Ritualwell

Judaism Through The Kaleidoscope: Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook
2024-05-29 13:00 - 14:30, 2024-05-22 13:00 - 14:30, 2024-05-15 13:00 - 14:30, 2024-05-08 13:00 - 14:30, 2024-05-01 13:00 - 14:30 (America/New_York) | Zoom
Wednesdays, May 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 and June 5, 2024
1-2:30 p.m. EDT
$250
Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1865 – 1935) was the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of pre-state Israel, a profound poet, and a giant of both mysticism and Jewish law. He was a radical thinker, writer and activist who provoked much opposition during his lifetime from conservative leaders of Ultra-Orthodox communities.
Rabbi Kook saw the Divine spark in everything and viewed all events as part of an evolutionary process towards a redeemed and unified world. His writings contain beautiful and insightful gems on subjects such as: freedom as the key foundation of Judaism; our relationship with our bodies; pluralism, tolerance and polarization; the many layers of our multiple identities; particularism and universalism; the narratives of our own lives and of all of human history. Together, we will explore his rich, beautiful writings and use them as opportunities for spiritual practice, including creative writing and guided embodied exercises.

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

Daniel Raphael Silverstein is a rabbi, educator, meditation teacher and MC/poet. He lives in Israel with his family, where he directs Applied Jewish Spirituality (https://www.appliedjewishspirituality.org/), an online portal which makes the transformative spiritual wisdom of our tradition accessible to all who seek it. Daniel is an accredited teacher of Jewish Mindfulness Meditation and regularly teaches classes and retreats. He was born and raised in London and received a BA from the University of Cambridge and an MA from Warwick University. After receiving semikha from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, he served as Director of Jewish Life and Learning for Hillel of Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA. Daniel has performed and facilitated all over the world as a spoken word artist, MC, and creative educator, and the Jewish Week selected him as one of their “36 Under 36” young innovators reshaping the Jewish community. Daniel is a cofounder of Lines of Faith, a Muslim-Jewish hip hop and poetry collective that uses performances and workshops to challenge prejudice and build meaningful bonds between communities.

Presence and Absence: Images of the Divine in Kabbalah
2024-05-28 12:00 - 14:00, 2024-05-21 12:00 - 14:00, 2024-05-14 12:00 - 14:00, 2024-05-07 12:00 - 14:00
Tuesdays, May 7, 14, 21, 28 and June 4, 2024
12-2:00 p.m. EDT
$250

We live in a time of deep division and loneliness. The Zohar, the 13th- century Kabbalistic work, offers rich and beautiful images to speak to this separation, and equally powerful ways to imagine divine presence, healing, and connection. In this series we will delve into the multifaceted, dynamic Divine through the radical imagination of the Zohar. We’ll bring what we discover into our own creativity through the Jewish Studio Process, a facilitated, intuitive use of art materials and reflective writing. We’ll pay particular attention to the experience of the Shekhinah, the feminine, immanent, indwelling Sacred Presence.

This practice is appropriate for absolute beginners and experienced artists who would like to explore this imagery. The focus isn’t on creating a polished piece of artwork, but rather on deepening your own intuition, insight and voice.

During this series, we will harvest the insights and images that have come onto the page in word and color to write new midrash and liturgy.

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

Margie Jacobs is a Reconstructionist rabbi who has served as a congregational rabbi, regional director of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, Hillel director, and teacher of mindfulness meditation. In 2020, She completed the first 2-year Jewish Studio Process facilitator training. She has brought JSP to synagogues, Hillels, retreats, conferences, special events, and groups of clergy across the country. Margie works with individuals as a Spiritual Coach and designs websites for clergy and Jewish organizations.

This Immersion is happening in partnership with the Jewish Studio Project.

Jewish Spiritual Autobiography
2024-05-23 12:00 - 13:30, 2024-05-16 12:00 - 13:30
Thursdays, May 16, 23, 30 and June 6, 2024
12-1:30 p.m. EDT
$180 for four sessions

When we write out our spiritual paths, it clarifies how ordinary moments of life can be holy moments. Writing a spiritual autobiography helps you to discover how teachers, touchstones, symbols and stories have led you to make meaning and understand the sacred in your personal story. In this immersion, join Ritualwell’s Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer, a writer and spiritual director, to map out and narrate your most meaningful life experiences. We’ll read excerpts of powerful spiritual autobiographies to inspire us and expand our understanding of the formats that this kind of writing can take. There is also ample room to write about spiritual experiences that may be outside of a Jewish framework. This immersion is for everyone—whether you identify as a religious or spiritual person or are seeking a spiritual path. No prior creative writing experience needed.

Topics we will explore include:

Understanding your name/birth story
Exploring family lineage/Ancestral resilience, trauma/connections
Mapping your spiritual journey/the sacred moments in your life
And more…

Participants will have the opportunity to share feedback with the facilitator and present to the group through the immersion.

All sessions 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 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.

The Jewish Approach to Conflict Transformation
2024-05-16 12:00 - 13:30, 2024-05-09 12:00 - 13:30, 2024-05-02 12:00 - 13:30, 2024-04-18 12:00 - 13:30, 2024-04-11 12:00 - 13:30, 2024-04-04 12:00 - 13:30
Thursdays, April 4, 11, 18 and May 2, 9, 16, 2024
12-1:30 p.m. EDT
$250 for six sessions
The lengths to which some of us will go to avoid conflict are extreme, but what if we flipped the script on conflict? What if we understood conflict as an invitation to embrace difficult aspects of ourselves and others in order to grow? Conflict transformation theory says that conflict is actually not the problem, rather it is how we respond to conflict that creates the most difficulty. The good news is that we always have a choice in how we respond.
Even better news is that Jewish tradition is a storehouse of wisdom and practical application on how to navigate the world of conflict and how we respond to it, from sources in the Torah and from how our rabbinic sages model of conflict transformation. In this Ritualwell Immersion, we will explore what conflict transformation might look like for the Jewish community in our times. Using parts of the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies Center for Conflict Resolution “Constructive Conflict” curriculum, we will navigate both ancient and modern approaches to conflict and rebuild our own conflict toolboxes applicable in contexts from the interpersonal, intercommunal, to the international realms. Together, we will imagine a Jewish community that knows how to show up in disagreement, even when it gets hard.
All sessions will be recorded and sent to participants. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.

Rabbi Ezra Weinberg is a shaliach tzibur, officiant and Jewish educator dedicated to creating connection and community. He is a native Philadelphian and holds an MA in Conflict Transformation. Reb Ezra officiates weddings and Bnai Mitzvot and teaches a University course called, “One G-d, Three Paths” alongside a priest and imam. He currently works with individuals and families within the Jewish community and founded ReVoice, a network of resources for Jewish going through divorce. He shares: “The work that I do is inspired by my own divorce as well as my experience as a child of high conflict divorce. A big part of my mission is to offer support in Jewish contexts when divorce radically changes a family’s path. However, I also want to change the conversation around divorce within the Jewish community today so that it is no longer taboo to get divorced or talk about divorce.”

This Immersion is happening in partnership with the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies.

Moses, A Stranger Among Us: A Conversation with Rabbi Maurice Harris
2024-04-17 13:00 - 14:00
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
1-2:00 p.m. EDT

In his book, Moses: A Stranger among Us, Rabbi Maurice Harris leads us to look beyond familiar and popular portrayals of Moses so that we can discover the Moses whose lesser-known attributes and experiences provide us with surprisingly fresh ethical and spiritual guidance. You may have seen Rabbi Harris sharing his perspective about Moses on Netflix’s new docudrama series, Testament: The Story of Moses.

Now, you have an opportunity to ask your questions about this complex prophet with Rabbi Harris himself! Join us for a conversation between Ritualwell’s Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer and Rabbi Harris, focused on understanding Moses through traditional religious interpretations, academic Bible scholarship, psychological and sociological analysis, feminist readings, and more. Participants will have the chance to ask questions, join the conversation and write your own creative midrash about Moses’ legacy.

We’ll draw names of everyone who joins us and raffle off two autographed copies of Moses: A Stranger among Us!

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

Ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2003, Rabbi Maurice Harris is Associate Director for Thriving Communities and Israel Affairs Specialist at Reconstructing Judaism. Previously, Maurice served as Associate Rabbi and Head of School at Temple Beth Israel in Eugene, OR. Maurice is the author of three books: Moses: A Stranger Among Us (2012), Leviticus: You Have No Idea (2013), and The Forgotten Sage: Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah and the Birth of Judaism as We Know It (2019), all from Cascade Books. He blogs at theaccidentalrabbi.substack.com.

This is My Jewish Heart
2024-04-10 12:00 - 13:30
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
12-1:30 p.m. EDT

“But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that I may multiply My signs and marvels in the land of Egypt” –Exodus 7:3

It is now known that trauma is stored in the body and that the heart, in particular holds onto grief, sadness, shame and ancestral loss. No other biblical story focuses more on the heart than the provocative story of Va’eira when Pharoah’s heart is hardened against the plight of the Jewish people as we suffer and fight for freedom from slavery. Poet, performer, and holistic health coach Corie Feiner will lead a discussion on this parsha, our relationship to our own hearts, and introduce a guided poetry writing exercise where we will write the stories of our hearts and make our way from a narrow place of anxiety and pain towards inner and outer liberation. Included in this workshop will be breathwork, movement, and supplemental text from the poet, Dorriane Laux. Seasoned writers and those new to writing are welcome to join.

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

Corie Feiner is the Poet Laureate Emeritus of Bucks County, PA and an award-winning poet, performer and educator called “wonderful” by The New York Times and “absorbing” by Backstage Magazine. She is the author of the poetry book, Radishes into Roses and the children’s book Who Was Born at Home. Dedicated to embodied Judaism, she has been commissioned to perform her inspiring
Jewish poetry and psalms for synagogues and peace organizations across the world. For the past ten years she has been a dedicated homebirthing, homeschooling, cook from scratch tiger mama, whose latest project, A Poem for Every Pose arose out of her at-home yoga practice and her belief that inner strength and inner peace are essential for creating a more peaceful world. You can learn more about Corie and and her current projects by subscribing to her Substack at: https://coriefeiner.substack.com

Behind the Mask: A Creative Exploration of the Characters in the Purim Story
2024-03-21 13:00 - 14:30, 2024-03-14 13:00 - 14:30
Thursdays, March 14 and 21, 2024
1-2:30 p.m. EDT
We each carry inside of us both the hero and the villain. One of the things that makes writing effective is the willingness of the writer to step into the voice of a character who we might not “identify” with. This is the way we build empathy, both on the page and in our lives.
There is pshat, the literal text of the Torah, and drash, the interpretation. So much of our understanding of Judaism and the Torah comes from the exploration of drash. In this workshop, we will use the persona form—a kind of drash—where the writer takes on the mask or voice of a character who is clearly not them. We will try on the voices of multiple characters in the Purim Story and beyond. Gaining inspiration from texts by Patricia Smith, Margaret Atwood, and others to inspire us to move beyond writing from the personal “I” and see what we can discover about the Purim stories and their meaning for our own lives when we put on the mask and write.
All sessions will be recorded and sent to participants. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.

Elana Bell is a poet, sound practitioner and creative guide. She facilitates artistic rituals and processes that support individuals and groups in accessing their authentic voice and alchemizing raw experience and emotion into artistic expression. Elana is the author of Mother Country (BOA Editions 2020), poems about fertility, motherhood, and mental illness. Elana’s debut collection of poetry, Eyes, Stones (LSU Press 2012), was selected by Fanny Howe as the winner of the 2011 Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets and brings her complex heritage as the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors to consider the difficult question of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In addition to leading her own embodied Creative Fire workshops, Elana teaches poetry to actors at the Juilliard School and sings with the Resistance Revival Chorus, a group of women activists and musicians committed to bringing joy and song to the resistance movement. She is also the founder of the Mother Artist Salon, a community dedicated to supporting mothers in their artistic practice. www.elanabell.com

Finding Our Place in the Stories of the Hebrew Matriarch: Sarah
2024-03-21 12:00 - 13:30, 2024-03-14 12:00 - 13:30, 2024-03-07 12:00 - 13:30, 2024-02-29 12:00 - 13:30
Thursdays, February 29 and March 7, 14, 21, 2024
12-1:30 p.m. EST
$180

“The Kabbalah teaches that all the characters of the Torah are within ourselves.”
—Miki Raver, ‘Listen to Her Voice: Women of the Hebrew Bible’

It might seem that to gain the full stories of the matriarchs of the Hebrew Bible we need to read between the lines. But there is much to discover and explore within the texts themselves where hints and information are hiding in plain sight. In this 4-week workshop author, poet, and Certified Dreamwork Professional Tzivia Gover will share what she learned about Sarah when she used poetry and imagination to move beyond seeing her merely as an adjunct to Abraham and Isaac, and instead as a powerful woman, prophet, and priestess in her own right. In this Immersion we will learn how reclaiming the stories of Sarah and the Hebrew matriarchs through poetic writing can empower us to know ourselves more fully—and access the gifts of wisdom, healing, and joy that are our universal birthright.

Tzivia will invite participants to reconsider key passages from Genesis, beginning with the first Hebrew matriarch, using interpretive tools including:

PaRDeS, the Kabbalistic method of interpretation that explores what is said explicitly, as well as hints, questions, and secret meanings;
Dreamwork methods for unlocking the information transmitted through archetypes, symbolism and story; and
Literary analysis.

We’ll also use guided visualization, writing prompts, and exercises based on those techniques, and participants will be invited to write poems and stories of their own. This workshop is appropriate for everyone, whether you consider yourself a writer or not, and no matter what your level of Jewish education or experience.

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

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.

Mussar As a Generative Practice for Art and Poetry
2024-03-06 12:00 - 13:30, 2024-02-28 12:00 - 13:30
Wednesday, February 14, 21, 28 and March 6, 2024
12-1:30 p.m. EST
$180 for four sessions
Mussar is a spiritual practice based on centuries-old teachings and texts which we still find valuable today. Its wholehearted approach to leading an ethical life is inspiring and creative. As a Mussar learner, Cathleen Cohen uses poetry and visual art to deepen an understanding of Torah, mitzvot and spirituality through encounters with others. In this 4-week Immersion, you are invited to use writing and visual artmaking to touch on Mussar themes like middot (character traits) and heshbon ha’nefesh, (“accounting of the soul”), and open a conversation between yourselves and the characteristics you aspire to master. No prior experience writing poetry, creating visual art or studying Mussar is needed!
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).

Choosing Joy: The Teachings of Rebbe Nachman
2024-02-29 13:00 - 14:30
Thursdays, January 25 and February 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 2024
1-2:30 p.m. EST
$250 for six sessions

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772 – 1810) founded a specific stream of Chasidism that was once tiny, and has somehow become an influential force throughout the Jewish world. The psychological insight, poetic beauty and spiritual power of his teachings have touched many seekers. Together, we will explore who he was, how his ideas spread, and some of his key themes, in theory and practice. These include: the transformative power of music and song; our power and responsibility to shape ourselves and our world; how our thoughts affect our reality; the struggle to be joyful; the practice of praying in our own words (Hitbodedut); and maintaining resilience and equanimity throughout the challenges of life.

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

Daniel Raphael Silverstein is a rabbi, educator, meditation teacher and MC/poet. He lives in Israel with his family, where he directs Applied Jewish Spirituality, an online portal which makes the transformative spiritual wisdom of our tradition accessible to all who seek it. Daniel is an accredited teacher of Jewish Mindfulness Meditation and regularly teaches classes and retreats. He was born and raised in London and received a BA from the University of Cambridge and an MA from Warwick University. After receiving semikha from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, he served as Director of Jewish Life and Learning for Hillel of Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA. Daniel has performed and facilitated all over the world as a spoken word artist, MC, and creative educator, and the Jewish Week selected him as one of their “36 Under 36” young innovators reshaping the Jewish community. Daniel is a cofounder of Lines of Faith, a Muslim-Jewish hip hop and poetry collective that uses performances and workshops to challenge prejudice and build meaningful bonds between communities.

Jewish Coming-of-Age Stories: Writing the Younger You
2024-02-29 12:00 - 13:30
Thursdays, February 8, 15, 22, 29, 2024
12-1:30 p.m. EST
$180 for four sessions
All of us have our coming-of-age stories: events we experienced as children, teens, and young adults. Your experiences may be humorous and pleasantly nostalgic. They may be profound or disturbing. This four-session immersion will give you a chance to tell the stories of the younger you in poetry and micro memoir.

We will begin each session by reading and discussing some representative poems and micro memoir pieces of one or several paragraphs, written by various writers, both Jewish and not. Then, using prompts and thematic suggestions, you will be invited to write the stories of the younger you–perhaps about school days, starter jobs, life-cycle events, family times and holidays, foods, spiritual awakenings, relationships, and anything else. Some of your writing might center on being Jewish, but that is not required. We will have time during each session to share and appreciate each other’s work. Writers of any level of experience are welcome.

All sessions 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, her debut collection of short stories House Parties (2023). Widely published as a poet, Levin’s five poetry collections include The Minor Virtues (2020); Miss Plastique (2013), a Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist in poetry; Fair Creatures of an Hour (2009), a Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist in poetry; Imaginarium (2005), a finalist for Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award; and A Few Questions about Paradise (2000). She is co-author, with Valerie Fox, of Poems for the Writing: Prompts for Poets (2019, 2013), a Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist in writing/publishing. She is the translator, from the Spanish, of Birds on the Kiswar Tree (2014), poems by the Peruvian Andean poet Odi Gonzales. Levin is also the producer/director of the 2017 video documentary Life on the Napo River: A Glimpse of the Ecuadoran Amazon, Its People, and Their Traditions.
She lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and teaches English and creative writing at Drexel University, where she received the Adjunct Award for Teaching Excellence. For many years, she taught creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania.

God Cafe: The Immersion
2024-02-26 12:00 - 13:30
Mondays, January 22, 29 and February 5, 12, 19, 26, 2024
12-1:30 p.m. EST
$250 for six sessions
Who is God? What do we talk about when we talk about God? For six weeks, we will discuss God/divinity as a concept, exploring what God means to each of us and learn about the variety of approaches to God in Jewish tradition. This will be an opportunity to explore a topic often not discussed and to build community around our questions and insights. Learning will include reflection on our own experiences, listening to the stories of others and diving into a variety of texts. Rabbi Sarah began this project while she was in rabbinical school through the support of the Auerbach Grants for Rabbinic Innovation. The project began with 1:1 phone conversations and evolved into an entire cohort series, in Jewish and multi-faith settings. All are welcome to join, whether this is something you rarely think about or it’s your favorite thing to explore.
All sessions will be recorded and sent to participants. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.

Rabbi Sarah Brammer-Shlay graduated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in May 2022. She serves as the Interim Dean of Religious Life/Chaplain and Rabbi at Grinnell College in Iowa. She loves the diversity of her work with students, supporting them to figure out who they are, who they want to be and how Judaism plays a role in that pursuit. While in rabbinical school, she created The God Cafe Project with the goal of creating space for people to explore moments of Divine connection and grappling. At the core of her identity as a Jewish leader and community organizer is the desire for people to get out of isolation and into connection. She has more than 15 years of community organizing experience in a variety of fields including, but not limited to, Israel/Palestine, labor, feminism, workers’ rights and health care. Sarah was a co-founder of IfNotNow and has served in various leadership roles with the Center for Jewish Nonviolence as well.
