Deep Body Poetry
2025-07-17 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-07-24 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-07-31 12:00 - 13:30 (America/New_York) | Zoom
Thursdays, July 10, 17, 24 & 31, 2025
12-1:30 p.m. EDT
$180

If the body was given ultimate agency what would it say? What stories would it tell?

Poetry universalizes the human experience, the experience of having a body—a body that holds our psychic experience even more deeply and better than our minds do. Mining the poetry of the body happens through the bravery of those who have written these poems. Deep body poetry is the poetry of the disabled body, the queer & trans body and the menstruating body. It’s the poetry where no metaphor, simile or nuance stands between the reader and the subject; where the body is open and ready to speak. Join us as we read the lyric emotional truths of other poets, allowing our minds and hearts to awaken to begin to ask our body to reveal its secrets, and from there to generate creative expression,

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

Rachel Neve-Midbar is a poet and essayist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Salaam of Birds, was chosen by Dorothy Barresi for the Patricia Bibby First Book Prize and was published by Tebot Bach in January 2020. She is also the author of the 2014 chapbook, What the Light Reveals. Her work has appeared in many journals and anthologies. A current Ph.D. candidate at the University of Southern California, Rachel is also editor of Stained: An Anthology of Writing about Menstruation for the AuntFlo2020 Project. More at rachelnevemidbar.com.

Writing Jewish, Writing Funny
2025-07-22 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-07-29 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Tuesdays, July 8, 15, 22 & 29, 2025
12-1:30 p.m. EDT
$180

Join us for an engaging adventure with Emmy-winning TV writer and LMU film school professor Rob Kutner as we delve into how Jews have utilized humor to navigate their challenging history. Together, we will explore various “tricks of the trade” to spread joy to ourselves and others during these tough times.
Kutner will share examples of how humor has played a crucial role in overcoming adversity throughout history, showcasing how these techniques can be applied to contemporary challenges.
Over the course of four sessions, participants will have the opportunity to:

Pitch their creative ideas
Engage in comedic writing exercises
Receive constructive feedback from both the instructor and fellow participants
Participate in guided revision sessions

No prior writing or comedy experience is necessary; this enjoyable and interactive experience is crafted for everyone!
All sessions will be recorded and sent to participants. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.

Rob Kutner has won 5 Emmys, a Peabody, a TCA, and a Grammy writing for such shows as TBS’ “CONAN” and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and HBO’s “Dennis Miller Live.” He has published humor pieces for the New York Times, Esquire, Huffington Post, McSweeney’s, and the Weekly Forward. He is also the author of the sci-fi humor books Apocalypse How: Turn the End Times into the Best of Times! , The Future According to Me, the kids’ graphic novel Snot Goblins & Other Tasteless Tales, and the new comedic Jewish history book, The Jews: 5,000 Years and Counting.

Finding Shekhinah
2025-07-23 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-07-30 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Wednesdays, July 9, 16, 23 & 30, 2025
12-1:30 p.m. EDT
$180

What and where is the Shekhinah, the divine presence, how can we find Her in our world and our lives, hear Her voice, feel Her within and around us?

Each of our four meetings will explore these questions by considering one of the Shekhinah’s many incarnations in Jewish tradition through text study, discussion, and creative exercises (sharing will be optional) intended to help us examine our ideas about and experiences of divinity, and imaginatively trying out different relations to divine presence.

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

Joy Ladin has published ten books of poetry, including her new collection, Shekhinah Speaks (Selva Oscura Press); The Book of Anna, winner of the National Jewish Book Award; and Transmigration, a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. She is also the author of a memoir of gender transition, Through the Door of Life, which was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award, and The Soul of the Stranger: Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective, a finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards and the Triangle Award. Ladin has received fellowships and scholarships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fulbright Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies Research, among other honors. A nationally recognized speaker on transgender issues, she convenes an online conversation series, “Containing Multitudes,” which is available at JewishLive.org/multitudes. Her writing is available at joyladin.com.

Elul Journey Towards Yizkor
2025-08-13 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-08-20 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-08-27 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-09-03 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Wednesdays, August 13, 20 & 27 and September 3, 2025
12-1:30 p.m. EDT
$180

As we welcome the month of Elul, our thoughts naturally shift towards spiritual introspection. This year, many of us carry not only our personal grief but also the collective sorrows of the world.

Elul offers us the opportunity to explore the traditions surrounding the Mourner’s Kaddish and the Yizkor service. Join liturgist Trisha Arlin to a meaningful journey that includes conversation, meditation, and creative writing. Together, we will delve into various aspects of the Kaddish, connecting it to your personal grief journey and the wider state of the world. For those attending the Yizkor service, this session will enhance your experience and participation.

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

Trisha Arlin is a liturgist, writer, performer, and student of prayer in Brooklyn, NY. She has served as a liturgist, scholar, and artist-in-residence and taught for venues including the National Havurah Committee’s Summer Institute, Ritualwell, Haggadot.com, and for synagogues around the country. She is a builder of Bayit’s Liturgical Arts project. Trisha received a BA in Theater from Antioch College in 1975 and an MFA in Film (Screenwriting) in 1997 from Columbia University. In 2009/2010, Trisha was an Arts Fellow at the Drisha Institute. In 2011, she graduated from the sixth cohort of the Davennen Leadership Training Institute (DLTI). Trisha’s liturgy has been used in services, for ritual occasions, and at venues of many denominations nationwide. She is the author of Place Yourself: Words of Poetry and Intention (a collection of liturgy and kavannot). Her work has appeared in a variety of journals, siddurim, and collections of liturgy and can be found online at TrishaArlin.com.

Everyday Rituals: Jewish Life as the Framework for Playwriting
2025-10-29 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-11-05 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-11-12 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-11-19 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Wednesdays, Oct 29, 2025 and November 5, 12 & 19, 2025
12-1:30 p.m. EST
$180

What moments from the rituals of your life could inspire a new play? What makes a play a Jewish play and how can we weave Jewish ritual and values into what’s on the page? Where to start? How to go deeper?

By taking inspiration from both religious rituals and the commonalities of life Jewish families hold dear, award-winning playwright Jennifer Maisel will guide you through writing exercises that will uncover new facets to your characters and more complex elements of your story. You can be starting from scratch or working on an already existing piece. But come ready to stretch your imagination, explore your spirit, and discover how ritual can transform your writing. Show up with pen, paper, and the willingness to be inspired.

This Immersion is a special partnership with the Jewish Plays Project.

All sessions will be recorded and sent to participants. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.
Jennifer Maisel is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter whose work has been produced off-Broadway, nationally and internationally. Her plays include EIGHT NIGHTS, OUT OF ORBIT, MATCH. PROVENANCE, THERE OR HERE, YELLOWWALLPAPER 2.0 2020 and @thespeedofJake and have been workshopped and honored by the Sundance Theatre Lab, the Ojai Playwrights Conference, The Kennedy Center, the Ovation Awards, the Woodward/Newman Award, the Asolo Theatre and the PEN West Literary Awards. She also writes for film and television; the screenplay adaptation of her THE LAST SEDER is in pre-production with Rosalind Productions. PROVENANCE was the winner of the 2025 Jewish Plays Project contest.

Seeding Family-based Poems with Golems, Dybukks and Shpilkas
2025-10-30 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-11-06 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-11-13 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-11-20 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Thursdays, October 30 and November 6, 13, & 20, 2025
12-1:30 p.m. ET
$180

What Inspires Your Poetry?

In Jewish tradition, stories and symbols shimmer with possibility—golems who guard and protect, dybbuks who haunt and unsettle, wise sayings passed down in mameloshen (Yiddish and other beloved tongues). These mythic images and words have traveled through generations, carrying echoes of our history, humor, and heart.

In this Immersion with poet Susan Comninos, we’ll step into this rich imaginative landscape, exploring how folklore, family stories, and cultural memory can awaken new inspiration for your writing. Susan will guide us in weaving together personal history and timeless myth, crafting poems that honor our creative inheritance while speaking in our own, present-day voices. Come to reflect, to write, and to join others in a circle of Jewish creativity—where the past and present meet on the page

All sessions 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” and is the poetry editor for Judith. She lives in upstate New York.

Writing in Conversation with Kohelet
2025-11-04 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-11-11 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-11-18 12:00 - 13:30
Tuesdays, November 4, 11 & 18, 2025
12:00-1:30 p.m.
$154

The Book of Ecclesiastes (Kohelet) is a poetic, puzzling, and deeply human text—full of contradictions, timeless wisdom, and evocative imagery. In this 3-part generative writing series, you’ll be invited to slow down, listen closely, and let Kohelet’s searching questions about purpose, joy, mortality, and meaning spark your own reflections.
Each session will offer:

Guided exploration of selected passages from Kohelet that open up new ways of thinking about life’s biggest questions.
Creative prompts to help you respond in your own voice—through poetry, memoir, fiction, or spiritual writing.
A supportive space to share and connect with others who are also writing their way into deeper wisdom.

By the end of the series, you’ll leave with fresh writing, new insights into this mysterious text, and a sense of connection to an ancient tradition that still speaks to the heart. Come ready to read, reflect, and create. All levels of writing experience are warmly welcomed.

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

Amy Gottlieb is a novelist and poet. Her debut novel, The Beautiful Possible, was a finalist for the Edward Lewis Wallant Award, the Harold Ribalow Prize, and a National Jewish Book Award for Debut Fiction. Her poetry has appeared in On Being, Ilanot Review, Storyscape, SWWIM, Quartet Journal, Poetica, Paper Brigade, The Bloomsbury Anthology of Contemporary Jewish American Poetry, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of a fellowship from the Civita Institute and five individual awards from the Bronx Council on the Arts.

Rekindling Light and Joy Through Writing & Art
2025-12-04 13:00 - 14:30, 2025-12-11 13:00 - 14:30, 2025-12-18 13:00 - 14:30 | Zoom
Thursdays, December 4, 11 & 18, 2025
1-2:30 p.m. EST
$154

Remember: Joy is not merely incidental to your spiritual quest. It is vital. – Reb Nachman of Breslov

In times of personal and collective darkness, how do you stay inspired and revive your creative spirit?

You don’t have to do it alone.
In this workshop, poet and painter Cathleen Cohen and essayist and memoirist Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer will guide you through Jewish texts, poetry, and creative exercises. Together, you’ll explore ways to rediscover joy and rekindle your creative passion in honor of Hanukkah, so that you can step into Hanukkah and the winter season with a renewed sense of inner light.
Whether you’re just beginning your creative journey or you’ve been writing or making art for years, this workshop invites you to discover fresh techniques and pathways that will deepen your connections and nurture joy as a spiritual practice.

All sessions 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. A painter and teacher, she founded the We the Poets program at ArtWell, an arts education non-profit in Philadelphia. Her poems appear in journals such as Apiary, Baltimore Review, Cagibi, East Coast Ink, 6ix, North of Oxford, One Art, Passager, Philadelphia Stories, Rockvale Review and Rogue Agent. Camera Obscura (chapbook, Moonstone Press), appeared in 2017 and Etching the Ghost (Atmosphere Press) in 2021. She received the Interfaith Relations Award from the Montgomery County PA Human Rights Commission and the Public Service Award from National Association of Poetry Therapy. Her paintings are on view at Cerulean Arts Gallery (ceruleanarts.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.

Soulwork: Exploring Our Depths
2026-01-21 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-01-28 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-02-04 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-02-11 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Wednesday, January 21, 28 and February 4, 11, 2026
12-1:30 p.m. EST
$180

“From the depths I call to you!” – Psalm 130

When was the last time you truly checked in with yourself? In the midst of life’s busyness, it’s easy to forget our own inner world. In this four-week journey, you’ll explore four soulwork practices rooted in a Gestalt approach: dreamwork, inner child work, nature soulwork, and Soul Collage©.

Each week, you’ll dive into one modality, uncovering insights about yourself and sharing them in soulwork hevruta dyads and group conversation. We’ll begin each session with a short Jewish-spiritual text to frame our inquiry and set the tone for reflection. Step into this time for yourself—listen, explore, and respond to the call of your own depths.

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

Rabbi Dr. Haviva Ner-David is the rabbinic founder of Shmaya: A Mikveh for Mind, Body, and Soul, the only mikveh in Israel open to all to immerse as they choose. Ordained as both a rabbi and an interfaith minister, certified as a spiritual companion (with a specialty in dream work), and with a doctorate on mikveh from Bar Ilan University, she offers mikveh guidance and spiritual companioning for individuals and couples, as well as mikveh workshops and classes for groups. Rabbi Haviva is the author of three spiritual journey memoirs and a novel. Her most recent memoir, Dreaming Against the Current: A Rabbi’s Soul Journey, is about her journey into interspirituality and dreamwork. Her two previous spiritual journey memoirs are titled: Chanah’s Voice: A Rabbi Wrestles with Gender, Commandment, and the Women’s Rituals of Baking, Bathing, and Brightening, and Life on the Fringes: A Feminist Journey Towards Traditional Rabbinic Ordination, a runner up for the National Jewish Book Council Awards. Hope Valley, her debut novel, is about the friendship between a Palestinian and a Jewish woman in Galilee, where Haviva lives. She is also the mother of seven and lives with FSHD, a form of muscular dystrophy, which has been one of her greatest teachers.
