A chavurah or havurah (חבורה Hebrew: "fellowship", plural chavuroth) is a small group of like-minded Jews who assemble for the purposes of facilitating Shabbat and holiday prayer services, sharing communal experiences such as lifecycle events, and Jewish learning. Chavuroth usually provide autonomous alternatives to established Jewish institutions and Jewish denominations.
Most chavurot place an emphasis on egalitarianism in the broad sense (of w...
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A chavurah or havurah (חבורה Hebrew: "fellowship", plural chavuroth) is a small group of like-minded Jews who assemble for the purposes of facilitating Shabbat and holiday prayer services, sharing communal experiences such as lifecycle events, and Jewish learning. Chavuroth usually provide autonomous alternatives to established Jewish institutions and Jewish denominations.
Most chavurot place an emphasis on egalitarianism in the broad sense (of which gender egalitarianism is one piece), depending on participation by the entire community rather than top-down direction by clergy.
Chavurot in 20th century America had their origins in the North American Jewish counter-cultural trends of the late 1960s and early 1970s. During this period, groups of young rabbis, academics, and political activists founded experimental chavurot for prayer and study, in reaction to what they perceived as an over-institutionalized and unspiritual North American Jewish establishment. Initially the main...
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