• Making Connections, Meet Your Peers
• Networking Lunches
• Reform Resource Mall
• Beit Midrash
• Run for the RAC
• The Biennial Choir
• Exhibit Hall: The Place for Everything Jewish

Get ready to meet the movers and shakers of the Movement from all across North America! The Biennial is the way for you to connect with those who hold the same position as you in other congregations. The Presidents’ Lounge will be open throughout the convention, as will the Small Congregations Lounge. On Friday, the Networking Luncheons will afford you opportunities to meet people with similar interests from other congregations. This is a chance for peer-to-peer interaction and face-to-face dialogue - an important opportunity you won’t want to miss.

Friday, Dec 14, Noon - 1:30 p.m.

We've set aside Friday lunchtime for you to sit down, share and schmooze with your peers. Why not find your special interest on the list below and sign up! Preregistration is required. Tickets for the luncheon are $20 and can be purchased when you register for Biennial.

Explore the vast wealth of resources that the Union has to offer you and your congregation at the Reform Movement Resource Mall. You’ll be able to consult face-to-face with Union staff and obtain complimentary copies of manuals, work books, study materials, CD-ROMs, and much, much more. Here you’ll find every Union department, every affiliate, and all Movement resources in one place! The Reform Resource Mall is the place to find out exactly what the Union can do for you!

Each day (except on Shabbat) a beit midrash will be held at the same time as worship services. When you enter the beit midrash, you will enter a modern version of the ancient academies and yeshivot and will experience how study and prayer are portals to an encounter with the Divine Presence. In the beit midrash you will become part of a chevruta, a small group, in which you will study with the guidance and support of a master teacher. The encounter will be intensely personal and inspirational within an environment of sharing and study. When we learn with chevruta partners we invite the Divine Presence into our midst, engage with our tradition and make it our own.

Join Rabbi David Saperstein and the Religious Action Center staff for early morning aerobics and an invigorating run/walk along the beautiful waterfront outside the San Diego Convention Center at 6:30 a.m., Thursday December 13, followed by breakfast and t'filah. Exercise your body and your spirit. Registration is $50 and proceeds will benefit the RAC. Preregistration is encouraged. This is a wonderful chance to enjoy San Diego's temperate climate and a view that is hard to match.

Registration for the Biennial Choir is now closed.  All of the 124 seats on the Biennial Bimah have been reserved.  If you would like to place your name on a waiting list please send an email with your name, address, height and voice part to Worship@urj.org.  Should there be any cancellations in your voice section we will contact you on a first come first served basis.

Choir meets before the convention and the 100 + voice, all-volunteer choir will sing at Shabbat morning worship and will participate in the Saturday evening program. Preregistration is required, and participants must attend all rehearsals, beginning at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, December 11. The $50 fee includes the printed music and a rehearsal CD, which will be mailed after Labor Day. For more information please view the links below or contact the Department of Worship, Music and Religious Living at worship@urj.org, 212.650.4193.

This year the choir will be conducted by the distinguished Joyce Rosenzweig, Artist in Residence at HUC-JIR School of Sacred Music.

Visit the Biennial Choir Gallery.

CHOIR REHEARSAL DATES:

PARTICIPANTS MUST ATTEND ALL REHEARSALS

Tuesday, December 11
2:00–5:00 p.m.
7:00–9:30 p.m.

Wednesday, December 12
9:00 a.m.–12:00 noon

Friday, December 14
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Saturday, December 15
8:00–9:30 a.m.
(Final rehearsal for morning service)

4:00–6:00 p.m.
(Final rehearsal for evening program)