Working together, we aim to improve our community, our society, and our world.
Supporting Our Community
Calling on our partners to actively participate in the life of our community
Building Community
Weaving together a denser fabric of community here at Kavana
Community Service
Nourishing the Jewish community through local service opportunities and projects!
Kavana Supports the
Seattle Green New Deal
Read about our endorsement of Seattle's effort to combat climate change
Racial Justice: Resources
Click to access Racial Justice related resources (studies, articles, books, etc.) compiled by Kavana's Racial Justice Team. This is a living document, so please add any relevant resources you have to share.
Shmita 5782
Jewish Emergent Network has conceived a year-long initiative to honor the biblical Shmita sabbatical year as an opportunity to address systemic challenges in our contemporary world.
Our programs for Jewish holidays and Shabbat offer many different ways to connect with Jewish ritual and tradition.
Shabbat Morning Minyan
A traditional (mostly in Hebrew) service which features lots of singing, harmonies, and great energy. Led by Rabbi Rachel and members of the community.
Kabbalat Shabbat w/ Traci Marx
You might leave feeling like you’ve been at a concert, soaked in a hot spring, or received a warm hug.
Chanukah on Ice!
Chanukah on Ice returns this year! Adults and kids alike enjoy slipping and sliding around the ice rink as we laugh, catch up with old and new friends, and bring a little light into the world with our joy of being together.
Virtual Chanukah Candle Lighting
Join us for a short and sweet Kavana Community Candle-Lighting on Zoom, led by Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum and Traci Marx, on Wednesday evening, December 1st at 6:30pm-- featuring Chanukah songs, a little Torah, and a communal menorah lighting.
Jewish Emergent Network Music Video
Project Accelerate recently commissioned the creation of this gorgeous Hallelu video, featuring many of the musicians of the Jewish Emergent Network... including our very own Traci Marx! We guarantee you'll want to dance and sing along!
Virtual Shabbat Candle Lighting
The Virtual Candle Lighting that sustained so many of us during Covid lockdown days are back, by popular demand! All are welcome to join us for 30 minutes of learning, reflection, and blessings as we enter into the day of rest together.
Virtual Community Havdalah
All are welcome to join this community touch-point as we end Shabbat together and marking the transition into the new week with our Kavana friends!
Our education programs are designed to support families as they forge identity and generate personally meaningful Jewish life. With programs for kids and parents to learn both together and separately, we offer a fun-educational approach that is child-centered and hands-on.
Covid Note for 2021-2022 Year
All of these educational programs were designed as in-person experiences; last year all of them took place exclusively online due to Covid safety issues. This year, we’re trying to return to in-person as soon as we can, but the Delta variant is making it tricky.
In order to proceed safely, some Kavana programs will begin the year on Zoom and others in-person but outdoors. These adjustments in format may necessitate other changes (e.g. in timing, group size), and we are committed to rolling with changing Public Health recommendations as nimbly as we can.
As always, Kavana’s staff will seek to make solid decisions and communicate clearly with families throughout the year.
Moadon Yeladim
After-school program for elementary school-aged children, one day a week
Havdalah Club
Jewish ethics for third to fifth graders, meets one Saturday evening a month
(in-person & outdoors or on Zoom)
Middle School Program
Jewish texts, history and values, one day a week
High School Program
Contemporary Jewish topics, one Sunday evening a month, (in-person & outdoors or on Zoom)
Prep & Practice
A program for the whole family, where parents and children can explore the Jewish holidays together (in-person & outdoors or on Zoom)
Shabbat Tinker-Gan
Monthly outdoor Shabbat program for families with toddlers and preschoolers
Living Room Learning
Discussion of Jewish texts and commentaries, from parshah of the week to Talmud and beyond. Led by Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum.
Book Club
The Book Club discusses provocative Jewish fiction and nonfiction, and meets on several Sunday mornings throughout the year.
Singing Circle w/ Chava Mirel
Join Chava Mirel for an evening dedicated to the joy of Jewish group singing. We guarantee you will leave feeling uplifted!
Caste Study Group
Join Kavana for a text study of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson. Caste is a powerful account of how hierarchy reproduces itself, and links the caste systems of Nazi Germany, India, and the US.
