Holding Each Other
2026-01-26 12:00 - 12:15, 2026-02-02 12:00 - 12:15, 2026-02-09 12:00 - 12:15, 2026-02-16 12:00 - 12:15, 2026-02-23 12:00 - 12:15, 2026-03-02 12:00 - 12:15, 2026-03-09 12:00 - 12:15, 2026-03-16 12:00 - 12:15 (America/New_York) and 1 more date | Zoom
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.

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.

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.
