The 2027 LABA theme is VISIONS.

We see things.

Things that are immediately visible. A burning bush. Things that are revealed. God's presence in the bush.

Things that were, and things that never were. Things that should be, and things that could be.

Such visions bring us closer to our greatest longings, and our deepest fears—a chance to rehearse fantasies and nightmares. They are how we converse with the future, spiritual energies and realms beyond rational understanding; or inch closer to seeing our lives, circumstances and relationships as they really are, and not how we believe they should be.

Visions tend to express themselves through a mystical language, one that connects us across space and time.

This year at LABA we will be exploring VISIONS in ancient Jewish texts and contemporary life. We will consider how some visions conceal while others reveal, and which visions come from within and which come from without. Jacob saw his ladder, Ezekiel saw his chariot, Abraham, Hagar and Rebecca saw God. Some visions are dangerous; some who see them never return.

Our study of VISIONS will allow us to explore futurism, subjectivity, blindness, clarity, surreal holiness, and the sometimes perceivable but often invisible gap between embodied witnessing and rational thought.

We’ll dive into the whole mess of it, all the while having a great time talking, eating, drinking, learning, and laughing in the lush, fertile, free-flowing, romantic, super-serious, and endlessly playful environment of LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture.

We invite you to contemplate how VISIONS provoke and inspire you, and apply.