ReTreat Yourself! URJ Camp Newman Edition

Monday, April 27 – Wednesday, April 29, 2026
URJ Camp Newman at 4088 Porter Creek Rd, Santa Rosa, CA 95404

This retreat experience is fully funded for eligible participants! A $180 fully refundable deposit is required to demonstrate your commitment. Travel expenses to/from the retreat are not covered.

Eligibility for these retreats require participants to have been working full time in Jewish communal service for 2+ years, and in their current role for 6+ months.

For more information, please reach out to Eliezah Hoffman, the Immersive Retreats Project Manager, at eliezah.hoffman@adamah.org or 410.843.7548.

Rabbi Deborah Sacks Mintz
An educator and practitioner of Jewish communal music, Rabbi Deborah Sacks Mintz supports those who seek a deepened practice of empowered prayer and song. A celebrated composer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist, Deborah has collaborated on over two dozen albums with a diverse array of voices in the Jewish soundscape, including her own records of original spiritual music: The Narrow and the Expanse (2020), Yetzira (2023), and her third album Songs from the Beit Midrash (February 2026). Deborah serves on the faculty of the Hadar Institute as Director of Tefillah and Music. Learn more at www.deborahsacksmintz.com

Wendy Verba
Wendy is a culture change expert and the Founder of Belonging by Design, a national consulting firm that grew out of the San Francisco Jewish Federation and now helps organizations of all kinds build belonging for greater impact. Wendy led a flourishing culture of belonging movement in the Bay Area Jewish community, helping hundreds of organizational leaders create systemic approaches to belonging for diverse populations. She has coached and taught leaders across the country to infuse their teams and communities with belonging, leading to increased retention, diversity, motivation, productivity, commitment, collaboration, and innovation. As Managing Director of Community Impact at the Federation, Wendy led the Federation’s Jewish engagement strategy, along with a multi-million-dollar grant-making portfolio and an international team of 25. Wendy recently served on the faculty of M2 Atlanta Jewish Educator cohort, mentoring local educational leaders from a range of Atlanta organizations. Wendy was a Wexner Heritage Fellow, and M2 Relational Engagement fellow, and served on the boards of UpStart and the Peninsula JCC. She and her husband live in the Bay Area where they raised three children and now enjoy empty-nest adventures.

Shimon Darwick Birnbaum
Shimon (or Simeon, or Sim) helps people overcome their barriers to wellbeing by inspiring health, joy, and playfulness. Simeon is a Licensed Massage Therapist, health and fitness coach, RYT-500 Yoga Instructor, and somatic life coach since 2006. Simeon has shared the gift of massage therapy in a wide range of settings such as with people in hospice, cancer patients, corporate wellness programs, Cornell University Tennis Team and massage tables around the world. Simeon believes we can explore play, creativity, vitality, and resilience through movement. Reconnecting and digesting our emotions through bodywork and somatic coaching, we experience inherent joy, the freedom to be present, and to create a new possibility of wellbeing. Currently he is a practicing husband and father in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Liana Rothman
Liana is the director of Youth Empowerment at Adamah and co-founder of the Jewish Youth Climate Movement (JYCM). Liana supports a team who lead Jewish environmental experiential education programming, empower Jewish teens and college students to take climate action, and promote climate justice within institutions. Liana has an MPA in nonprofit management and public service from NYU.

Delia Cooper
Delia has been offering yoga and crystal bowl sound baths for over eight years. While her journey began with yoga, her work has expanded into sound healing as a powerful way to calm the nervous system, release stress, and support deep restoration. Her sound baths feature crystal bowls attuned to 432 Hz, often called the “natural” or “Earth” frequency, known for its grounding, peaceful quality. Through immersive soundscapes, guided relaxation, and the physical sound vibrations, her sound bath sessions bring you into a greater sense of balance and clarity by improving sleep, enhancing focus, supporting emotional release, and cultivating a deeper sense of clarity, calm, and peace. She offers sound baths, private sessions, workshops, and events throughout the SF Bay Area. When she’s not playing her bowls, Delia finds renewal in nature – hiking, skiing, camping, and soaking in the healing energy of alpine lakes.

Joanne Greene
Joanne is a certified nature and forest therapy guide with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy and a longtime Jewish educator. She has integrated these two passions and skillsets, creating a Jewish Forest Bathing experience that helps participants to see and appreciate the interconnectedness of all living things. Joanne is the author of By Accident: A Memoir of Letting Go and hosts the podcast In This Story…with Joanne Greene, which features her micro-essays set to music.