Call Number:

Print Coll. 88

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

.25 linear feet (1 box)

Language:

English and Hebrew

Preferred Citation:

Aquarian Minyan print collection, 1978-1998, Print Coll. 88, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1978-1998 (inclusive)

Form:

Booklets and Newsletters

Abstract:

The Aquarian Minyan, part of the Jewish renewal movement, was founded in 1974 when Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi hosted a Kabbalah workshop in Berkley, California. The Aquarian Minyan print collection consists of the organization's newsletters, booklets for religious holidays, and mailings, dating from 1978 to 1998.

According to their website, "The Aquarian Minyan was established in 1974 when Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi hosted a month-long Kabbalah workshop in Berkeley, California, with the avowed purpose 'to renew the old and make holy the new' (Rav Kook). People were excited by his experiential style and inclusion of mystical and cross-cultural ideas. A small group decided to organize a community that would continue to celebrate Shabbat in this fashion. Over the years, the Aquarian Minyan has grown from a loose-knit group, to a havurah, to a non-profit organization, to a spiritual community."

The Aquarian Minyan is part of the Jewish renewal religious movement. According to Harvard University's Pluralism Project, the Jewish renewal movement started from Jewish counterculture in the 1960s, with Hasidic rabbis such as Abraham Josephu Heschel and Shlomo Carlebach influencing the movement. The founder of the Jewish renewal movement, Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, took these Hasidic rabbis as influences to create a type of neo-Hasidic movement. This movement had origins in wanting to revive Jewish mysticism, and practiced a "rejection of the conventional synagogue and a commitment to a less formal and more intimate Jewish community that came to be known as the havurah" (Pluralism Project).

Works consulted:

"Our History." Aquarian Minyan, https://www.aquarianminyan.org/history. Accessed 1 July 2025.

"Spirituality: The Jewish Renewal Movement." Pluralism Project at Harvard University, https://pluralism.org/spirituality-the-jewish-renewal-movement. Accessed 7 July 2025.

The Aquarian Minyan print collection consists of the organization's newsletters, booklets for religious holidays, and mailings, dating from 1978 to 1998. The collection contains two Haggadah booklets published by the organization for Passover in 1978 and 1986. The organization also published booklets for the High Holidays and Shabbat for its members to utilize. The majority of this collection consists of issues of the organization's newsletter, dating from 1978 to 1998, which advertises events, celebrations, religious readings, and Jewish news. There are some mailings and advertisements for events hosted by Aquarian Minyan members and Jewish renewal followers.