Ritualwell

Holding Each Other
2025-09-22 12:00 - 12:15, 2025-09-29 12:00 - 12:15, 2025-10-13 12:00 - 12:15, 2025-10-20 12:00 - 12:15, 2025-10-27 12:00 - 12:15, 2025-11-03 12:00 - 12:15, 2025-11-10 12:00 - 12:15, 2025-11-17 12:00 - 12:15 (America/New_York) and 3 more dates | 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.

More than Wishing: Creating a Happy New Year
2025-09-30 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Tuesday, September 30, 2025
12:00-1:00 p.m. EDT
$18

Traditionally, we wish one another a “Happy New Year.” It is a warm and important custom to continue. And this year, in a changing world that can feel overwhelming, we can add another layer: the reminder that we are also invited to create a new year. Judaism offers us a framework for making this possible–through teshuvah (renewal of spirit and return to the holiest part of ourselves), tefillah (prayer and avodah, the work of the heart and doing the right thing), and tzedakah (acts of justice and generosity). These timeless practices remind us that while we cannot fix everything, we can take meaningful steps to make the world better—within us and around us. In nurturing ourselves and acting with intention, we become co-creators of a more whole and hopeful world.

This new booklet from Ritualwell is a companion for the sacred journey between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It offers poems, prayers, and prompts to help you co-create a year of meaning and hope.

Whether used for personal introspection or shared in community, these offerings will guide you in crafting a year that is not only happy, but deeply meaningful.

With your purchase of the booklet, you are warmly invited to join us for a special event on September 30 with mindfulness teacher Rabbi Jacob Staub: Meditation & Reflection for the Days of Awe.

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

Rabbi Jacob Staub is the director of Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations. He is Professor Emeritus of Jewish Philosophy and Spirituality at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, where he continues to direct the Program in Jewish Spiritual Direction. He served as editor of The Reconstructionist 1983-89. He co-authored with Rebecca Alpert, Exploring Judaism: A Reconstructionist Approach.

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.

A Day of Memory: A Holding Each Other Memorial for October 7
2025-10-06 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
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.

The Torah in the Tarot
2025-10-21 12:30 - 13:30 | Zoom
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
12-1:30 p.m. EDT
$18

Step into a world where ancient Jewish wisdom hides in plain sight—painted into the mysterious images of Renaissance-era Tarot cards.

Author Stav Appel invites you on a fascinating journey into his startling discovery: that the original Tarot de Marseille may have served as a covert tool for Jewish education during centuries when the Roman Catholic Church sought to erase Judaism from public life.

Through a Judaic lens, even the 1650 Jean Noblet Tarot—one of the oldest surviving decks—reveals Hebrew letters, Torah stories, ritual objects, and Jewish holy days woven into its imagery. These hidden connections challenge everything scholars and enthusiasts think they know about the history of Tarot. Join us as Stav shares insights from his forthcoming Ayin Press deck and booklet, The Torah in the Tarot, and decide for yourself: can the rituals and lore of Judaism truly be found within the cards?

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

Stav Appel is a data scientist and a lifelong student of Torah. Earlier in his career he was the director of the Israeli-Palestinian coexistence organization Nitzanei Shalom, and the director of International Service Programs for American Jewish World Service. He holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and has studied Biblical Hebrew at Hebrew University and Yale Divinity School.
After a chance encounter with an old deck of Tarot cards, Stav began to explore the origins and meaning of the biblical references he recognized in its images. He is now a frequent speaker and popular writer on the Torah in the Tarot, the lost and forgotten Judaic origins of the mysterious Tarot de Marseille. He currently resides in New Salem, NY. Find Stav on Instagram @torah.tarot.

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.

Discovering Jewish Joy: A Ritualwell Community Gathering
2025-10-29 20:00 - 21:30 | Zoom
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
8-9:30 p.m. EDT

Join the Ritualwell community for a special event celebrating Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture & Heritage, a new anthology filled with 32 moving essays that lift up the theme of Jewish joy.

This gathering is an invitation to connect—to Jewish culture, to your own wellsprings of joy, and to a supportive creative community. You’ll hear powerful excerpts from selected contributors connected to the Ritualwell community including Diane Gottlieb, Tzivia Gover, Lisa Grunberger, Talya Jankovits and Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer, followed by a meaningful conversation about how joy can be a spiritual and cultural practice—especially in challenging times.

Then, you’ll be guided through a generative writing prompt designed to help you reflect on your personal experiences of joy, and how they relate to your Jewish identity and story.

Come to be inspired. Come to write. Come to feel joy.

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

Diane Gottlieb is the editor of the anthologies Awakenings: Stories of Body and Consciousness and the upcoming Manna Songs. Her work appears in notable publications, and she has received various awards, including Tiferet Journal’s nonfiction contest.

Tzivia Gover, author of Dreaming on the Page, is a dreamwork professional and founder of 350 Dreamers, focusing on global healing.

Lisa Grunberger, a Pushcart nominee and Temple University professor, has published award-winning poetry reflecting on her experiences as a daughter of Holocaust survivors and is adapting her book Yiddish Yoga into a musical.

Talya Jankovits, an award-winning writer, released the poetry collection girl woman wife mother, recognized in the 2024 Bookfest Awards.

Gabrielle Ariella Kaplan-Mayer, Ritualwell’s Director, focuses on spirituality and disability in her writing and is working on a memoir about intuition and ancestral conversations.

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.

Before All the World: A Creative Conversation with Moriel Rothman-Zecher
2025-11-11 20:00 | Zoom
Tuesday, November 11, 2025
8:00-9:00 p.m. EST

In recognition of Jewish Book Month, join us for an intimate, interactive online gathering with award-winning author Moriel Rothman-Zecher to explore his bold, genre-bending novel Before All the World. Together, we’ll dive into the book’s inventive use of language, its weaving of Jewish memory, resilience, and love, and the ways stories can hold both the ache of history and the possibility of transformation. This is more than a reading—it’s a conversation about writing, identity, and the sacred work of storytelling. Bring your curiosity, your questions, and your writer’s heart.

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

Moriel Rothman-Zecher is the author of the novels Before All the World, which was named an NPR Best Book, and Sadness Is a White Bird, for which he received the National Book Foundation’s ‘5 Under 35’ Honor, and which was a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the winner of the Ohio Book Award, a finalist for a National Jewish Book Award, and longlisted for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize. His work has been published in The American Poetry Review, Barrelhouse, Colorado Review, The Common, Jewish Currents, Lit Hub, Nashville Review, The New York Times, Poetry Daily, The Paris Review’s Daily, ZYZZYVA, and elsewhere. Moriel is the recipient of two MacDowell Fellowships, and teaches creative writing at Swarthmore College, where he is a Visiting Assistant Professor of English Literature and Creative Writing, and is also a member of the faculty of the Bennington Writing Seminars’ MFA Program.

Before I Go: Writing the Ethical Will
2025-11-13 13:00 - 14:30 | Zoom
Thursday, November 13, 2025
1-2:30 p.m. EST
$18

Living wills address the physical body. Financial wills protect property. But an ethical will is a gift of the heart and spirit—a way to pass along the stories, values, and wisdom that have shaped your life.
In this workshop with memoirist Ellen Blum Barish, you’ll be invited to slow down, reflect, and give voice to the memories and teachings that matter most to you. Together, we’ll explore how writing can help you express what sustains your hope, the values that guide you, and the ways you’ve experienced the presence of God or the sacred. Through thoughtful prompts, journaling time, and opportunities for gentle sharing, you’ll begin shaping words that carry your love, faith, and spirit forward.
You’ll leave not only with the beginnings of an ethical will, but also with a renewed sense of connection to your own life story—and with tools to continue this meaningful work at home. This is not about being a “writer,” but about finding your voice and discovering how your words can become a legacy for the people you love and for generations yet to come. No prior writing experience is needed—just your willingness to show up with an open heart.
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.

Balancing Gratitude and Grief: A Pre-Thanksgiving Writing Ritual
2025-11-25 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
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.

Rekindling Light and Joy Through Writing & Art
2025-12-04 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.
