Poems of Freedom: A Reading & Writing Experience
2026-03-17 20:00 - 21:30 (America/New_York) | Zoom
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
8-9:30 p.m. EST

Prepare for Passover—the festival of liberation—through poetry, reflection, and creative expression. Join Ritualwell and the Philly Yetzirah Regional Chapter for a special reading, sharing poems inspired by themes of freedom, liberation, and the Passover story.

After the reading, you’ll be invited into a generative writing experience with a guided prompt designed to help you begin crafting your own poems of freedom. Whether you’re a seasoned writer or simply curious, you’ll have space to write, reflect, and explore what liberation means in your own life and in our collective moment. Featured poets are Cathleen Cohen, Henry Israeli, Lynn Levin and Maya Pindyck.

This event is a beautiful way to enter the Passover mindset—through listening, creativity, and shared inspiration. All are welcome; no prior writing experience is necessary.

This session will be recorded and sent to participants. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.

Cathleen Cohen was the 2019 Poet Laureate of Montgomery County, PA. She created the We the Poets program for children from diverse cultural and faith communities (www.theartwell.org). Currently she teaches poetry and painting through local venues, including Ritualwell, Or Zarua, Cerulean Arts Gallery and Kol Tzedek. Her poems appear in literary journals and four collections: Camera Obscura (2017, Moonstone Press), Etching the Ghost (2021, Atmosphere Press) and Sparks and Disperses (2021, Cornerstone Press) and Murmurations (2024, Moonstone Press). Three of her poems were nominated for Pushcart Prizes. Her artwork is available through Cerulean Arts Gallery (https://ceruleanarts.com/pages/cathleen-cohen).

Henry Israeli is the author of four poetry collections, most recently Our Age of Anxiety (White Pine Poetry Prize: 2019), and god’s breath hovering across the waters, (Four Way Books: 2016), and as editor, Lords of Misrule: 20 Years of Saturnalia Books (Saturnalia: 2022). His next collection, Between the Trees (or the Lonely Nowhere) will be published by Four Way Books in 2028. He is also the translator of three critically acclaimed books by Albanian poet Luljeta Lleshanaku. His poetry has appeared in numerous journals including American Poetry Review, Boston Review, Plume, and The Harvard Review, as well as several anthologies including Best American Poetry 2025. He is Director of Jewish Studies, Drexel University; Director of Drexel Writing Festival; and Teaching Professor, Drexel University.

Lynn Levin is a poet and writer. She is the author of nine books, most recently the short story collection House Parties (2023) and the poetry collection The Minor Virtues (2020). Her work has appeared in Boulevard, Plume, Smartish Pace, Southwest Review, Kerem, Shofar, Nashim, Jewish Fiction Journal, and several anthologies including The Bloomsbury Anthology of Contemporary Jewish American Poetry, The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, and Keystone Poetry: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania. She teaches at Drexel University and for many years taught creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania. Her website is lynnlevinpoet.com.

Maya Pindyck’s third book of poems, Impossible Belonging (2023), won the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry and was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. Her poems have recently appeared or are forthcoming in American Poetry Review, Ploughshares, Plume, GRANTA (Hebrew edition), Beloit Poetry Journal, and Seneca Review. A recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, Maya is an associate professor and director of Writing at Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia, and co-author of the educational textbook A Poetry Pedagogy for Teachers (2022). She grew up in Boston and Tel Aviv. Her website is mayapindyck.com.

Holding The Sweet and The Bitter: Four New Questions for Passover 2026
2026-04-01 12:00 - 13:00
How do I hold a sprig of parsley — fresh as the first days of spring — and dip it into salt water, the taste of tears? How do I sing familiar songs with joy while also carrying fear, grief, or anger about the world around me? And how do I leave the Passover seder not only remembering liberation, but claiming joy and resilience for the days ahead?

To spark thoughtful and heartfelt conversation, the Ritualwell team has created a new collection of curated Passover resources, including four new questions to complement the traditional Four Questions. This printable PDF will be delivered electronically and accessible online, ready to bring to your table when you register.

You’ll also receive a recording of our meaningful event with Rabbi Isabel de Koninck reflecting on beloved Passover traditions, rituals, and the questions you are bringing to the holiday.

The Art of the Unexpected: A House Parties Reading
2026-04-27 13:00 - 14:00
April 27, 2026
1-2:00 p.m.

Join us for an intimate book talk and reading with Lynn Levin, acclaimed poet, writer, and author of the celebrated short story collection House Parties. In this special Ritualwell gathering, Lynn will read from her vividly imagined, witty, and deeply humane stories that traverse everyday moments, unexpected predicaments, and unforgettable characters.

With her poet’s eye and storyteller’s heart, she invites us into narratives that are both surprising and resonant, ranging from the comic and absurd to the quietly profound. Whether you write, read, or simply love great storytelling, come be inspired by Lynn’s craft, engage with her work, and explore what makes these stories linger in the mind long after the last page.

This session will be recorded and sent to participants. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.

Lynn Levin is a poet and writer. She is the author of nine books, most recently the short story collection House Parties (2023) and the poetry collection The Minor Virtues (2020). Her work has appeared in Boulevard, Plume, Smartish Pace, Southwest Review, Kerem, Shofar, Nashim, Jewish Fiction Journal, and several anthologies including The Bloomsbury Anthology of Contemporary Jewish American Poetry, The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, and Keystone Poetry: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania. She teaches at Drexel University and for many years taught creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania. Her website is lynnlevinpoet.com.

A Special Omer Gathering: Finding Purpose in Challenging Times
2026-05-20 13:00 - 14:00
Join Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg for a powerful live conversation on living with purpose, integrity, and resilience.
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
1-2:00 p.m. EDT

Join Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg—an activist, author, and spiritual leader known for her work on justice, accountability, and Jewish ethics—for a powerful live conversation on living with purpose, integrity, and resilience.
Rabbi Danya brings a rare ability to weave Jewish wisdom with the urgent questions of our time, offering guidance that is both deeply grounded and immediately relevant. Her teaching helps us navigate complexity with clarity and compassion—especially when the path forward feels uncertain.
As we move through the Omer and approach its culmination, this gathering offers a space to pause, reflect, and reconnect with what matters most. Together, we’ll explore how we continue to show up with intention in a world that asks so much of us.
Come ready to listen, reflect, and leave feeling renewed in your sense of purpose.

Deepen Your Omer Journey
This gathering is part of Omer Counting for Purpose—a seven-week journey of reflection and creativity rooted in the sacred qualities of the Omer.
When you join, you’ll receive weekly teachings, short videos, and writing prompts to help you explore your purpose through qualities like love, strength, resilience, and connection.
What You’ll Receive

Weekly email teachings + short videos
Reflective writing prompts and practices
A guided journey through the seven sacred qualities of the Omer
Access to our culminating live event with Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg

When you join Omer Counting for Purpose, you’re not only stepping into a meaningful personal journey—you’re also supporting Ritualwell’s work of creativity, connection, and Jewish meaning-making.
Your gift helps keep these resources accessible and this community thriving.

Come to be nourished by community, guided by wisdom, and reminded that your presence—and your purpose—matter.

This session will be recorded and sent to participants. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg is an award-winning author of eight books who now makes her primary writing home with the newsletter/magazine LifeIsASacredText.com. She has received the Lives of Commitment Award from Auburn Seminary, and the Rabbinic Human Rights Hero Award from the human rights organization T’ruah, was named by Newsweek as a “rabbi to watch,” and as a “faith leader to watch” by the Center for American Progress, and has been a Sunday Washington Post crossword clue (83 Down). Her most recent book, On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World is a National Jewish Book Award winner and an American Library Association’s Sophie Brody Honor Book. It was hailed by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley as “A must read for anyone navigating the work of justice and healing.”
She has written for a number of publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and been featured on NPR, the Today Show, USA Today, MTV News, and elsewhere. Her activism has taken her from the jail cell to the White House and back again, and has included advising lawmakers; organizing 2,500 rabbis in the fight for reproductive freedom through the fall of Roe; and mobilizing Jewish communities around economic justice and abuse accountability. Her North Star is the belief that we have a moral and religious obligation to care for one another, and to fight for a more just world.

Tree of Life: A Mind‑Body‑Spirit Practice
2026-06-09 12:00 - 13:30
Tuesday, June 9, 2026
12-1:30 p.m. EST
$18

As we move through the luminous days following Shavuot and step toward the fullness of summer, join us for a unique exploration of ritual, awareness, movement, and light.
Rabbi Tsurah August, a teacher rooted in somatic practice, mindfulness, and Jewish mystical tradition, invites us into Embodying the Light — a session to awaken our bodies, our hearts, and our spiritual vision.
In this gathering we will:

Set a mindful tone for the season, grounding our awareness and centering in presence.
Use gentle movement, breath, and guided reflection to awaken our capacity to sense light within and around us.
Explore how revelation continues in the body — how we receive, carry, and radiate the light of insight, wisdom, and connection.
Offer prompts and moments for creative embodiment — through movement, drawing, journaling, or simply listening and witnessing.

Shavuot invites us into revelation; summer invites us into expansion. Together, we’ll explore what it means to embody what we’ve received — to let wisdom take root in muscle and breath, and to carry it forward into our lives.
Whether you’re familiar with mindfulness or new to embodied ritual, this practice is open and inclusive. Come as you are — with openness, curiosity, and your own unique presence. Bring a journal or sketch pad if you wish, wear comfortable clothing, and prepare to move, breathe, reflect, and kindle the light that is already within you.
We look forward to gathering with you — to awaken together, and to carry that light into our lives, our relationships, and our world.

This session will be recorded and sent to participants. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.

Before becoming a rabbi and chaplain, Tsurah was a professional dancer, choreographer and movement educator for people with a broad range of movement and cognitive abilities. Dance is still her beloved form of prayer.

Advot End-of-Year Celebration and Poetry Reading
2026-06-25 19:00 - 20:30
Thursday, June 25, 2026
7-8:30 p.m. EDT

Join us to celebrate the contributions of our Advot@Ritualwell members and the unveiling of our fifth anthology showcasing their creations. Advot@Ritualwell serves as an online community for Jewish writers to learn, connect, and collaborate, providing a platform for mutual support in what can often be a solitary journey. Members bring their diverse backgrounds and expertise to share, co-create, and inspire one another. This event is their opportunity to showcase their work to you. Show your support by attending! Registrants will receive a 15% discount on their purchase of the anthology.

The members of our ADVOT community include: Nancy Abraham, Elliott batTzedek, Elizabeth Caplun, Alex Carter, Cathleen Cohen, Muriel Dance, Batya Diamond, Elisa Friedlander, Ona Gritz, Ziva Harmatz, Claire Helman, Chana Jacobs, Ann Kanter, Judith Kerman, Lucinda Kurtz, Rabbi Janet Madden, Meryl Paskow, Beverly Pincus, Rabbi Sonja K. Pilz, SJ Schlossman, Gail Simmons, Susan Spector, Janice Steinberg, Julie Stone, and Cantor Keren Webber.

This session will be recorded and sent to participants following the event. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.

Jewish Writers' Circle Anthology Celebration and Reading
2026-09-08 12:00 - 13:00
Tuesday, September 8, 2026
12-1 p.m. ET

Join us to celebrate the contributions of our Jewish Writers’ Circles members and the launch of our first anthology showcasing their creations. Jewish Writers’ Circles are grassroots peer-led communities of writers who meet monthly for in-person gatherings (e.g. homes and cafes). Jewish Writers’ Circle (JWC) participants explore Jewish wisdom texts, deepen relationships and grow in their writing practice. This event is their opportunity to showcase their work to you as we launch our second year of this inititaive.

This event will be recorded and sent to participants following the event. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.

Out of the Depths: A Journey through the Days of Awe
2026-09-15 12:00 - 13:00
September 15, 2026
12-1 p.m. ET
$18

Prepare your heart for the Days of Awe with a new Ritualwell companion booklet of reflections, poetry, prayers, and creative prompts designed to guide you from Elul through Yom Kippur. Whether used for daily reflection or moments of pause throughout the season, this collection offers pathways into deeper awareness, renewal, and spiritual practice. This printable PDF will be delivered electronically and accessible online, ready to bring to your table when you register.

As part of this sacred journey, we invite you to gather live with Rabbi Yael Levy on September 15, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, for an exploration of Psalm 130. Rabbi Levy, author of Psalms: Ancient Songs for These Times, will help us engage this ancient prayer of longing and hope as a guide for the inner work of the Yamim Noraim. Together, we’ll reflect on what it means to call out from the depths, embrace the possibility of return, and remain openhearted in these challenging times.

This event will be recorded and sent to participants. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.

Rabbi Yael Levy is the founder and rabbinic director of A Way In, Rabbi Yael’s teachings offer “a way in” to spiritual practice and awareness that uses the language of Jewish tradition and address universal issues. Named one of “America’s Most Inspiring Rabbis” by the Jewish Forward, Rabbi Yael has created daily and weekly online teachings and unique contemplative Shabbat and holiday services. She leads weekly call-in meditation “sits,” retreats and classes in Jewish Mindfulness. A Way In grew out of her part-time work as a rabbi at Mishkan Shalom Reconstructionist congregation for over 20 years. She is now Rabbi Emerita.

A graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Rabbi Yael has worked with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, co-leading retreats in Alaska for Jewish professionals and writing an online mindfulness guide to the Torah portions of the week. She also serves as a spiritual director to rabbinical students.

She is the author of Directing the Heart: Weekly Mindfulness Teachings and Practices from the Torah, Journey through the Wilderness: A Mindfulness Approach to the Ancient Jewish Practice of Counting the Omer and Chanukah Lights: Psalms for Hallel.
