Temenos is the boundary around a place of ceremony, the periphery physical or spiritual that nurtures the energy of creativity and transformation. We chose this word because even the smallest act of distinguishment can turn the mundane into a site of magic.
Temenos is a home for ritual and creativity that honors the wild humanity of all people. We create transformative offerings and events rooted in the particulars of Jewish wisdom, opening to the universal. We create projects, art, offerings that live at the intersection of art and spirit.
Founder
Rabbi Zach Fredman ran a west village synagogue for ten years, translating ancient wisdom to modern audiences. Now it’s time to open the circle. Composer, Oud player, and band leader for the Epichorus. Maker of strawberry-rhubarb pie, mobiles, healing, joy, and ceremony.
Offerings
We create wisdom and arts content big and small across every discipline: songs, ceremonies, choreography, books, Tarot, performance, events and celebrations that contribute meaning and joy to the cultural conversation.
We are a living spiritual community. Holiday celebrations, Shabbat services, life-cycle rituals.
We offer personalized spiritual counsel via phone, text, over coffees, lunches and dinners, in regular and emergency circumstances.
The Moment
It’s a tenuous moment for the creatures of planet earth. There are grave dangers before us and we’re recovering from thousands of years of tribal thinking. We’re distrustful of the old ways of religion because so often the good was mixed up in tribal mentalities. But we haven’t stopped being human, and we’re in dire need of experiences for healing, mourning, celebrating and coming together that speak the poetry of this moment and make space for all people. We’re yearning for connection, meaning, and beauty that’s inclusive and alive.
We know another way, because we live it — that one can be rooted in one’s own tradition and open to the world all at once. The mystical lineages of the world have always taught that every divine name refers to the same mystery, that there are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground. Every act that brings balance to a head or heart, that brings beauty to the world, that creates connection, is a moment of prayer and devotion.
Some folks are comfortable with spiritual language and some aren’t, either way, we’re all in need of communion, that is, connection to ourselves, to others, and to the big questions of life. Whether you find that on the basketball court, in the kitchen, or on a stage, as far as we’re concerned each is a temenos.
Values
Creativity -- The drive to create in ways that make the world better and more beautiful is universally human. Creativity is the best catalyst for community building because it returns us to ourselves and opens us up to the eccentricities of our collaborators.
Human Centered Ceremony -- Secular culture is in need of spiritual experiences for healing, mourning, celebrating and coming together. The best of these new rituals are rooted in the particular, serving the universal. Honoring the lineages and traditions we come from, by welcoming others in and sharing gratuitously.
Inner Outer Repair -- The political is spiritual, and social justice is a justice of spirit. But one can use the work of repairing the world to avoid the repairs of self and soul, and vice versa. The repair must take place within and without at once.
Feminist Spirit -- Most of our current crises take some of their root in patriarchal monotheism. We believe deeply in the unique wisdom and aesthetics of feminine spiritual leadership, particularly practices rooted in vulnerability, embodiment, intuition and mourning.
Reverant Heresies -- God hates religion, loves sex. That is god hates idolatry, loves integration. We question false pieties in search of enlivened reverence.