Shomeret Shalom is a sevenfold nonviolent pathway which incorporates  noncooperation with systemic violence and war as matters of religious observance. 
A commitment to nonviolence distinguishes Shomeret Shalom from communities of practice which espouse love and the pursuit of social justice but believe that war and militarism are necessary evils in order to protect Jewish people from harm. A ‘Shomeret Shalom’  chooses to follow the sevenfold pathway of Jewish revolutionary nonviolence as the best method for keeping all of us safe and opening channels of Loving Presence in our lives.

Shomeret Shalom Ordination Program

Shomeret Shalom Ordination Program is a two year course of study for individuals and communities who want to practice Jewish nonviolence as a spiritual way of life in solidarity with Palestine and other collective liberation struggles. 

A two year curriculum focused on four areas of competency:

1. Soul Tending - daily healing practices such as water ceremonies and breath work to heal from personal, collective, and ancestral traumas
2. Culture Tending - land Rematriation and Earth-based Judaism, diasporic multi-lineage folk arts traditions (music, ceremony keeping, and storytelling) 
3. Wisdom Tending - peace and conflict transformation legacies based in the writings of our ancestors in Torah and beyond, as well as their application to contemporary movement building
4. Tending Transformational Solidarity- nonviolent action tactics, building movement networks, and pilgrimage practices

Each area of study comes with specific practices including learning the art of Jewish water ceremonies, shomeret shalom storytelling and ceremonial leadership,  study of the written and oral legacies of The Torah of Nonviolence and participation in multifaith pilgrimages to sites of atrocity, nonviolent resistance and transformational healing.  The model of learning is based in mutual mentorship and building a culture of repair that is accountable to the harms of systemic violence and contemporary atrocities.

Program Values

• Social Justice- Integrate and be transformed by the righteous demands of feminism, racial, trans, disability justice, indigenous land back advocates, and water protectors
•  Teshuvah- Repair the massive harms of the Palestinian genocide that has been committed in the name of Jewish safety as a normative part of Jewish ceremonial and political life
• Intergenerational- we connect to living legacies of carriers of nonviolent struggle and welcome all ages and stages as wisdom teachers
• Community of practice- we come together to do the work and build relationship through food, song, dance, story and ceremony
• Joy - cultivate courage through curiosity and celebration of  creative expression
• Convivencia- honoring and uplifting cultural lineages from across the diaspora
• We are all leaders- A supportive environment with room to live into each of our gifts and teach one another

​
The first cohort begins February 2025 and is open to rabbis, storytellers, artists, educators, movement activists and Jewish folx from all walks of life who want to explore and deepen their knowledge and practice of Jewish nonviolence and become ordained as a practitioner of a shomeret shalom way of life.  

If this pathway appeals to your heart and soul,  reach out to R. Lynn for an initial conversation at [email protected]

THE SEVEN MIDOT OF SHOMERET SHALOM

1) Hit-yakh-dut (Harmonious interconnectivity): awareness of the interconnection of all life in a single web of existence.

2) Ahava (Love): Treat ourselves and others in ways that cause people to feel fully
welcome and valued. The Baal Shem Tov’s instruction to love your neighbor goes handin hand with the many protocols for preventing harm. He said, “Love your neighbor. Why? Because every human being has a root in the Unity of Creation. When you harm one aspect, you harm the whole.” (Tanya Chapter 32)

3) Gadol kavod habriot (Great is human dignity): The mitzvah to uphold human
dignity abrogates Torah prohibitions. The absolute sanctity of human dignity is introduced in the Torah with the creation of humanity as a non-binary divine image molded from the soils of the earth.

4) Tzedek tzedek tirdof (Justice justice pursue!): Justice is mentioned twice. Once for the instruction to immediately intervene to stop harm and a second time to remind us to remain steadfast for the long haul in pursuit of justice.

5) Teshuvah (Repair harm):  a five step system for ‘creating a culture of repair’. The steps include acknowledgement, accountability, truth telling, reparations and guarantees of non-repeat.

6) Al tikneh (Noncooperation with systemic violence): How do we prevent and
actively obstruct violence? How do we build a culture of peace? Our response requires creative collective and introspective work and tactical experimentation, along with observance of Shomeret Shalom kashrut.

7) Lo b’hayil (Active resistance to militarism and war): A Shomeret Shalom practices conscientious objection to militarism and war while building a culture of peace.

Past Shomeret Shalom Classes

March 7, 14 Shomeret Shalom Class:  Prep for Purim with Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb Thursday 4:30 - 5:30p  PST
March 7, 14    Sliding Scale covers both sessions: $25 - $36
March 7: What shall we do with Haman? How do we tell the Purim tale without weaponizing it against others?
March 14: Womyn and Trans people on the front line. 
An exploration of Esther the Protester and Vashti the Resister in the Palace of Patriarchy. 
What lessons about activism can we draw from the story?  
Register at paypal.me/RabbiLynn   Include your email so I can send you a zoom link!

Want to learn more? Read the book!

Order the Shomeret SHalom Chapbook