Mitzvot through Poetry: An In-depth Immersion into Mikveh, Challah and Candle-Lighting
2024-08-29 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom
Wednesdays, November 13, 20, and 27 and December 4, 11, and 18, 2024
12-1:30 p.m. EST
$250

Among the 613 mitzvot (commandments) derived from the Hebrew Bible and observed through centuries of study and practice, three specific mitzvot have traditionally been assigned to women: lighting Shabbat candles, baking challah, and observing mikveh for family purity laws. These commandments prompt many questions regarding their relevance for us today, including:

What do these mitzvot symbolize?
Were they truly intended to be exclusively for women?
How can we interpret them in terms of contemporary gender fluidity and feminist perspectives?
In what ways can we align these commandments with present-day spirituality and humanist values?
How can we integrate these practices into modern life? Why might we choose not to?

Join Rachel Neve-Midbar to delve into these inquiries during a thought-provoking Ritualwell Immersion. Discover your connection to these powerful mitzvot through the exploration of ancient and modern poetry. Create your own poems inspired by our reading, discussions and personal reflection.

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.

Gates of Awe: Writing New High Holiday Liturgy
2024-09-03 12:00 - 13:30, 2024-09-10 12:00 - 13:30, 2024-09-17 12:00 - 13:30, 2024-09-24 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Tuesdays, September 3, 10, 17, 24, 2024
12-1:30 p.m. EDT
$180 for four sessions

During the month of Elul, unleash your creativity and get ready for the High Holidays with poet and liturgist Alden Solovy. Dive into the richness and depth of four gems from our High Holy Day Mahzor – Un’taneh Tokef (Power of the Day), Vidui (Confession), Kol Nidre (Release), and Avinu Malkeinu (Almighty and Merciful) – through reading, discussions, and writing exercises. Additionally, get a sneak peek at Alden’s upcoming book, ‘Enter These Gates: Meditations for the Days of Awe,’ and respond to these meditations with your own writing. By drawing from both ancient and modern sources, you’ll be ready to welcome the new year with your unique, original prayers.

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

Alden Solovy is a modern day piytan, a traveling poet/preacher/teacher who uses Torah and verse to engage and inspire. Alden embodies the intersection of scholarship and heart and his presence is sought after in Jewish spiritual spaces around the world. Alden’s work challenges the boundaries between poetry, song, meditation, personal growth, storytelling, and prayer, appearing in both song and verse. His teaching spans from HUC-JIR and the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem to Limmud and Leo Baeck College in the UK, as well as synagogues throughout North America. Alden’s fifth volume of Torah and t’fillah inspired poetry, Enter These Gates: Meditations for the Days of Awe, is forthcoming this summer. His other CCAR Press volumes are: These Words: Poetic Midrash on the Language of Torah (2023), This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day (2017), This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings (2019), and This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer (2021). Alden made Aliyah to Jerusalem in 2012, where he is Liturgist in Residence at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. Find more of his work at www.tobendlight.com.

Reading and Writing the Mourner's Kaddish
2024-09-09 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Monday, September 9, 2024
12-1:30 p.m. EDT

It has been noted that the Mourner’s Kaddish is not explicitly about death or loss; rather, on the surface, it appears to be a prayer of praise and exaltation. But what is the relationship between grief and praise? Who is the Mourner’s Kaddish for? What have been our own experiences of this prayer? Join us for a special Elul program where we get inside the structure of one of Judaism’s most powerful and enigmatic prayers, examining some of the context and history of this liturgy and then mapping and writing our own versions.

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

Rabbi Joshua Boettiger is Jewish Chaplain and Visiting Assistant Professor of Humanities at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. He is the current Rosh Yeshiva for the Center for Contemporary Mussar and for the last decade, directed the Mussar program at Temple Emek Shalom in Ashland, Oregon. Joshua also teaches Jewish Meditation and co-leads silent retreats. He holds an MFA in creative writing from Pacific University and his poetry has appeared in the Missouri Review, the Southern Review, B O D Y, and elsewhere.

Resilience Boost: Spiritual Accelerant for the Election Season
2024-09-11 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Wednesday, September 11, 2024

12–1:00 p.m. EDT
$18

Come together with the Ritualwell community on September 11 for a special hour dedicated to the Jewish values connected to pursuing justice.

We will begin with an opportunity to recognize and mourn those whose lives were lost on September 11, 2001. Then we will learn with Rabbi Mike Pollack, the Executive Director of March On Harrisburg, an organization dedicated to fighting for democracy. Rabbi Pollack will share Jewish texts that reinforce our commitment to pursuing justice and guide us in discussion and reflection.

We’ll close with a creative prompt to inspire you to craft an original poem or prayer reflecting on your intentions for the upcoming election season.

Registration for this event includes a special Resilience Boost package of curated resources of poetry and prayers to help keep your energy going strong through election season and (optional) weekly meditations for hope and equanimity arriving to you by text or email each Tuesday through the election. The printable PDF of resources will be sent to you electronically on 9/10.

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

Rabbi Michael Pollack grew up in Rockville, Maryland. During his last year of rabbinical school at RRC, he co-founded March On Harrisburg, a group dedicated to making corruption illegal and taking our democracy where it’s never been before by passing anti-corruption, pro-democracy bills in Pennsylvania. Michael is also a statewide tri-chair of the PA Poor People’s Campaign. He lives in Cheltenham, and his hobbies include convincing politicians to not be corrupt, long marches through the Pennsylvania countryside, and sitting down in inconvenient places in the State Capitol.

Reading and Writing Mi Shebeirach Le'Holim, the Jewish Prayer for Healing
2024-09-16 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Monday, September 16, 2024
12-1:30 p.m. EDT

In another special Elul event, we will study the origins of Judaism’s central healing prayer; reading between the lines in an effort to discover its theological underpinnings, and how/when/why it has been utilized historically. What does the Mi Shebeirach teach us about how Judaism understands healing? Are there risks in saying it or not saying it? We will also and craft and share our own original versions of this healing prayer.

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

Rabbi Joshua Boettiger is Jewish Chaplain and Visiting Assistant Professor of Humanities at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. He is the current Rosh Yeshiva for the Center for Contemporary Mussar and for the last decade, directed the Mussar program at Temple Emek Shalom in Ashland, Oregon. Joshua also teaches Jewish Meditation and co-leads silent retreats. He holds an MFA in creative writing from Pacific University and his poetry has appeared in the Missouri Review, the Southern Review, B O D Y, and elsewhere.

Writing Letters: Dispatches to the Divine
2024-09-18 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
12-1:30 p.m. EDT
$36

Throughout history, letters in the form of prayers have been a longstanding tradition: the act of direct prayer to God traces back to Abraham, who pleaded for the righteous in Sodom. Join memoirist Ellen Blum Barish, just weeks before Rosh Hashanah, to discover how letter writing can enhance your spiritual life and strengthen your bond with the Divine. This practice is a timely opportunity to prepare for a meaningful transition into the High Holy Days.

As the Days of Awe draw near, we are all reflecting on the past year – grateful for what we have and hopeful for what we aim to mend. Composing a letter, whether to yourself, a loved one, or to the Divine, is a way to articulate your thoughts. Similar to prayers, letters can express gratitude, admiration, and devotion, as well as make requests, seek guidance, confess, and find comfort, forgiveness, or divine support.

Now it your time to write the letter that’s in your heart.

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

Ellen Blum Barish is the author of the spiritual memoir Seven Springs (Shanti Arts, 2021), the essay collection Views from the Home Office Window (Adams Street Publishing, 2007), and a contributor to Chicago Storytellers From Stage to Page (Chicago Story Press, 2020). You can find her personal essays in Tablet, Lilith, Brevity’s Blog, Full Grown People, Literary Mama, and The Chicago Tribune and hear them on Chicago Public Radio. She founded the literary publication Thread, which earned four notables in Best American Essays. Ellen has taught writing at Northwestern University, Chicago-area synagogues, and writer’s studios, including Story Studio Chicago and Lighthouse Lit Fest. She works privately with writers on essay collections and memoir.

The Poetry of Your Ancestors
2024-09-25 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
12- 1:30 p.m. EDT

Join us as we investigate, conjure, and generate new poetry from our ancestral wisdom, and delve into our prophetic ancestors in our Jewish sacred texts. Led by Anna Goodman Herrick, author of A Speaker is a Wilderness: Poems on the Sacred Path from Broken Whole , this Rituawell Event aligns with the month of Elul, a time of introspection and reflection in the Jewish calendar. At this moment in Jewish time, we re-examine our spiritual goals in order to get ourselves ready for the Days of Awe. Learn innovative and nourishing approaches to engaging with sacred texts and connect with your own sacred wisdom, transforming it into poetry. For new and seasoned writers alike. No prior writing experience necessary.

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

Anna Goodman Herrick is the author of A Speaker is a Wilderness: Poems on the Sacred Path from Broken Whole (Monkfish, 2024). She works at the intersection of spirituality, sacred words, and human rights, towards collective liberation. Anna has performed her poetry at the Emily Dickinson Museum and One Billion Rising’s Artist Uprising at the El Paso Border, and shared her work at the Library of Congress, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Bloomsday on Broadway. She has recent and upcoming poetry in Spirituality + Health Magazine, Rattle, and the Los Angeles Press. Anna has created work for television and branded content for platforms like Teen Vogue, Sony, ABC Family, Oprah Winfrey Network, MTV, and the Sundance Channel, and created installations based on her poetry for museums and galleries worldwide.

A Day of Memory: Holding Each Other on October 7th, 2024
2024-10-07 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Monday, October 7th
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 7th, we’ll gather for an hour of grieving, praying and sharing.

Our guest facilitators are two beloved Ritualwell facilitators who live in Israel: Rabbi Haviva Ner-David and Rabbi Daniel Raphael Silverstein. They will each share about their experiences and perspectives from the last year and lead us in opportunities for creative expression.

Holding Each Other
2024-10-21 12:00 - 12:15 | 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.

On October 21st, a few days before the holiday of Shemini Atzeret, our special guest leader will be Rabbi Deborah Waxman. Rabbi Waxman will lead us in grieving, praying and sharing as we mark the anniversary of the Hebrew date of the tragic Hamas attacks.

Gather your strength and provide support to others.

The Jewish Spirit of Hope
2024-10-23 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
October 23, 2024,
12-1:30 p.m.
$18

Rabbi Schneur Zalman wrote “A little bit of light dispels a lot of darkness.” Join the Ritualwell community to read and discuss examples of hope expressed in writing through song, story, humor and metaphor that will stir you to think about where hope lives within you. Memoirist Ellen Blum Barish will lead us in writing prompts designed to help you conjure these concepts of hope, as they relate to yourself, your loved ones, your community, the environment or world at large. Begin this new year by discovering and sharing your individual spirits of hope in community.

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

Ellen Blum Barish is the author of the spiritual memoir Seven Springs (Shanti Arts, 2021), the essay collection Views from the Home Office Window (Adams Street Publishing, 2007), and a contributor to Chicago Storytellers From Stage to Page (Chicago Story Press, 2020). You can find her personal essays in Tablet, Lilith, Brevity’s Blog, Full Grown People, Literary Mama, and The Chicago Tribune and hear them on Chicago Public Radio. She founded the literary publication Thread, which earned four notables in Best American Essays. Ellen has taught writing at Northwestern University, Chicago-area synagogues, and writer’s studios, including Story Studio Chicago and Lighthouse Lit Fest. She works privately with writers on essay collections and memoir.

Spiritual Preparation for Election Day
2024-10-29 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
October 29, 2024
12-1:30 p.m.
$18

With a week until Election Day in the US, it’s natural to feel anxiety and uncertainty.
Join Rabbi Malkah Binah Klein and the Ritualwell community for a special event to draw on spiritual and embodied practices for cultivating courage, resilience, and compassion to help find equanimity for the week ahead. Craft a personal ritual or prayer, drawing from the deep well of Jewish and world wisdom traditions, to carry you through the week ahead. Gather strength through creative expression–and the power of being with others.

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

Rabbi Malkah Binah Klein is a ritual artist, community leader, and teacher of Torah and embodied spiritual practice based in Philadelphia. She is the founder of Merkava, a new organization that supports spiritual transformation and healing through creative ritual. Among her creative endeavors are composing Hebrew chants, nature photography, and channeling the voice of Queen Esther. Malkah Binah is devoted to weaving relationships of nurture, resilience, and authenticity.

Compassionate Ink: Promoting Caregivers' Well-being through Writing
2024-11-07 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Thursday, November 7, 2024
12-1:30 p.m. EST

Ritualwell is proud to partner again with Sharsheret during Caregivers’ Awareness Month for poetry, prose, and writing surrounding the caregiving experience. Focused on healing and support from the stress of this difficult role, we will find refuge in expressing our emotions through writing. During our time together there will be an opportunity for everyone to begin writing something personally meaningful and healing through our writing prompts. This session will focus on writing and ritual as a means of healing, which has been studied as an effective way to heal from both physical and emotional trauma. There will be time for sharing your own new writing from the session, something that you have already written before, or come to listen to others.

No previous writing experience necessary–our focus is on the power of expressing personal stories. This session is open to all, no matter who you are supporting, or why they may need support. Please feel free to invite friends, loved ones, and anyone you think will need this kind of support.

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

Melissa K. Rosen, two-time cancer survivor, current caregiver, and a member of the ADVOT writing community. She is the Director of Training and Education at Sharsheret: The Jewish Breast and Ovarian Cancer Community.

Braided Together: 'Take Challah' Ritual in Community
2024-11-14 14:00 - 15:00, 2024-12-12 14:00 - 15:00 | Zoom
Wednesdays, November 14 and December 12, 2024
2:00-3:00 p.m. EST

When was the last time you came together with friends or family to prepare a meal? Perhaps to bake bread? Picture everyone gathered around a table, crafting beautifully braided dough with delightful aromas, sharing stories filled with laughter and even a few tears. The warmth of connection and belonging, not just from the oven, has been lacking in our lives as we’ve drifted away from our Jewish communities and intimate family circles due to various life circumstances. However, it doesn’t have to remain this way, especially with technology supporting us.

Join Adva Chattler for a monthly gathering to explore the ritual of “Taking Challah”: the tradition of blessing the dough of our challah before baking it. Aside from the ritual, we will learn a new braiding and decorating technique each month. Our time together will be sprinkled with song, chant, storytelling and more, as we braid our challahs together. Recipe, step-by-step guide and more resources will be shared in advance.

Adva Chattler is an Israeli-Mizrahi Jew, born and raised in Be’er-Sheva, Israel. She loves to create meaningful experiences through her cooking and baking that prompt sharing stories, teachings and rituals about Judaism, Israel and Mizrahi Jewish cultures and heritage. Her rituals, prayers and poems were published on Ritualwell. Adva is passionate about bringing people together in ways that spark relationship building and connecting to others on a deeper level, both in the challenging and ever-changing world of online gatherings, and in person. She holds a MA in conflict Resolution and Management from Ben Gurion University of the Negev and BA in Public Administration and Management from Sapir College in Sderot, Israel, and a Makhloket Matters Fellow for Jewish Professionals by the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies. With her experience in teaching and curriculum building, she support facilitators and presenters for Ritualwell and Reconstructing Judaism and encourage them to bring not only their best self, but best practices and tools for successful teaching online. Adva is also a mother and a foodie who lives in Del Rio, Tx., with her husband, three daughters and two dogs.

Bring the Jewish Practice of Gratitude to Your Thanksgiving
2024-11-25 13:00 - 14:30 | Zoom
Monday, November 25, 2024
1-2:30 p.m. EST
$18

Gratitude is an integral aspect of Jewish tradition. From starting the day with the Modah Ani prayer to offering prayers throughout the day that express appreciation for both the natural and human worlds, Jewish practices provide us with valuable frameworks to foster awareness and joy through gratitude.

With Thanksgiving approaching, this is the perfect opportunity to delve into gratitude as expressed in Jewish tradition and to create our own forms of thanks through poetry, prayer, or ritual. Join Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer, Ritualwell’s Director of Virtual Content and Programs, for a special pre-Thanksgiving event designed to inspire you before the holiday, inviting you to explore your personal feelings of gratitude. Uncover rituals that will bring a sense of sacred awareness to your Thanksgiving table and into your everyday life!

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.

Capturing Your (Grand)Child's Stories
2024-12-04 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
December 4, 2024
1:00-2:00 p.m. EST

So often, we experience meaningful moments with our children or grandchildren that we’d like to capture–or have special stories from our own childhood that we hope to share with the next generation. Dr. Barry Mann has crafted a delightful children’s book, Miri and her Drum Set, inspired by a real-life adventure with his young grandchild. Miri and her Drum Set explores both the miracle of Hanukkah and also ways to unite people across religions and cultures.

Join us for an engaging conversation about Dr. Mann’s journey of transforming a personal story into a published book. Whether your goal is to publish or simply to create a family keepsake story, discover an effective process to outline and breathe life into your narratives. This event is perfectly timed for those looking to create and share a story that could make a memorable Hanukkah gift for the family.

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

Barry Mann is a retired surgeon and currently System Medical Director for Health Equity in the Main Line Health System of suburban Philadelphia where he served as Chief Academic Officer and director of the surgical residency training program. Dr. Mann has received numerous prestigious awards for his work in medical education including the Distinguished Teacher of Medicine Award from the American Association for Medical Colleges and the Distinguished Educator Award from the Association for Surgical Education. While professor of surgery at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, he co-authored five medical textbooks including SURGERY—A Competency Based Companion. His interest in Hebrew and Arabic led him to write Dreams of Peace, A Dual Language Primer for Learning Hebrew and Arabic in 2015. Miri and her Drum Set is his first children’s book and is based on a true story of kindness he experienced with his grandson Ezra at the Lime Ridge Mall in Ontario, Canada.

A Secret Chord: Exploring Leonard Cohen’s Sacred/Secular Songs
2024-12-10 12:00 - 13:30, 2024-12-17 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
December 10 and 17, 2024
12-1:30 p.m. EST
$54

The iconic songs of Leonard Cohen have influenced the cultural landscape, from films to well-known cover renditions to contemporary liturgy. Throughout his life, Cohen wrestled with Jewish tradition and many of his lyrics and poems are woven with references to the Bible, psalms, Lurianic kabbalah, and traditional Jewish prayers.

Join writer Amy Gottlieb for an interactive discussion to unpack several songs, examining how Cohen engages with Jewish texts and theology. Our discussion will conclude with a generative writing workshop using prompts from poems and song lyrics.

Both sessions will be recorded and sent to participants. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.
Amy Gottlieb’s debut novel, The Beautiful Possible, was a finalist for the Ribalow Prize, Wallant Award, and National Jewish Book Award. Her fiction and poetry have been published in On Being, Lilith, Ilanot Review, Paper Brigade, and Bloomsbury Anthology of Contemporary Jewish American Poetry, among others. She has taught at the San Miguel Writers Conference, Canberra Writers Festival, Sydney Jewish Writers Festival, AWP, New York Public Library, and elsewhere. She lives in New York City, where she teaches fiction workshops and works with individual writers on book projects.

Write Your Light Hanukkah Journal
2024-12-18 - 2025-01-02
Write Your Light is a unique new Hanukkah journal that features readings from Ritualwell writers, designed to serve as kavannot (intentions) for each day of your Hanukkah festivities. Each reading is accompanied by a creative writing prompt, allowing you to express the light of your creativity throughout the holiday. This printable PDF will be sent to you electronically.

When you purchase the journal, you will also receive a recording of a special Hanukkah event featuring Jewish mindfulness teacher, Rabbi Daniel Raphael Silverstein. Delve into how our ancient sages and mystics have understood Hanukkah as a time to enhance our ability to perceive the Or Haganuz, or Hidden Light. This light, believed to have been present at the creation of the Universe, symbolizes the unity of all existence. It represents hope, connection, and redemption, making Hanukkah a perfect time to practice recognizing and appreciating this light, which, though concealed, is present in everything surrounding us.

Nia into the NEW Year
2025-01-02 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
January 2, 2025
1:00-2:00 p.m. EST

Start 2025 in active movement and flow of you body and creativity through the practice of Nia!

Join the Ritualwell community and Nia instructor Janice Steinberg (who is also one of our Advot members) to engage your body, spirit and creativity through Nia movement followed by prompts for reflection and writing. No experience needed.

Nia is based on the philosophy that everyone can enhance their potential for a healthy, meaningful life by engaging their senses and listening compassionately to their bodies. While it is adaptable to individual needs and abilities, its core principle is finding your body’s joy of movement, whether that’s swaying gently in a chair or dancing. Nia is low-impact and designed to be done barefoot. But it’s fine to wear tennis or jazz-dance shoes if that’s best for you. What you’ll need is a clear space so you have room to move, or, if you choose to stay seated that will work, too.

Have writing materials at hand. You may want art materials, as well.

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

Janice Steinberg (she/her) holds a Black Belt in the Nia dance-fitness practice and has been teaching for 15 years, including events for Ritualwell. She is the author of the novel The Tin Horse (Random House) and a five-book mystery series published by Berkley.

Facing Our Death to Live More Fully: A Jewish Approach
2025-01-07 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Tuesday January 7, 14, 21 and 28, 2025
12-1:30 p.m. EST
$180

Death is the one commonality that every human being shares, yet too often, we hesitate to explore our emotions and energy related to our mortality and what it means to have finite time on earth. In this immersion, Rabbi Haviva Ner-David will provide resources and space to explore your feelings, concerns, and hopes about death and what does or doesn’t happen after. There is no set agenda: this experience offers you a path to living a fuller, more conscious life by getting more comfortable in exploring death through learning, discussion, creative writing and guided visualization.

This series 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.

A Dream of Many Colors: Blending Ancient Wisdom with Modern Writing Practices
2025-01-09 13:00 - 14:30, 2025-01-16 13:00 - 14:30, 2025-01-23 13:00 - 14:30, 2025-01-30 13:00 - 14:30 | Zoom
Thursdays, January 9, 16, 23 and 30, 2025
1-2:30 p.m. EST
$180 for four sessions

Rabbi Hisda famously declared that a dream that’s not interpreted is like an unopened letter from God, and Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote that “There are truths which one can see only when it’s dark.” Join writer and dream worker Tzivia Gover for this unique dream-writing Immersion using guided meditations, writing prompts, and dream incubation to tap into the midnight mind. Uncover writing techniques that unveil unexpected wisdom, significance, and fresh outlooks.

The sessions will include information and inspiration about Jewish approaches to dreams and writing, as well as time to write and share with one another. This workshop is open to everyone, whether you remember your dreams or not, and whether you are a casual writer or a published author (and everyone in between).

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.

Exploring the Truth of This Moment
2025-02-06 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Thursdays February 6 & 13, 2025
12:00-1:30pm EST
$54

During times of global uncertainty and change, we can turn to Jewish texts to help us move through our fear and isolation towards deeper, sustaining truths. The challenges of our time may feel uniquely modern, but throughout history many of our ancestors have grappled with similar spiritual issues: How do I act from a place of hope? How do I envision beyond loss? How do I have faith in the world around me?

Join Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner, a climate change chaplain and innovative spiritual leader, to delve into the questions that are keeping you up at night. Rabbi Nitkin-Kaner will guide us in using Talmudic and aggadic midrash in translation and creative practices to help us find courage, resilience and a sense of ease in a changing world.

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

Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner is a meditation teacher, climate change chaplain, and educator who leads with warmth, curiosity, gentle humor, and compassion. Over the past 15 years, she has worked in prisons, hospitals, and congregations to steady folks through hard times.
Exploring Apocalypse is an extension of her rabbinic and pastoral care work (Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, 2016), and is shaped by additional professional trainings in Climate Psychology (California Institute of Integral Studies, 2022), Clinical Pastoral Education (East Jefferson General Hospital, 2017 and Bellevue Hospital, 2013), and certified yoga and meditation teacher training (Yoga Sanctuary Academy, 2011), as well as graduate work in intergenerational trauma narratives (University of Toronto, 2008).

Creating Your Own Meaningful Tu B’Shvat Rituals
2025-02-12 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
February 12, 2025,
12-1:30 p.m. EST

Rituals serve not only as a source of comfort but also as a means to honor our history and cultivate our own legacies. Inspired by the birth of her son on the birthday of the trees, Wendy A. Horwitz, author of Milkweed and Honey Cake: A Memoir in Ritual Moments, was inspired to imagine Tu B’shvat as a time to deepen her personal ties to the earth, trees, and Jewish wisdom through creative rituals. In this Ritualwell event, Wendy will guide us in exploring narratives and engaging in discussion aimed at helping us revitalize our personal Tu B’Shvat rituals. Reflect on your connections to this Jewish celebration of nature and discover new ideas to create your own meaningful Tu B’Shvat rituals.

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

Wendy A. Horwitz is the author of Milkweed and Honey Cake: A Memoir in Ritual Moments. Her essays have been published in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Afterimage, Neurology (Humanities Section), Jewish Literary Journal, Intrepid Times, and McClatchy-Tribune News Service, among others. Originally trained as a pediatric psychologist, she lives in Philadelphia, where she teaches writing and health humanities.
