MALACHIM, Renewed: A Community Art Project
2025-04-28 13:00 - 14:15 (America/New_York) | Zoom
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, 2025-06-10 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.

Counting the Omer: A Neshamah Recharge
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.

Being with Grief: Jewish Wisdom for Supporting Mourners
2025-05-29 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-06-05 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-06-12 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.

Writing Postcards From the Heart
2025-06-17 12:00 - 13:30
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
12-1:30 p.m. EDT

Write your own postcards to a loved one, to your younger self, to an artist you love, or to even to G-d in this interactive writing workshop with Poet and Professor Lisa Grunberger. Jewish thought has much to teach us about anger and compassion. For example, Rebbe Nachman taught that the best antidote for one’s anger is a compassionate heart. In Hebrew, the word for “compassion” (rachamim), shares the same root as the words for “womb” (rechem) and for “tomorrow” (machar).

Writing is cathartic, a ritual that helps us process complex emotions like grief and anger. You are encouraged to bring photos of people, alive or not, you might want to write postcards to so their energy is close. We will have time to share our spontaneous postcard writing with each other; you will be surprised at the creative writing that emerges with these short postcard-writing exercises. A postcard can spark the first lines of a novel, a song, or even heal a relationship. Discover how writing from the emotional “place” of pain, love, curiosity, anger, or grief can create a bridge to heal.

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

Pushcart nominee and Temple University English Professor Lisa Grunberger is a first-generation American writer. Her award-winning poetry book, I am dirty (Moonstone Press), and Born Knowing (Finishing Line Press), are lyrical reflections on life as a woman, a mother, and a daughter of Holocaust survivors. Her book, Yiddish Yoga: Ruthie’s Adventures in Love, Loss and the Lotus Position (Harper Collins), about a widowed grandmother who does yoga to help her grieve, is currently being adapted as a musical. Almost Pregnant, her play about infertility and assisted reproductive technologies, is published by Next Stage Press.
Her poetry book, Mercy Wombs, was the finalist in Settlement House American Poetry Prize for first-generation poets. She is a widely published poet whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Paterson Literary Review, Mudfish, The Drunken Boat, Bridges: A Jewish Feminist Journal, Philadelphia Poets, Paroles des Jour, Dialogi, Crab Orchard Review, Mom Egg Review, The Baffler, and Fine Linen Press. Her poems have been translated into Hebrew, Slovenian, Russian, Spanish and Yiddish.

The Creative Fire of Folklore
2025-06-24 12:00 - 13:30
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
12-1:30 p.m. EDT

In this generative poetry event, we’ll chart ways to use your family or community’s sayings in poems that explore how the past informs the present. Come prepared to have fun, while trying your hand at techniques for folding both folklore and imagery into poetry that’s at once individual and universal. Together, we’ll play with writing exercises and discuss published work. By the end of class, you’ll have a draft that you can shape for further development.

No previous poetry experience is required–this event is inclusive of everyone’s background and lived experiences.

This session 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.” She lives in upstate New York.

Advot End-of-Year Celebration and Poetry Reading
2025-06-26 19:00 - 20:30
Thursday, June 26, 2025
7-8:30 p.m. EDT

Join us to celebrate the contributions of our Advot@Ritualwell members and the unveiling of our fourth anthology showcasing their creations. Advot@Ritualwell serves as an online community for Jewish writers to learn, connect, and collaborate, providing a platform for mutual support in what can often be a solitary journey. Members bring their diverse backgrounds and expertise to share, co-create, and inspire one another. This event is their opportunity to showcase their work to you. Show your support by attending! Registrants will receive a 15% discount on their purchase of the anthology.

The members of our ADVOT community include: Elliott batTzedek, Elizabeth Caplun, Rabbi Nachshon Carmi, Alex Carter, Cathleen Cohen, Muriel Dance, Batya Diamond, Elisa Friedlander, Rabbi Dayle Friedman, Ona Gritz, Ziva Harmatz, Marc Jacobs, Ann Kanter, Judith Kerman, Chelsea Levinson, Rabbi Janet Madden, Beverly Pincus, SJ Schlossman, Gail Simmons, Janice Steinberg, Julie Stone, Cantor Keren Webber, Tiferet Welch and McKenzie Wren.

Writing Jewish, Writing Funny
2025-07-08 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-07-15 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-07-22 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-07-29 12:00 - 13:30
Tuesdays, July 8, 15, 22 & 29, 2025
12-1:30 p.m. EDT
$180

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

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

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

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

Finding Shekhinah
2025-07-09 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-07-16 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-07-23 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-07-30 12:00 - 13:30
Wednesdays, July 9, 16, 23 & 30, 2025
12-1:30 p.m. EDT
$180

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

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

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

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

Deep Body Poetry
2025-07-10 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-07-17 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-07-24 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-07-31 12:00 - 13:30
Thursdays, July 10, 17, 24 & 31, 2025
12-1:30 p.m. EDT
$180

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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