Finding the Jasmine Again and Again

A weekend retreat with the words of Etty Hillesum, led by Susan Stein

“Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it toward others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world.”
– Etty Hillesum  

What begins for a young Dutch Jewish woman, Etty Hillesum, as part of her therapy―recording her thoughts in a diary―evolves into one of the most harrowing, moving, and beautifully written documents to emerge from the Second World War. Etty Hillesum was a sensuous, intelligent, and poetic young woman searching for the meaning of her life–and all life–during the terror of Nazi occupation. In the midst of two separate love affairs, she “happens upon” prayer, discovers a reality that she calls God, and opens herself to the power of being fully alive and present, bearing witness, even to the catastrophe unfolding around her. Etty writes frankly and with compassion–even for the enemy.  She talks about wrestling with life and love, about unflinchingly staring down reality but not allowing others to make one a victim, about claiming what comes in life and finding meaning in it. Her diaries were published in 1981 in Dutch as “Het verstoorde leven” (An Interrupted Life), and an English version followed in 1982. 

During this weekend retreat, we will engage with Etty’s writings and her remarkable sensibility. Led by Susan Stein, we’ll witness her act of becoming and her spiritual transformation, exploring how Etty’s diary invites us into our deepest selves. Through close readings, aloud and in silence, and sharing, we will work to understand Etty’s writing as her interior preparation for standing truth to power, and we’ll experience her silent strength as an example of her collaboration with the world.

Retreat participants will embark on both an individual and collective journey, involving silence and solitude as well as communal time and conversation. We will write, share from our experience, and listen deeply to each other and ourselves.

The retreat begins at 9:00 am on Saturday and ends at 1:00 pm on Sunday. The registration fee of $250 covers lodging, meals, and the retreat program. A limited number of commuter tickets are available, and a discounted rate will be available to those opting to share a room. Scholarship assistance is available to those with financial need. Please email information@peacehillavila.org to request a scholarship.

Retreat Leader

Susan Stein

Susan Stein, founder of Etty Project, is an actor, playwright, and teaching artist. She has spent the past eleven years touring her original, one-woman play, Etty, to major theaters, universities, schools, and prisons around the country and internationally, as well as leading accompanying educational workshops.
 
Venues where Stein has performed Etty include: 59e59 Theaters, NYC; Next Theater, Chicago; Kravis Center, North Wall, Oxford, UK; Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Scotland; Philly Fringe Festival; Bowery Poetry Club; Yad Vashem, Jerusalem; Fort Monmouth Army Base, NJ; The Museum of Jewish Heritage, NYC; Smith College;  Anne Frank Center, USA and UK; the Etty Hillesum Centre in Deventer, The Netherlands; and the University of Ghent, Belgium.
 
Stein co-teaches “Performing History” at Duquesne University as part of the Inside/Outside Prison Exchange Program and has been an Artist/Scholar in residence at Cambridge University, Duquesne, Boston College, Vanderbilt, and Chapman University. Stein’s acting work includes Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound, Dominique Morisseau’s Pipeline, Meridith Friedman’s The Luckiest People, and Wendy Wasserstein’s The Sisters Rosensweig. Stein leads workshops in playwriting, writing, and acting throughout the US and UK. Stein studied acting at NYU Graduate School and SUNY Purchase and received a Master’s in Writing at Wesleyan University. She taught at Princeton Day School for thirteen years.

Retreat Agenda

To begin, we will bring Etty’s voice into the room through a spoken word exercise in response to one of her letters from Westerbork Concentration Camp. Saturday will be spent closely reading Etty’s writings, involving reflection, sharing, and time in silence. During the evening, we will consider Etty’s writing as an act of resistance. Susan Stein will perform some of her play, Etty, and we will engage in conversation after the piece.

On Sunday morning, we will look more deeply at how Etty’s writing prepares her for standing truth to power, and the retreat will close with lunch.

About the Retreat Setting

The retreat will be held at Avila Center for Community Leadership, a rural setting 20 minutes north of downtown Durham. Originally a Carmelite monastery that has since been transformed into a center for community organizing, Avila offers private and shared accommodations nestled into the woods. The 50-acre property includes trails, a labyrinth, as well as numerous spaces for conversation and quiet moments of contemplation.

Nourishing meals featuring local ingredients will be provided by Chef Netta of Netta’s Pantry, including lunch and dinner on Saturday, breakfast and lunch on Sunday, and plenty of snacks and beverages.

Sponsored by Peace Hill at Avila.

Cancellation Policy: Cancellation requests must be received at least 30 days prior to the retreat in order to receive a refund, less a $25 processing fee.