Ritualwell

Exploring the Truth of This Moment
2025-02-13 12:00 - 13:30 (America/New_York) | 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).

Writing with Rebbe Nachman: Creating our own Spiritual Stories
2025-02-17 13:00 - 14:30, 2025-02-24 13:00 - 14:30, 2025-03-03 13:00 - 14:30, 2025-03-10 13:00 - 14:30, 2025-03-17 13:00 - 14:30, 2025-03-24 13:00 - 14:30
Mondays, February 17, 24 & March 3, 10, 17 and 24, 2025
1:00-2:30 p.m. EST
$250

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772 – 1810) is an enigmatic figure whose life and teaching still exert enormous influence across the Jewish world. The stories of Rebbe Nachman draw upon deep, archetypal themes in our consciousness. These stories often read like fantastical children’s tales, or Kafka-esque puzzles, posing us questions intended to provoke awakening. They are based upon Rebbe Nachman’s profound grasp of Torah and Kabbalah, and have also been read in the light of broader creative and intellectual movements such as Romanticism and Existentialism. Rebbe Nachman himself said that the stories were his deepest, most powerful teachings.

Join Rabbi Daniel Raphael Silverstein to learn about and discuss some of Rebbe Nachman’s key stories, discovering the meaning that they hold for us today. Then, building on this inspiration, we will take time to create our own stories, or at least begin them. There will also be time for optional sharing and feedback, so we can benefit from one another’s wisdom and perspective on what we have created.

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.

Voices of Disability
2025-02-28
Voices of Disability is a special new collection of curated poetry, prayers and teachings about disability from Ritualwell contributors. This printable PDF will be sent to you electronically and can be accessed online.

When you purchase this new collection, you will also receive a recording of our ‘Writing Disability Torah’ event.

In the event, we explore the wisdom found in Disability Torah and how we can connect our personal experiences to these texts. In the recording, you’ll be guided in a text study followed by a creative writing exercise to help you begin crafting your own piece of Disability Torah.

This conversation was led by Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer from Ritualwell and Rabbi Ash Sofman from Thriving Communities at Reconstructing Judaism with RRC rabbinical students Mat Wilson and Rakhel Silverman-Gitin. Mat and Rakhel have both received Auerbach Ignition grants to support their initiatives in this area.

Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer is Ritualwell’s Director of Virtual Content and Programs. She writes frequently about disability, spirituality and creativity and edits the Jewish Disability Inclusion News. Previously she directed Whole Community Inclusion, working to make the Philadelphia Jewish community more accessible. Her book The Little Gate-Crasher was selected as a Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance & Inclusion Month book selection.

Rakhel Silverman-Gitin is a student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College whose Auerbach Ignition grantt aims to educate and engage the community of Or Haneshamah, Ottawa’s Reconstructionist Congregation, on disability justice, and place it in conversation with the tradition of Shabbat. Instead of being focused on how to address the “issue” of disability within Judaism (i.e. what Jewish text thinks of disability), this project is focused on what Jews can learn from the wisdom of the disability community regarding rest and joy, and how to apply these teachings to deepen personal and communal Shabbat practices.

Rabbi Asher Sofman is Reconstructing Judaism’s Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Program Coordinator who has curated Disability and Accessibility resources for the movement. Ash studied creative writing and world literature at Brown University, earning a B.A. with honors in Literary Arts and is a 2023 graduate of RRC. He has served as an associate chaplain at continuing-care retirement communities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Mat Wilson (they/them) enjoys board and video games, road trips big and small, and any opportunity to be in the water. They discovered a love for Torah study through the art of source sheet creation and are currently expanding their written reflections through the Disability Torah Project. Outside of their free time, Mat is a student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and is pursuing a Master’s in Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania.

Honoring Loved Ones in Writing & Art
2025-03-04 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-03-11 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-03-18 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-03-25 12:00 - 13:30
Tuesdays, March 4, 11, 18 & 25, 2025
12:00-1:30 p.m.
$180

Now more than ever, we need the guidance of our ancestors, and creative expression provides a wonderful path for connection.

In Jewish tradition, there are many ways to honor both the living and those who have departed. Delve into, celebrate, and awaken the spirits of the teachers, mentors, friends, and loved ones who have impacted your life through the written and visual arts.

Join poet and painter Cathleen Cohen along with Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer from Ritualwell, an essayist and memoirist for a series of creative exercises and prompts designed to help you express your love and gratitude for those who have profoundly shaped your journey and to summon their wisdom into your own life.

Whether you are new to creative expression or a seasoned writer or artist, this workshop offers an opportunity to discover fresh creative techniques and pathways to enhance the strongest bonds in your life.

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.

Humanizing Mitzvot Through Poetry
2025-03-06 12:00 - 14:00, 2025-03-13 12:00 - 14:00, 2025-03-20 12:00 - 14:00, 2025-03-27 12:00 - 14:00
Thursdays March 6, 13, 20 & 27, 12-1:30 PM ET
12-2 p.m. EST
$180

Join poet Rachel Neve-Midbar to explore three mitzvot–candlelighting, challah and mikveh–through the poetry of the body and everyday life.
In this this generative poetry workshop, we’ll deepen our understanding and emotional connections to traditional forms, freshened through a contemporary lens. We will address questions surrounding these mitzvot (traditionally considered “women’s” mitzvot), such as: Were they genuinely meant to be exclusive to women? How can we interpret them in the context of contemporary gender fluidity and feminist viewpoints?
Discover poetry to expand your understanding of these mitzvot and and craft your own poems inspired by newfound insights and interpretations of these rituals. All are welcome, no previous experience with these mitzvot or poetry writing 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.

Poet, essayist, translator and Fulbright Scholar, Rachel Neve-Midbar’s 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 chapbook, What the Light Reveals (Tebot Bach, 2014, winner of The Clockwork Prize). Rachel’s work has appeared widely in various publications and anthologies. Her awards include the Crab Orchard Review Richard Peterson Prize, The Passager Prize, and nominations for The Pushcart Prize. Rachel is a newly-minted PhD from The University of Southern California, where her research concerned menstruation in contemporary poetry. She is currently a Fulbright Post Doc in Israel translating the poems of Holocaust poet Abba Kovner. Rachel is also the co-editor of Stained: an anthology of creative writing about menstruation (Querencia Press, July 2023) and her scholarly work Thought and New Language in the Menstrual Poem is due out from Palgrave MacMillan in 2026.

Bringing Your Purim Story To Life
2025-03-12 12:00 - 13:30
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
12-1:30 p.m. EDT
$18

Purim is a tale of resilience, standing up and speaking out. Now more than ever, we need YOUR story!

Join Cantor and performing artist Karen Webber for a creative journey drawing inspiration from fairy tales, folk tales and the Purim story to craft your own narrative about finding courage, speaking your truth and fighting for justice. Whether you share your story for the holiday or another occasion, Purim is the perfect opportunity to embrace your role as a storyteller.

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

Karen Webber is a performance, teaching and liturgical artist who crafts music/theatre pieces for use in Zoom rooms, senior centers and on the bimah. Ordained as a cantor by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1990. Karen has served congregations large and small in all four corners of the U.S. and Canada. The Maryland State Arts Council awarded her a Creativity grant based on an original short film in 2022, and a Master/Apprentice grant in Yiddish folksong in 2023. In 2024, Karen was invited by the Maryland State Arts Council to join the Folk Arts panel to award grants, to be a regional judge for ‘Poetry Out Loud’ Her poems appear online and in print at Ritualwell, Poetica, Unlikely Places, Abandon Journal and The Torrid Literature Journal. Her Havdalah ritual was published in Lilith Magazine (2009) poems in Am Yisrael Chai (2023) and essays in Prophetic Voices: a Haftarah commentary published by CCAR Press (2023)

To Laugh: Using Humor to Survive Jewish History
2025-03-25 12:00 - 13:00
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
12:00-1:00 p.m. EDT

Join Emmy-winning TV comedy writer and bestselling author (Marvel’s Look Out for the Little Guy) Rob Kutner as he shares his new book, The Jews: 5,000 Years and Counting —a comedic survey of all of Jewish history, plus jokes! Kutner will read from his book and then lead participants in writing exercises designed to harness humor to disarm a menacing world.

This session 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 co-created the fact-based comedy TV show “Gander.” Rob’s other TV writing includes “Teen Titans Go!” “Ben10” “Angry Birds: Summer Madness” and HBO’s “Dennis Miller Live.” He has also written material for the Oscars, Emmys, Writers’ Guild Awards, MTV Movie Awards, Guys’ Choice Awards, and two White House Correspondents’ Dinners. He has developed kids’ and adult animated series for Warner Brothers and SyFy.

Rob is the author of the satirical end-of-times bestseller Apocalypse How: Turn the End Times into the Best of Times! and the Amazon Kindle e-bestseller/Audible audiobook The Future According to Me. He is also the creator of the graphic novel “Shrinkage” for Farrago Comics. He has published humor and feature pieces for the New Yorker, New York Times, Esquire, Huffington Post, McSweeney’s, and the Weekly Forward. Learn more about Rob here.

Why is This Year's Seder Different?
2025-04-11
Ritualwell has created a new collection of curated Passover resources: Why is this Seder Different? Questions, Readings & Conversation Starters for a Challenging Year. This printable PDF will be delivered electronically and is accessible online.

When you purchase the supplement, you will also have access to our event recording:

Engage with Rabbi Mira Wasserman in a conversation with Ritualwell’s Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer, focusing on text study, an interactive discussion, and reflective writing about how the Passover seder can offer a sense of order amidst chaos.

Rabbi Mira Beth Wasserman, Ph.D. is RRC’s interim vice president for academic affairs.work as a rabbi and scholar bridges Talmud study, community building and the pursuit of social justice. In the classroom, she explores the history and cultures of diverse ancient Jewish communities while fusing immersion in classical text with new critical methods and theory. Wasserman’s background in the congregational rabbinate helps her bring a practical orientation to her teaching and scholarship. She is Rabbi Emerita of Congregation Beth Shalom in Bloomington, Ind., where she served for over a decade.

Gabrielle Ariella Kaplan-Mayer is Ritualwell’s Director of Virtual Content and Programs. She is an author, educator and spiritual director whose work focuses on spirituality, creativity and disability. 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.

Counting the Omer: A Neshamah Recharge
2025-04-16 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-05-15 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-06-04 12:00 - 13:30
The Counting of the Omer is a time for spiritual introspection and growth. During a time when many of us are feeling deflated and anxious about the state of the world, this ritual can help us to recharge our Neshamah, our soul.
Ritualwell is here for you! Through the 7-week period of the Omer, we’ll provide you with support, accountability, community and creative inspiration to do this spiritual work.

Every week, we will send you an Omer guide for the upcoming week, aligned with that week’s spiritual theme. This guide will include Jewish wisdom texts, readings, sensory explorations, and creativity prompts for the week. The printable PDF will be sent electronically and can be accessed online. When you sign up for Counting the Omer: A Neshamah Recharge, you are also invited to join us for three special community events throughout the Omer period:

April 16, 2025, 12 -1:00 p.m. EDT (Recording access now available): Ignite Your Omer Counting with a gathering led by Kohenet Sarah Chandler. Whether you’re new to counting or have participated in this ritual for many years, Sarah will provide us with a fresh perspective on the sefirah of hesed. How do you embody deeds of lovingkindness, g’milut hasadim? We will explore ancient and modern sources for love in action, through the sefirah of hesed. Whether you are looking to call upon divine love, to nourish self love or discover strategies for caring for others (without burnout), this workshop is for anyone who is ready to tap into the flow of hesed in the first week of the omer.
May 15, 2025, 12 -1:00 p.m. EDT: Nurture Your Omer Counting midway through the Omer with artist and Kohenet Bekah Starr. We’ll begin with a creativity warm-up exercise, followed by an exploration of a Lag B’Omer artwork by a Jewish artist, uncovering new insights and art techniques. Explore how art can be studied and interpreted like Torah, revealing layers of meaning and inspiration. Then, create your own artistic response—whether through visual art, poetry, prayer, or short story—fostering creativity, artistic growth, and a deeper connection to Jewish artistic expression.Bekah will lead us in a generative workshop exploring what we’ve discovered through the Omer so far.

‘Counting the Omer: A Neshama Recharge’ is part of Ritualwell’s annual campaign to sustain our work. Ritualwell’s mission to create a welcoming space for individuals from diverse backgrounds who wish to embrace Jewish practice has become more vital than ever.
We know that you appreciate us being here for you. And we need you. Ritualwell’s free offerings are made possible by gifts from people like you.
Register now and support our mission as we support you through the Omer–and beyond.

MALACHIM, Renewed: A Community Art Project
2025-04-28 13:00 - 14:15
Create art. Create ritual. Create community.
Submit your visual art. Be part of the creation of the new MALACHIM (Jewish Angel Cards) Set, MALACHIM Messages of Blessing Cards: Ritualwell Community Edition.
The tradition of MALACHIM (literally: messages or angels) began in a circle of friends in Jerusalem in 1989. They sang the beloved song Shalom Aleichem to honor the beginning of Shabbat, noting that the words of the song welcome the “messengers/angels of peace,” which are said to frequent the homes of those who bring in Shabbat (Talmud, Tractate Shabbat, 119a). Deborah Eisenbach-Budner created a set of MALACHIM to accompany the singing. These cards came to be known as Jewish Angel Cards; her hand-made sets found homes throughout the world. Several thousand printed sets, now called MALACHIM Messages of Blessing, have made their way into personal and communal rituals as well as Shabbat, Rosh Hodesh, and holiday tables as this folk tradition grows.
Now, MALACHIM will evolve again as a collective process, including you!
We are creating a MALACHIM set that incorporates original art made by Ritualwell community members. Each of the MALACHIM will be made from a original photo/work of art. On the margins of the art will be a word in Hebrew, transliteration, and English.
Our timeline:

On Monday April 28 at 1pm EST, Ritualwell will host a virtual launch event to invite artists to learn more about this community art project and its logistics. There will be a word bank provided; artists will be invited to submit up to 5 pieces for consideration by June 4.
On Monday June 30 at 5pm EST, Ritualwell will host a virtual unveiling gallery event for the artists and community members to share the artwork selected for the card deck. Artists will have a chance to share about their reflections from the process of art making for this project.
The cards will become available for sale August 1, in time for Elul and the Jewish New Year.

Registrants commit to:
Join the April 28th virtual event and submit 3-5 pieces of artwork. 36 or 54 pieces will be chosen, depending on submissions. Registrants will receive a free set of the new MALACHIM and will be credited on the physical insert and online description.
We are lucky to have such a creative and inspiring network of artists at Ritualwell, and we hope you will join us at the April 28 launch event and submit your art for consideration!

Discover Your Torah: Preparing for Shavuot with Meditation and Poetry
2025-05-07 13:00 - 2025-05-21 14:30
Wednesdays, May 7, 14 & 21, 2025
1:00-2:30 p.m. EDT
$150 for three sessions

Seven weeks after we celebrate Passover, the holiday of Shavuot arrives to mark the giving of the Torah. Torah, which includes the Five Books of Moses and other sacred texts, can also refer to the wisdom and insights gleaned from your own lived experiences.

In preparation for Shavuot, join us for a three-part series engaging in mindfulness meditation, poetry, and generative writing practices to explore themes related to Shavuot. This special collaboration between the Institute for Jewish Spirituality and Ritualwell brings you two expert instructors, Rabbi Dan Liben and poet and sound artist Elana Bell, as your guides. As we count the Omer and mark the weeks leading to Shavuot, find inspiration within community while creating your own meaningful kavannot (intentions) for receiving wisdom.

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

Rabbi Dan Liben was ordained by JTS and is the Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Israel of Natick, MA. Dan began practicing Mindfulness Meditation at Elat Hayyim, where his teachers included Rabbis Sheila Weinberg and Jeff Roth, Sylvia Boorstein and Norman Fisher. That led him to the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS), where he completed the Rabbinic Leadership Program (R4) and the Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training program (Cohorts1 and 2). He taught Mindfulness Meditation for IJS Rabbinic Cohort 7, and served on IJS’s Board for six years. In 2017, Rabbi Liben completed Hebrew Union College’s Bekhol Levavkha, a two-year training program in Spiritual Direction. He is currently on the staff of Spiritual Directors offering Spiritual Direction to Rabbinical students at Hebrew College, Hebrew Union College, and the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Mussar for This Moment
2025-05-13 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-05-20 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-05-27 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-06-03 12:00 - 13:30
Tuesdays, May 13, 20, 27 and June 10, 2025
12-1:30 p.m. EDT
$180

The first two questions the Torah asks are, “Where are you?” and a few chapters later, “Where is your brother?” As if one can’t answer the first question without also answering the second question; as if they are in fact the same question. Mussar is the tradition within Judaism that asks, how did these two questions become separated?

In periods of uncertainty, Mussar can be a practice that helps us see more clearly and not merge with our sense of despair. Join Rabbi Joshua Boettiger for a four session immersion where we will explore this ancient lineage tradition – studying middot (precepts) and practices from the Mussar masters. In each session, we will also read and compose poetry related to Mussar themes – poetry of proximity, relationality, perplexity, responsibility. No previous experience of Mussar or poetry is required–this immersion is inclusive of everyone’s background and lived experiences.

All sessions 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.

Being with Grief: Jewish Wisdom for Supporting Mourners
2025-05-29 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-06-05 12:00 - 13:30
Thursdays, May 29 and June 5 & 12, 2025
12:00-1:30 p.m. EDT
$154

This intimate learning journey draws on Jewish wisdom and contemporary insights to explore how we can better support those experiencing the loss of loved ones. We’ll examine how grief tests the limits of language, explore models for understanding loss, and study Jewish practices that create meaningful containers for grief. Discover pathways to deeper connection—whether supporting mourners, processing personal losses, or seeking wisdom for life’s challenging transitions through text study, reflection, and experiential exercises.

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

Chloe Zelkha is the incoming rabbi at Congregation Eitz Chayim in Cambridge, MA. Drawn to grief work after the sudden loss of her father in 2017, Chloe trained as a chaplain in a residency at UCSF Mission Bay Hospital, offering spiritual care to patients and their families. Supported by a fellowship with Atra: Center for Rabbinic Innovation, Chloe has run annual residential grief retreats for young people who have lost parents, siblings, partners, and dear friends for many years. She was the co-founder of the Covid Grief Network (now part of Reimagine), a mutual aid network that offered free support to those grieving family to COVID-19. Chloe is also the author of Being with Grief, a creative workbook for loss, and maintains a private practice for those facing terminal illness as a death doula. She holds a B.A. in Religion from Carleton College and an M.A. in Education from Harvard University, and completes her rabbinic studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College as a Wexner Graduate Fellow this May.
