About The Mitsui Collective Kollel
The Kollel is Mitsui Collective’s Community of Practice for professionals engaged in embodied experience, somatic antiracism, and related forms of embodied anti-oppression work rooted in Jewish learning, practice, culture, and community. It is a unique opportunity for select cohorts of embodied Jewish practitioners to learn, share, research, and workshop together both in-person and online.
Cohort Three launches with our in-person immersion experience in June followed by 10 online community of practice gatherings where Kollelniks will continue to share and workshop their work and practice together.
Participants have included musicians, niggunists, dancers, and choreographers; somatic therapists and activist-organizers; rabbis, ritualists, meditation teachers, and liberatory movement guides — all deeply engaged in rooting and resourcing of their antiracist, anti-oppression liberation work in Jewish learning, practice, culture, and community, and vice versa.
These are practitioners leading the way in creating more healing and wholeness in the world for all. We feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to work and learn with these highly skilled and experienced practitioners, and to support them in their continued learning and growth together.
Meet Cohort One of the Mitsui Collective Kollel!
Meet Cohort Two of the Mitsui Collective Kollel!
Meet Cohort Three of the Mitsui Collective Kollel!
frequently asked questions
what is embodied Jewish practice & somatic antiracism & anti-oppression?
Embodied Jewish practice brings the tools of embodied experience — movement, breathwork, song, prayer, nature connection, food, music, art, and ritual — into the experience of Jewish life & learning through our bodies. A somatic antiracist & anti-oppression lens focuses additionally on the healing-centered work of addressing how our experiences of Judaism and Jewish community are impacted because of the bodies we are in. It addresses the corollary impacts and root causes of racism, ancestral trauma, and oppression in our bodies; and moves us forward into collective healing pathways for those of all backgrounds and identities.
What is a kollel?
A Kollel is a community of practice engaged in Jewish learning, sharing, and applied enrichment. Traditionally, a kollel is an institute for full-time, advanced study of Jewish text (particularly Talmud and rabbinic literature) in which participants are often compensated for their time and learning. While traditionally focused on text study and limited in participation to married and traditionally-observant Jewish men, we join a number of folks who are reimagining both the learning contexts and equity practices of what, at its core, is a rich model of learning and community building.
Who is this program for?
Mitsui Collective’s Kollel is for experienced professionals whose teaching and practice center the body and do their work through a Jewish lens. Participants may be movement teachers, musicians, healers, somatic therapists, artists, nature educators, ritualists, and more. We are not looking for practitioners whose work is exclusively or predominantly performance-based.
The Mitsui Collective Kollel is supported through funding from Rise Up, an initiative of The Nathan Cummings Foundation.