​Shalom. I am Rabbi Mark Novak. If you'd like to read a little bit about me, here's my bio. In the spirit of my teacher, Reb Zalman-Schacter-Shalomi tzaddik zt"l, and his students, I am interested in creating and being a member of a community that is both prayerful and playful, and that wrestles in matters of spirit and engages in moments of wonder.  I am dedicated to the renewal of Jewish practice through the use of an expanded spiritual tool chest, using chant, meditation, movement, song, prayer, music, improvisation, and storytelling, both personal and traditional.  


​My dream is to co-create, in community,  a worship laboratory in which each and every person present purposefully weaves his/her own intention into a shared vision - be it articulated by speech/song/joy/tears/or silence -  within the context of the 4-world model that is the siddur, the Jewish prayer book. Think less fixed, and more spontaneous prayer, a place where tradition meets intuition. 
In that spirit, my style of  leadership is to create space for others to lead, so that prayer becomes less a passive activity and more a bold experiment in reaching out beyond self.  

I invite you to join me in this dream.

I invite us all to reclaim our Judaism, renewing it while still firmly rooted in the past,
with an eye on the future, basking in the Presence.    ​

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