Mayyim Chayyim: Living Waters Retreat
Haines, Alaska July 8-13, 2025
Join an intimate group of Jewish women on a spiritual journey with Rabbi Sydney Mintz, Cantor Marsha Attie and Yoga Master Sarana Miller for a 6 day/5 night retreat immersed in nature, Jewish learning and engagement, soul lifting music, Shabbat unplugged, exceptional yoga, massage, meditation and hiking and kayaking in one of the most spectacular wilderness landscapes in the world.
Enjoy artisan chef created food-- organic, locally grown and prepared by Haines chef Sarah Cohen Bishop.
Optional adventures include kayaking and salmon fishing, gallery visits with local artists, forest bathing in an old growth Spruce forest and mushroom foraging.
Retreat Leaders
Rabbi Sydney Mintz
Rabbi Sydney Mintz has served as Rabbi of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco for the past 27 years.
She was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City in 1997.
As a Performer/Writer, Mintz’s one-person show “You May Think I’m Funny, But It’s Not” premiered to a packed house at the Marsh Theatre in San Francisco. Mintz runs the non-profit 13thTribe and is currently developing innovative creative projects in the areas of jewish spirituality, performance, ritual, retreats, healing and culture.
Cantor Marsha Attie
Marsha is a cantor, composer and recording artist who works individually and collaborates with others. She writes soulful Jewish liturgical music that is sung around the country and recorded by other artists. Her song, Heart of Mine, has been a Jewish summer camp hit single since 1995. She has served Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco as an inspirational liturgical leader since 1998. Marsha received her Cantorial ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion California in 2014. Marsha's recorded music includes her new CD "Heneini" and her first album, "The Length of our Days." Some of her songs can also be heard on Craig Taubman's Celebrate series. "Heart of Mine" can be purchased as a single at CD Baby. Marsha and Sydney have created a beautiful partnership and collaboration bringing Jewish and music and spirit to life.
Sarana Miller
Sarana Miller is a nationally renowned yoga teacher known for her joyful ability to engage directly with a wide range of students. Her teaching draws on many yoga styles, meditation and breathwork. She trained with masters Rodney Yee, Thomas Fortel, Ana Forrest, Sarah Powers and Jai Uttal. She has been featured in The New York Times, Yoga Journal and other media. She is on the faculty at Esalen, is the creator of the SaranaYoga program at Wilbur Hot Springs and runs yoga retreats around the world..
Mayyim Chayyim: Living Waters Retreat
Haines, Alaska July 8-13, 2025
Cost is sliding fee scale $4000.00-2500.00
Includes everything except transportation and accommodations
We have everything available from rustic waterfront yurts at the retreat center to 2 bedroom AIRBNB’s in Haines.
$500.00 deposit reserves your spot
Draft Itinerary:
TUESDAY
Arrive in Haines via flight or ferry from Juneau (or arrive early to get ready for the retreat!)
Settle into your accommodations.
Unwind and adjust to Alaskan time!
4pm Meet the group at the Chilkat Retreat Lodge
Getting to know one another
Dinner at the Chilkat Retreat Lodge
Followed by Singing by the Fire with Cantor Marsha Attie
WEDNESDAY
Morning Noshes available in the Lodge: Eggs, Muffins, Chai
Sun Salutation Meditation and Yoga with Sarana
Breakfast at the Lodge
Jewish immersive learning session with Rabbi Mintz
Lunch at the Lodge
Trip to Klukwan Cultural Center (The Chilkat Tribe’s Village outside of Haines)
Dinner at the Lodge
Sound Healing Session with our Guest Artist Nai Kaya!!
THURSDAY
Morning Noshes available in the Lodge: Eggs, Muffins, Chai
Sun Salutation Meditation and Yoga with Sarana
Breakfast at the Lodge
Flotilla kayaking on Chilkoot Lake!!
Lunch on the Lake
Afternoon Free Time/Art Tour of Haines
Dinner at the Lodge with Alaska Writer Laureate Heather Lende, a Haines Treasure
Evening Program with Heather Lende
FRIDAY
Morning Noshes available in the Lodge: Eggs, Muffins, Chai
Sun Salutation Meditation and Yoga with Sarana
Breakfast at the Lodge
Jewish immersive learning session on Shabbat with Rabbi Mintz
Lunch on your own
Optional Hike to Moose Meadows
Prepare for Shabbat
Kabbalat Shabbat led by Cantor Marsha Attie and Reb Syd
Shabbat Dinner with the Jewish Community of Haines
SATURDAY
Sleep in and Join for Brunch in the Lodge
Shabbat Experience
Music, Meditation, Torah immersion and More in the Zendo
Bag lunches available for Shabbat hikes, naps, meditation in the Zendo, berry picking and mushroom foraging.
Come hang out at Rabbi Mintz’s Paradise West for snacks, drinks, saunas and hot tubbing and a Jewish wisdom session
Evening Restorative Yoga Session
Meet back at the Lodge for Dinner, Kirtan/Havdalah ceremony and closing Circle Ritual
SUNDAY
Breakfast at the Lodge &
Shalom Chavurot!!
We encourage our retreat participants to arrive early or stay after the retreat.
There are many opportunities to experience Alaska outside of Haines - take a puddle-jumper or ferry just about anywhere in this vast, wild and astoundingly beautiful state.
About Haines
Outside magazine placed Haines in the Top Ten places to live, and when you arrive in the Chilkat Valley, you’ll understand why. At the upper-most end of the longest, deepest fjord in North America, this coastal gem has it all: glacier-studded peaks along a magnificent river valley open to the warm summer sun and a blue-green ocean vista. The area is home to the largest gathering of Bald Eagles in the world, and opportunities to view wildlife abound.
The Native artistic traditions provide a magical foundation for the town, co-founded in 1879 by John Muir. That tradition lives on today and many consider Haines to be the “artist’s community” of Alaska.
In the words of John Muir, “If a young person asked me about traveling to Alaska, I would advise him not to go! For once there, witnessing the unparalleled beauty of that Great Land, you would never want to return home!”