Finding the Jasmine Again and Again

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, you will engage with Etty’s writings and her remarkable sensibility. Led by Susan Stein, 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, you 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. Write, share from your experience, and listen deeply to each other and yourself.

The retreat begins at 9:00 am on Saturday and ends at 3:00 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.