Ritualwell

The Creative Fire of Folklore
2025-06-24 12:00 - 13:30 (America/New_York) | Zoom
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
12-1:30 p.m. EDT

In this generative poetry event, we’ll chart ways to use your family or community’s sayings in poems that explore how the past informs the present. Come prepared to have fun, while trying your hand at techniques for folding both folklore and imagery into poetry that’s at once individual and universal. Together, we’ll play with writing exercises and discuss published work. By the end of class, you’ll have a draft that you can shape for further development.

No previous poetry experience is required–this event is inclusive of everyone’s background and lived experiences.

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

Susan Comninos is a widely published writer and author of a recent book of poems, “Out of Nowhere” (Stephen F. Austin Univ. Press/Texas A&M, 2022). Her individual poems, often on Jewish themes, have appeared in the Harvard Review Online, Rattle, The Common, Prairie Schooner and North American Review, among others. She’s taught writing to undergraduates at Siena College, The College of St. Rose and SUNY Albany, as well as to adults in the community. She is currently at work on a second collection of poems, called “Wild Joy of Receiving.” She lives in upstate New York.

Advot End-of-Year Celebration and Poetry Reading
2025-06-26 19:00 - 20:30
Thursday, June 26, 2025
7-8:30 p.m. EDT

Join us to celebrate the contributions of our Advot@Ritualwell members and the unveiling of our fourth 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: Elliott batTzedek, Elizabeth Caplun, Rabbi Nachshon Carmi, Alex Carter, Cathleen Cohen, Muriel Dance, Batya Diamond, Elisa Friedlander, Rabbi Dayle Friedman, Ona Gritz, Ziva Harmatz, Marc Jacobs, Ann Kanter, Judith Kerman, Chelsea Levinson, Rabbi Janet Madden, Beverly Pincus, SJ Schlossman, Gail Simmons, Janice Steinberg, Julie Stone, Cantor Keren Webber, Tiferet Welch and McKenzie Wren.

Expanding the Field: A DIY Rosh Hashanah Journey
2025-09-08 13:00 - 14:00
September 8, 2025
1:00-2:00 p.m. EDT

Join Rabbi Aya Baron and Sarah Chandler (Kohenet Shamirah Bechirah) for a creative journey into Expanding the Field: A DIY Rosh Hashanah Companion, Ayin Press’s zine-style guide to the New Year. Together, we’ll explore interactive journaling, earth-based ritual, poetic reflection, and imaginative prompts inspired by the mystical Four Worlds. From hitbodedut (personal prayer) to tashlich, simanim, and shofar practice, Aya and Sarah invite you to co-create Rosh Hashanah rituals that feel both rooted and personal.
This session will share sample activities and open conversation about Aya and Sarah’s creative process. Whether you’re seeking spiritual nourishment, fresh ritual, or new ways into the season, you’ll find a welcoming space to reflect, reimagine, and connect with the Days of Awe.

Note: This program includes sample exercises from the new zine; to purchase a printed copy or download, visit Ayin’s website.

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

Rabbi Aya Baron (she/her) creates and offers earth-based Jewish programs, educational consultation, and life cycle ritual support. Ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, she also holds a B.A. in Contemplative Education from Brown University, an M.A. in Jewish studies focusing on feminist and folkloric interpretations of rabbinic literature from the Graduate Theological Union and a certifcate from the California School of Herbal Studies. Aya lives on Lenni-Lenape land in Philadelphia and collaborates with Shamir Collective to create earth based Jewish practice guides.

Sarah Chandler (she/her) aka Kohenet Shamirah is a Brooklyn-based Jewish educator, artist, activist, healer, and poet. She teaches, writes and consults on issues related to Judaism, earth-based spiritual practice, respectful workplaces, mindfulness, and farming. An ordained Kohenet with the Hebrew Priestess Institute and a trainer for “Taamod: Stand Up!”, she is also is an advanced student of Kabbalistic dream work at The School of Images. Previously, Sarah served as the Director of Romemu Yeshiva, Chief Compassion Officer of Jewish Initiative for Animals, and Director of Earth Based Spiritual Practices at Hazon’s Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. Currently, she is the CEO of Shamir Collective, as a coach and consultant to high profile artists and authors to launch new music and books, as well as lead trainer for Soft as a Rock: Public Speaking for Sensitive Souls.

On Being Jewish Now: A Reading & Writing Experience
2025-09-17 12:00 - 13:00
September 17, 2025
12-1 p.m. ET

Since October 7, our world has shifted in ways that touch every part of our lives. Many of us are asking: How do we navigate—and even flourish—in this moment? Where can we turn for wisdom, connection, and hope?

In her new anthology, On Being Jewish Now, writer, podcaster, and publisher Zibby Owens brings together leading Jewish voices in a heartfelt, humorous, and deeply moving collection of essays.

Join Zibby in conversation with Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer of Ritualwell as they explore what it means to be Jewish right now—how our questions, traditions, worries, and hopes shape our lives and connect us to one another. You’ll be invited into a guided generative writing session to reflect on your own relationship to Jewishness in this moment.

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

Zibby Owens is the founder of Zibby Media which includes the award-winning daily podcast Totally Booked with Zibby, Zibby Publishing in New York, and Zibby’s Bookshop in Santa Monica CA. She is the author of six books including the USA Today bestsellers Blank: A Novel and On Being Jewish Now: Reflections from Authors and Advocates. Follow her on Substack and Instagram @zibbyowens where she tells it like it is.

A Day of Memory: A Holding Each Other Memorial for October 7
2025-10-06 12:00 - 13:00
Monday, October 6, 2025
12-1:00 p.m. EDT

Now more than ever, we need each other.

Our community meets every Monday for “Holding Each Other,” a 15-minute online minyan, but on October 6, we’ll gather for a special hour of grieving, praying and sharing.

Our guest facilitator will be Rabbi Yehudit Werchow, who will guide us through poetry, prayers and prompts for creative expression, reflection and sharing.

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

Rabbi Yehudit Werchow was born in Argentina and raised in Israel. She earned a B.A. in Political Science and Literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an M.A. in Religious Education from Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in New York, where she was later ordained at HUC-JIR in Jerusalem.
Yehudit has held senior leadership roles across global Jewish organizations. She served as Director of Israel Engagement for the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) in North America, as the Jewish Agency’s Senior Shlicha to the Reform Movement in both North America and the UK, and as Director of Education for MASA. Throughout her career, she has championed innovative approaches to Israel education, strengthening connections across communities and generations.

Balancing Gratitude and Grief: A Pre-Thanksgiving Writing Ritual
2025-11-25 12:00 - 13:30
Tuesday, November 25, 2025
12-1:30 p.m. EST

As Thanksgiving approaches, many of us hold both gratitude and grief—love for what we have and longing for what’s been lost. In this special session, we’ll explore how Jewish tradition honors both emotions and how we can give voice to them through poetry, prayer, and ritual.

Join Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer, Ritualwell’s Director of Virtual Content and Programs, for a reflective and creative gathering that invites you to bring your full heart to the holiday. You’ll be guided to create your own words and rituals that bring sacred awareness to your Thanksgiving table—and to everyday moments of gratitude and remembrance.

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

Gabrielle Ariella Kaplan-Mayer is Ritualwell’s Director of Virtual Content and Programs. She is a spiritual director, author and educator whose work focuses on spirituality, creativity and disability. Her personal essays have been featured in Tablet, Shondaland, NBCThink, Wisdom Daily, WHYY and many other publications and she has published several nonfiction books as well as plays for children. Gabrielle is currently working on a memoir about the power of intuition and ongoing conversations with her ancestors. She writes a Substack newsletter called “Journey With The Seasons,” a weekly practice of meditative reading with creative self-expression prompts. Gabrielle holds a BFA in theater and creative writing from Emerson College and an MA in Jewish Studies from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.

Oneg Shabbat: A New Table Companion
2026-02-02 12:00 - 13:00
Monday, February 2, 2026
12-1:00 p.m. EST

You are invited into a rich, behind-the-scenes exploration of Oneg Shabbat: A Sabbath Evening Table Companion, the new publication edited by Rabbis Sandy Sasso and Jeffrey Schein and published by The Mordecai Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood.
In this event, Sandy and Jeff will open the creative curtain and share the inspirations, questions, and intentions that shaped this beautiful volume. You’ll discover the many ways the Companion can enrich your own Shabbat practice—whether used personally, with family and friends, or as a resource for community gatherings.
You’ll also hear directly from several contributors—an artist, a poet, and a musician—who will speak about the creative sparks behind their work and how Shabbat shaped their offerings. Together, we’ll explore the new digital resource and the pathways it opens for meaningful, accessible celebration.
This session is designed for anyone who creates, curates, or simply loves contemporary Jewish liturgy—all who turn to Ritualwell for inspiration and connection. You’ll leave with fresh ideas, creative insight, and new ways to bring Shabbat joyfully to your table and community.
Rabbi Sandy Sasso is the author of the nationally acclaimed children’s books. Her children’s book, The Shemah in the Mezuzah won the 2012 National Jewish Book Award for Best Illustrated Children’s Book. She is the recipient of an Indiana Author’s Award. In 2018 she received the Indiana Author’s Award for Best Regional Author.

Jeffrey Schein is the past Executive and current Senior Consultant for Jewish Education of the Mordecai Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood. He has been a leading figure in Reconstuctionist Jewish Education the past fifty years and is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (1977). He has authored 50 articles and a dozen books used in the education of Rabbis and Jewish educators.

Drawing from Torah: A Generative Jewish Poetry Workshop
2026-02-15 12:00 - 13:30
Sunday, February 15th, 2026
12-1:30 p.m. EST

How do poets weave Jewish imagery, Torah stories, and sacred language into their work in ways that feel alive and authentic? And how might you do the same in your own poetry?

This generative poetry workshop invites you to explore Jewish themes through reading, writing, and conversation. Together, we’ll read poems by writers such as John Keats, Sharon Olds, Dan Pagis, Yehoshua November, Marie Howe, and Lucille Clifton—poets who draw on the Hebrew Bible and other Jewish texts to shape their work. We’ll look closely at how these writers transform ancient stories and symbols into powerful, contemporary poems.

You’ll be guided through writing prompts inspired by these texts and poems, with a special focus on moments from the Torah that spark imagination, memory, and meaning. During the session, you’ll have time to write, share your work (as you feel comfortable), and receive thoughtful, supportive feedback.

This workshop is open to anyone interested in reading and writing poetry with Jewish themes—whether you’re an experienced poet or just beginning, and whether your connection to Jewish texts is deep, curious, or newly forming.

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

Dr. Eve Grubin is the author of the book of poems Boat of Letters (Four Way Books). She is also the author of Morning Prayer (Sheep Meadow Press), The House of Our First Loving (Rack Press) and Grief Dialogue (Rack Press). Eve holds a PhD on the poetics of reticence, and she is a lecturer at NYU London and a tutor at the Poetry School.

Exploring Disability Torah: Text, Reflection, and Creative Voice
2026-02-23 12:00 - 13:30
Monday, February 23, 2026
12-1:30 p.m. EST

Join Ritualwell and the Disability Torah Project for a powerful, inclusive gathering exploring disability, Jewish text, and creative expression. We’ll hear from Mat Wilson, Founder and Director of the Disability Torah Project, and a dynamic panel of writers including Dr. Amanda Mbuvi and rabbinical students Raphael Morris and Nora Chernov, working at the crossroads of disability and Torah wisdom, then move into a guided text-study session designed to invite your own reflection and writing.

Through a short writing prompt, you’ll have the chance to respond to what you’ve read and experienced, exploring how disability Torah can deepen our communal conversations, spiritual imagination, and sense of connection.

This event welcomes everyone—whether you identify as disabled or nondisabled, whether you’re a seasoned text-studier or new to it. Come ready to listen, reflect, and write in a space of curiosity, care, and shared meaning-making.

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

Mat Wilson (he/him) enjoys board and video games, road trips big and small, and any opportunity to be in the water. They discovered a love for Torah study through the art of source sheet creation and are currently expanding their written reflections through the Disability Torah Project. Outside of their free time, Mat is a student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and is pursuing a Master’s in Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania.

Amanda Beckenstein Mbuvi, Ph.D., is a scholar and teacher with expertise in Tanakh, ethics, and multifaith studies, and a special interest in the way stories shape communal identity. In addition to serving as the director of the Center for Jewish Ethics, she also helps students with disabilities get the accommodations they need to participate in the RRC learning community. Mbuvi is passionate about dynamic, inclusive Jewish communities that cultivate what she likes to call “blessed interdependence.” In addition to numerous scholarly articles, she is author of the 2016 book, Belonging in Genesis: Biblical Israel and the Politics of Identity Formation, published by Baylor University Press.

Nora Chernov (she/her) is a student at the Reconstructist Rabbinical College where she serves as the Advanced Intern for Community Life and assists in the RRC Beit Midrash. Nora is a passionate student and teacher of text, especially all things Talmud. When not at RRC she can be found going on long drives listening to podcasts and playing all manner of board games.

Raphael Morris (he/they) is an AuDHD rabbinical student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He feels privileged to be part of an intellectual tradition where his preferred modes of cognition, learning, and communication are not just tolerated but actively valued. In his spare time, he enjoys wiki walking, TTRPGs, Talmud, long rambling conversations and anything else tangential.

Uncovering Feminine Strength and Wisdom
2026-02-24 14:00 - 15:00
Tuesday, February 24, 2026
2-3:00 p.m.
We invite you to join us and sample our upcoming Immersion, Sarah and Hagar: Uncovering Feminine Strength and Wisdom in community. Join poet Tzivia and Ritualwell’s Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer for an interactive conversation on Sarah, Hagar, and feminine wisdom, followed by a creative writing prompt and time for sharing what we uncover. Consider it an opening doorway—if you’re drawn in, the full series awaits.
To join us, register here.

Tzivia Gover is the author of ‘Dreaming on the Page: Tap into Your Midnight Mind to Supercharge Your Writing‘, and other books about dreams, writing, and everyday joy. She is the creator of ‘The Life of H: Sarah, Reimagined’ an online poetry project. The founder of 350 Dreamers, an online international community dreaming for global healing in this time of climate crisis, Tzivia is a board member of the International Association for the Study of Dreams and a past Director at the Institute for Dream Studies. Tzivia is a Certified Dreamwork Professional and a Certified Proprioceptive Writing Instructor. She has her MFA in writing from Columbia University, and has taught in college and community settings domestically and abroad. Learn more at www.thirdhousemoon.com and https://tziviagover.substack.com.
Gabrielle Ariella Kaplan-Mayer is Ritualwell’s Director of Virtual Content and Programs. She is an author and educator whose work focuses on spirituality, creativity and disability. Her personal essays have been featured in Tablet, Shondaland, NBCThink, Wisdom Daily, WHYY and many other publications and she has published several nonfiction books as well as plays for children. Gabrielle is currently working on a memoir about the power of intuition and ongoing conversations with her ancestors. She writes a Substack newsletter called “Journey With The Seasons,” a weekly practice of meditative reading with creative self-expression prompts. Gabrielle holds a BFA in theater and creative writing from Emerson College and an MA in Jewish Studies from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.

Poems of Freedom: A Reading & Writing Experience
2026-03-17 20:00 - 21:30
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 Each Other
2026-04-13 12:00 - 12:30, 2026-04-20 12:00 - 12:30, 2026-04-27 12:00 - 12:30, 2026-05-04 12:00 - 12:30, 2026-05-11 12:00 - 12:30, 2026-05-18 12:00 - 12:30, 2026-05-25 12:00 - 12:30, 2026-06-01 12:00 - 12:30
Every Monday, 12-12:15 p.m. EDT

Now more than ever, we need each other.

Every Monday, join “Holding Each Other,” a 15-minute online minyan, facilitated by a leading Ritualwell contributor. Together, we’ll recite Mourners’ Kaddish and Mi Shebeirach, the prayer for healing. To foster our spiritual resilience, we’ll engage with a brief creative meditation.

Weekly, gather your strength and provide support to others.

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.

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.
