Dear Lab/Shul Community,

Mazal tov to us all!

I am thrilled to announce that our beloved Co-Founder & Spiritual Leader, Shira Kline, has been honored with the prestigious 2024 Covenant Award. This accolade, presented by the The Covenant Foundation, recognizes exceptional Jewish educators who have made a significant impact on the field.

Through her far-reaching work with Lab/Shul and beyond, Shira is recognized as a revolutionary educator and weaver of liturgy, text, story and song, as a practitioner in the field of sacred play. She has been featured on NPR, hosted a queer Jewish podcast, led Shabbat on the Burning Man playa, recorded four award-winning albums, and is a frequent guest teacher or faculty of numerous international leadership conferences including Hava NaShira, SLBC, PJ Library, HUC-JIR Seminary and Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music.

This honor highlights Shira’s unique ability to connect with diverse audiences and her relentless pursuit of creating inclusive, vibrant, and engaging educational environments. The Covenant Award is a testament to Shira’s dedication, passion, and unwavering commitment to enriching Jewish education, and sets a benchmark for educational excellence across the broader Jewish landscape.

“…The Jewish community needs them now more than ever. all three of these exceptionally talented educators [Shira Kline, Rabba Yaffa Epstein and Rabbi Judd Kruger Levingston, Ph.D] lead their communities with love. They are open-hearted, and they are committed to teaching from a place of vulnerability and sincerity. One needs only to glance at their biographies to understand the depth of their accomplishments. But in their presence one becomes aware, first and foremost, of their humility and warmth. This is what our community—and our world—needs right now.”
~ The Covenant Foundation
In response to learning about her award, Shira said: “This honor is a tremendous affirmation in my core belief that the creative Source from which I play is in fact the raw material in all of us.”

Read more about the Covenant Award

Learn more about Shira’s innovative work

The Covenant Foundation’s official celebration of all of the award recipients will take place in September. Stay tuned for more information on all of the ways Lab/Shul will lift up this honor as we head into summer and Fall.

We welcome you to join us in congratulating Shira via email or in person next Friday 6/7 at our final Sabbath Queen Shabbat ritual of the season, or at our annual Gala on June 18th.

Shabbat Shalom,
Sarah Sokolic
Co-Founder & Executive Director