~ Bios ~

Rabbi Shefa Gold is a leader in Aleph: Alliance for Jewish Renewal and received her ordination both from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. She is the director of C-DEEP: The Center for Devotional, Energy and Ecstatic Practice in Jemez Springs, New Mexico and around the world. Shefa composes and performs spiritual music, has produced ten albums, and her liturgies have been published in several new prayerbooks. She teaches workshops and retreats on the theory and art of Chanting, Devotional Healing, Spiritual Community Building, Meditation, and trains Chant Leaders in Kol Zimra, a two year program for rabbis, cantors and lay leaders. She is also on the faculty of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Shefa combines her grounding in Judaism with a background in Buddhist, Christian, Islamic, and Native American spiritual traditions to make her uniquely qualified as a spiritual bridge celebrating the shared path of devotion. She is the author of a new book "Torah Journeys: The Inner Path to the Promised Land" released in 2006.

~ Rachmiel O'Regan ~

Rachmiel (Raymond) O'Regan, MA., Co-Director of C-DEEP ~ Center for Devotional, Energy and Ecstatic Practice, has been a workshop and ritual leader, musician, yoga teacher and holistic health practitioner for more than 25 years and a master's level counselor for 15 years. He accompanies Shefa's chanting with African-style drumming. Rachmiel also teaches a very user-friendly type of yoga he has developed called CHineni Yoga: Cultivating Presence with Breath and Body.