alternative B’nai Mitzvah for adults who are seeking to animate their Judaism with depth and imagination.

Earth-based • Ancestrally rooted • Creatively inspired

Are you feeling called to place Soul at the center of your Jewish life?

Do you feel a desire to embody Judaism as medicine for these times?

Are you ready to step forward as someone who can hold inspired Jewish ritual for others?

B’nai Nefesh (“Children of Soul”) offers an alternative to the classical B’nai Mitzvah (“Children of Commandments”).

Centered on the experience of Soul, this program offers adults an opportunity to prepare for and enact a ritual passage.

Grounding principles:

  • Torah as Mythic Mirror:

    • Engaging ancient text as a portal into revealing, feeling and harmonizing our interior landscapes. Wrestling with Torah as a path of nuance and paradox that helps us tune our moral compass and embody liberation.

  • Holding onto & Letting go of Jewish Identity:

    • Inviting authenticity into how we hold our Jewish identity and relate to the world as Jews. Discovering wisdom and curiosity in our understanding of Jewishness.

  • Cartography of Shabbat:

    • Embodying the practice and consciousness of Shabbat as a map of wholeness. Learning to navigate modernity and its troubling landscapes with Shabbat as a our guide.

  • Hebraic Imaginations:

    • Accessing and integrating sparks of vision shared by G-d wrestlers and boundary crossers, prophets and poets. Locating ourselves in deep time and embracing the “Other”.

 

Course Structure

  • Wilderness Retreat

    B’nai Nefesh concludes with a 5-day camping retreat in the California wilderness.

  • Online Study

    Our class meets 2x/month online for ~2 hr classes. Classes focus on Shabbat, Torah, Identity, and Imagination. The experience of Soul is a consistent thread we return to.

  • Guest Teachers

    Innovative, provocative, seasoned, lineage holders - we invite guest teachers, Rabbis and otherwise, to inspire our learning and nurture our study.

  • Chevrutah

    The Talmud teaches us to K'neh l'cha chaver / Get yourself a friend (Pirkei Avot 1:6). By investing in relationships of radical honesty and genuine compassion, we can take our study much deeper.

  • Arts, Soul Work, and Torah

    At home practices and invitations to support an enriching and rigerous experience.

  • Leading Shabbat for others

    Each B’nai Nefesh participant has the opportunity to lead a Shabbat service as a marking ritual.

    Participants are encouraged to design and lead a ritual (Shabbat or otherwise) that reflects their unique and soulful approach to Judaism.

Shabbat is an invitation to recalibrate our speed.

To disconnect from the speed of capitalism,

to slow down to organic time, to breathe deeper.

Rabbi Jericho Vincent (@thealef)

FAQs

  • B’nai Nefesh is open to anyone who feels called to study Judaism with soul and imagination as guides.

    This program is for people who never had the opportunity for a traditional B’Mitzvah. As well as for those who did have one, but are wanting a new threshold to mark their evolving relationship with Judaism.

    B’nai Nefesh welcomes Jews by birth and choice, those in the process of conversion and those who seek new language to describe their relationship with ancestral Hebraic wisdom

  • B’nai Nefesh begins in October 2026. We meet two times a month as a group for 2.5 hour classes with core and guest teachers. The program concludes with a 5-day wilderness retreat in California in July 2027.

    A full program schedule will be available soon!

  • B’nai Nefesh enrollment includes:

    • Two 5-day wilderness retreats (includes food, site fees, group cooking gear, etc.)

    • 9 months of online classes meeting 2x per month for 2.5 hrs each class

    • Two 1:1 mentorship calls with core teachers

    • At-home assignments that help develop inspiration and grounding

    • Structured chevrutah (study partner) practice

    • Special classes with experienced and inventive guest teachers

    • Guidance in designing a Shabbat service to be led after the program completes

    What is not included:

    • Officiant support for your Shabbat service (can be arranged with core teachers and/or other Jewish ritual leaders)

    • Books and prayer materials that will support your learning and practice

  • The financial health of B’nai Nefesh is held as a collective responsibility. What this means is that all participants share the opportunity to contribute finances that allow this program to flourish.

    The total cost to run B’nai Nefesh (core guides, retreats, online classes, guest teachers, administration, 1:1 mentorship, etc.) is $25,000 - $40,000.

    At the lower end the program is making its minimum budget and able to run. At the higher end the program is thriving and the message is clear - people are ready to invest in a Soulful Jewish container for personal and collective wholeness.

    What this means for individual cost: Each participant is invited to consider a contribution of $0-$10,000. At around 10 participants an average of ~$3,000/participant will get us close to meeting the middle road budget.

    B’nai Nefesh is capped at 15 participants. If enough people sign up, and some folks have the resources to give generously, others will be able to participate at low to no cost.

    The idea is that financial transparency, generosity, and emunah (faith/steadfastness) will support us working together to make this offering accessible and financially viable.

    *Inspiration around this financial approach received in deep respect and gratitude from Rites & Responsibilities.

  • Application link coming soon :) For now write to Daniel to express interest.

    Applications accepted on a rolling basis. Cohort capped at 15 participants.

 
 

More information coming soon…

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