Discover Shabbat in a New Light:
In partnership with UJA-Federation of New York, 14Y Selah is proud to launch the Shabbat Expansion Project, a movement to bring restorative, evidence-based, and heart-centered Shabbat experiences to Jewish communities across the region.
This isn’t a service, it’s an experience. A spacious, musical, and mindful gathering where people can exhale and reconnect with themselves and each other. Through poetry, song, silence, and shared reflection, Selah Shabbat invites participants to slow down, breathe, and rediscover what it means to feel whole.
Rooted in the values of recovery and community care, this project is grounded in both Jewish tradition and evidence-based practices that support mental health and emotional well-being. It’s about meeting people where they are, whether they’re navigating recovery, supporting a loved one, working in the field, or simply seeking a place to rest and belong.
Our vision is to bring this model of Shabbat to every JCC, transforming Jewish spaces into sanctuaries of connection, healing, and renewal. Together, we can weave a network of communities that see Shabbat not only as ritual, but as respite, a weekly practice of presence, compassion, and collective care.
Because healing isn’t separate from Jewish life. It is Jewish life.
And every time we gather, breathe, and bless the moment, we begin again.
Upcoming Experiences:
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Counted in the wilderness
Friday, May 8, 2026 | Mid Island JCC
In Parashat Behar and Parashat Bechukotai, the Torah speaks about rhythm. The land is asked to rest. Debts are released. Life moves in cycles of holding and letting go, distance and return.These parshiot remind us that life is not meant to be lived at a constant pace. There are seasons for striving and seasons for release. Seasons when things fall apart, and seasons when they begin to come back together.
Many of us know the wilderness of those in-between seasons. The place where the old ways no longer work, but the new ways are still fragile. Where we are learning how to live differently, one day at a time.
For those navigating addiction and recovery, that wilderness can feel very real. Recovery asks us to loosen our grip on what once numbed us and begin the slow work of building something new. It asks for patience. For honesty. For the courage to keep showing up even when the ground still feels uncertain.
And still, the Torah insists that no moment of the journey is outside the sacred story. Even after rupture, return is possible. Even after distance, the door remains open.
At 14Y Selah, we believe recovery is communal. No one walks the wilderness alone. We gather to slow down, breathe, and remember that every story, every struggle, every small step forward matters.
Shabbat becomes our tent in the desert, a place to pause, reconnect, and feel held by something larger than ourselves.
Join us on May 8 for a Shabbat dinner rooted in belonging, honesty, and communal care. Come as you are. You are counted.
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When the Ground Shakes
Friday, June 19, 2026 - Saturday June 20, 2026 | Riverdale Y
Parashat Korach tells the story of rebellion. Korach rises up against Moshe and Aharon, challenging leadership, authority, and who gets to stand at the center. What follows is dramatic. The earth opens. The ground gives way. What felt stable suddenly collapses.
It is an intense parasha. And it speaks to something deeply human.
There are moments in life when the ground feels like it is shaking beneath us. When trust breaks. When ego takes over. When resentment grows louder than humility. In addiction, and in addiction recovery, these inner rebellions can be familiar. The voice that says, I know better. I do not need help. I do not want to listen. Or the quieter ache underneath it all, the fear of not feeling seen or valued.
Korach’s story is not only about punishment. It is about what happens when disconnection replaces a relationship. When we lose sight of shared purpose. When we mistake comparison for calling.
Addiction isolates. It convinces us we are alone, or that we have to fight for our place. Recovery invites something different. It asks for honesty. For humility. For staying in a relationship even when it is uncomfortable. It reminds us that leadership is not about power, but about service. That belonging is not something we seize, but something we build together.
At 14Y Selah, we believe recovery is communal. Even when the ground feels unsteady, we do not disappear from one another. We stay. We listen. We repair. Shabbat becomes a steady table in the middle of the noise, a place to soften our edges and return to connection.
On June 20, join us for a Shabbat dinner rooted in humility, healing, and shared purpose. In a world that often feels loud and fractured, we gather to remember that we belong to each other
Past Experiences:
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From Hidden to Seen
Details:
January 9-10, 2026
Riverdale YShemot opens with a shift, from the safety of Joseph’s Egypt to a world where the Israelites are enslaved, their names recorded as the story begins anew. In the midst of oppression, small acts of courage spark the beginning of liberation: midwives who refuse unjust orders, a mother who hides her child, a sister who watches from the riverbank, a princess who chooses compassion over comfort.
In this web of quiet bravery, a baby floats down the Nile, Moshe, who will one day lead his people to freedom. Before he becomes a leader or prophet, he begins as someone who sees: he sees suffering, he sees injustice, and he cannot look away.
Shemot reminds us that transformation often begins in the smallest acts of noticing, of seeing what’s hidden, what’s hurting, and what’s holy. It’s a story about naming what has been silenced and finding our own voices in the process.
This parasha speaks to the heart of recovery and awakening. Healing begins when we allow ourselves to be seen, when we speak what’s been unspoken, and when we stand with those still in the shadows. Like the midwives and Moshe, we, too, can be part of a story that turns pain into possibility.
This Shabbat, we gather to honor the courage it takes to begin again, to be seen, to see each other, and to believe that liberation begins right where we are. Join us for a night of song, nourishment, and connection as we enter the book of Exodus and open our hearts to what is waiting to be revealed.
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BETWEEN THE WATERS
Details:
January 30, 2026
JCC Mid-WestchesterIn Parashat Beshalach, the Israelites stand trapped between the sea and the army of Egypt. Fear and faith collide. Then, in a moment of impossible courage, they step forward, and the waters part. What had seemed like the end becomes the beginning.
When they reach the other side, they sing. אָז יָשִׁיר מֹשֶׁה וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת לַיהוָה “Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to God” (Shemot 15:1). It’s the first collective song in the Torah, a melody of survival, gratitude, and awe.
Beshalach is about what happens when we trust the unknown, when we step into the sea before we know how it will open. It’s about the moments between despair and deliverance, fear and faith, silence and song. It’s about the kind of courage that comes from community, the strength to walk through deep waters together.
This parasha reminds us that freedom isn’t just about leaving what was behind; it’s about learning how to live in what comes next. Every recovery, every renewal, every new beginning asks us to take a step before the path is clear. And when we do, we make space for the miraculous.
This Shabbat, we gather between the waters, to sing, to reflect, to remember the times we’ve stepped into the unknown and found each other there. Join us for an evening of nourishment, song, and spirit as we celebrate the crossings that continue to shape us.
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A PLACE OF PRESENCE
Details:
February 20, 2026
Shames JCC
In Parashat Terumah, the Israelites are called to build something sacred together, a home for the Divine in their midst. God says,וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ, וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם
“V’asu li mikdash v’shachanti b’tocham”
“Let them make Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them.”
(Shemot / Exodus 25:8)This verse holds a subtle but powerful truth: God does not say “I will dwell in it,” but “among them.” Holiness is not confined to a structure; it lives in the relationships, the offerings, and the shared spirit that make the space come alive.
In Terumah, each person brings a gift from the heart: gold and silver, fabric and wood, skill and song. The Mishkan becomes a collective creation of love and generosity, a reminder that every contribution, no matter how small, is part of something holy.
We see this as a vision of sacred community. Each of us brings our own terumah, our own offering of self. Together, we build a Mishkan made not of beams and curtains, but of care, honesty, and connection. Holiness happens when we show up for one another and make space for presence to dwell between us.
This Shabbat, we gather to build that space anew, with song, with food, with open hearts. Join us as we welcome Shabbat and remember: when we bring our whole selves, we create a sanctuary big enough for the Divine to dwell among us.
Our Proud Partners:
Bring 14Y Selah Shabbat to Your Community:
The Shabbat Expansion Project is growing, and we’d love to grow with you.
If you’re part of a JCC, synagogue, or Jewish organization that’s passionate about mental health, recovery, and community connection, we’d love to collaborate.
We hope to bring 14Y Selah’s restorative, heart-centered Shabbat gatherings to Jewish communities across New York and beyond, including but not limited to the Bronx, Westchester, and Long Island.
To learn more or explore bringing this experience to your community, please reach out to us at Jpool@14streety.org or Ahalpern@14streety.org
Let’s build spaces of belonging, healing, and Jewish renewal together.