If you teach or lead music in camps, congregations, or community centers, Hava Nashira® is for you. Created by Debbie Friedmanz"l and Cantor Jeff Klepper among others, Hava Nashira provides you with the opportunity to improve your skills as you learn from the finest Jewish music innovators and composers, who will include Cantor Jeff Klepper, Ellen Allard, Merri Lovinger Arian, Cantor Rosalie Boxt, Rabbi Ken Chasen, Cantor Ellen Dreskin, Alan Goodis, Billy Jonas, Shira Kline, Josh Nelson, Dan Nichols and Joey Weisenberg. Instrumental proficiency is preferred but not necessary. The program is open to adults, college age and older. Read about this year's Hava Nashira faculty.
What's Hava Nashira® like? Download a schedule from Hava Nashira 2012 . You will receive the 2013 schedule upon arrival. The 2012 schedule should give you a good idea of how the program is structured.
Intensives and Electives -- New this year! The way our courses are offered is different this year than in years past. You will have the choice of taking two intensives (2 1/4 hour in-depth learning sessions) and two electives (1 hour shorter learning sessions) OR only one intensive and four electives. During the second intensive block some participants can choose their second intensive, and others could choose to take two electives instead. We hope that this will allow more diversity in offerings from which to choose, as some participants need to focus on a few things in depth and others would benefit from a more diverse course selection that gives them repertoire or skills in a wider reach of areas, but with less in-depth study. Note you will be required to indicate your choice of intensives and electives when you register. If you change your mind, you can request a change in your intensive and elective registration in April and we will accommodate you if possible.
2013 Intensives
2013 Electives
The fee for Hava Nashira® includes lodging, meals and all programming and materials. Semi-private housing is available in the Bayit, Lodge and Daniel M. Soref Education and Alumni Center (rooms with 2 twin beds and private or shared bath); and in the Nerenberg Family Center (rooms with 2 twin beds with communal washrooms at the end of the hall). Lodging is also available in dormitory cabins (separate for men and women), featuring bunk beds for 24 participants in each cabin, with adjacent washrooms and showers. Read more about the various categories of housing .
The fees for 2013 will be the same as in 2012, $700 for semi-private housing in the Bayit, Lodge, and Daniel M. Soref Education and Alumni Center; $600 in the Nerenberg Family Center; and $500 for dormitory housing or for those staying off-site. No private rooms are available.
Scholarship Opportunities for Hava Nashira®
If you are going to be a songleader at a URJ or Ramah camp during the summer of 2013, contact your camp director for instructions on how to sign up for the URJ / Ramah songleaders' track. 2013 URJ and Ramah songleaders staying in dormitory housing do NOT participate in regular online enrollment.
How to Register for Hava Nashira®
Priority Registration for Newcomers
The OSRUI staff and Hava Nashira faculty are committed to providing the opportunity to attend Hava Nashira and improve songleading and music skills to as many songleaders, music teachers, rabbis, cantors, students and others as possible. Therefore, this year we are offering priority online registration to those who have never attended Hava Nashira or who may have attended only once before. Online registration will open for Hava Nashira newcomers on Thursday, March 7, at 8 pm Central (9 pm Eastern, 8 pm Central, 7 pm Mountain, 6 pm Pacific) for a limited number of spaces in the program, and will close as soon as those spaces are filled. Newcomers who are not able to sign up at this time may sign up during regular Hava Nashira registration on Sunday, March 10 (see below).
Regular Hava Nashira® Registration
Regular online registration will open on Sunday, March 10, 2013, at 3 pm Central. (4 pm Eastern, 3 pm Central, 2 pm Mountain, 1 pm Pacific). Note that Daylight Saving Time begins on March 10 in the U.S. Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until the program is filled. The program fills quickly.
Training summer camp songleaders is also a priority of the program. Camp directors – please contact us directly if you have songleaders you want to enroll after the program has filled. We save a few spots for summer camp songleaders and will make every effort to accommodate your staff in dormitory cabin housing.
After you register online, please finalize your registration by mailing your check made payable to OSRUI to: Hava Nashira/OSRUI, 1121 Lake Cook Road, Suite D, Deerfield IL 60015, within 10 days.
We strongly encourage you to use a laptop, desktop, or tablet computer to register, NOT a smart phone. If you would like to try out one of our registration forms before we open registration to see if your device is compatible with our system, please try this test registration form. If you do not see the "submit" button or are not directed to a confirmation website, please try again with a different browser or computer. When you are preparing to register, please have the following information ready: name, email address, day and alternate phone numbers, name of preferred roommate (optional), intensive and elective choices, and the name of the synagogue, camp or organization you work for. You will also be asked to describe your primary music role (songleader, teacher, cantor etc.), if you have diet restrictions, and your age category.
We regret that we cannot accept payment by credit card as we are trying to keep the costs as reasonable as possible.
Hava Nashira® takes place at Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute, the regional camp of the Union for Reform Judaism in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, located between Milwaukee and Madison. Attendees are responsible for their own transportation to camp. The nearest airport is Milwaukee, Wisconsin (MKE - Mitchell Field). The best time to arrive at the Milwaukee Airport is between 10:30 am and 2:30 pm. The camp is also a 2-hour drive from O’Hare Airport in Chicago.
Van Service to Camp
We make arrangements with Airport Connections to offer van service to the camp at a discounted rate from the Milwaukee Airport (Mitchell Field).
Bus to Camp for URJ and Ramah Songleaders
A bus will pick up URJ and Ramah songleaders at the Milwaukee airport at 1:30 pm on Tuesday, May 28, and bring them to camp. All songleaders are responsible for their own transportation back to the Milwaukee airport. See the information above about making a reservation for Van Service.
Area Hotels and Motels for those interested in staying off-site.
Hava Nashira® Cancellation Policy
There is a $100 cancellation fee if you cancel on or before May 1st. Cancellations must be made in writing. There are no refunds for cancellations received after May 1st.
If you are on facebook and would like to communicate with and share resources with other participants, go to:
Hava Nashira / Shabbat Shira facebook page
Hava Nashira 2012 facebook group
Read about our new music program,
Shabbat Shira®, which is scheduled for October 17-20, 2013.
For those of you who come to Hava Nashira for the community, for the music, or for an inspirational weekend, more so than for song-leading and educational reasons, you might want to consider Shabbat Shira instead.
Hava Nashira® 2014 is scheduled for May 28-June 1, 2014.
Hava Nashira usually starts the Wednesday after Memorial Day every year.
For more information or to be added to the Hava Nashira® or Shabbat Shira® mailing lists,
please contact Barbara Gordon at 847-239-6984 or bgordon@urj.org .
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