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SUMMARY:Marking October 7: Poetry\, Reflection & Writing with Lesléa Newman
DESCRIPTION:Wednesday October 7\, 2026\n1:00-2:00 p.m. ET\n \n\nPlease join the Ritualwell community on Wednesday\, October 7\, as we gather to mark this difficult day together through poetry\, reflection\, and writing.\n \nWe’ll be joined by acclaimed poet and author Lesléa Newman\, who will share selections from her forthcoming collection\, The Last Flame Last. This powerful suite of 18 poems responds to October 7 and the surge of antisemitism that followed.\n \nFollowing Lesléa’s reading\, we’ll have an opportunity to pause\, reflect\, and write our own responses. No writing experience is necessary—just a willingness to be present\, listen\, and make space for what this day brings up for us.\n \nThis gathering is open to all.\n \nLesléa is generously donating a portion of her royalties from the book to Beth Israel Congregation\, to support their efforts to rebuild both their temple\, which was damaged in an arson attack\, and their faith in the kindness of strangers. Preorders are especially meaningful: they will help determine the book’s initial print run and royalty rate\, which in turn will determine the size of the donation. You can preorder The Last Flame Last from Finishing Line Press.\n\n \nThis event will be recorded and sent to participants. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.\n \n\nphoto credit: Mary Vazquez\nLesléa Newman has created 90 books for readers of all ages including the memoirs-in-verse\, I Carry My Mother and I Wish My Father; the novel-in-verse\, October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard; and the children’s books\, Something Sweet: A Sitting Shiva Story; The Babka Sisters; Joyful Song: A Naming Story; Ketzel\, the Cat Who Composed; and Heather Has Two Mommies. She has received two National Jewish Book Awards\, two American Library Association Stonewall Honors\, am Association of Jewish Libraries Sydney Taylor Body-of-Work Award\, a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts\, and the Massachusetts Book Award. From 2008 – 2010\, she served as the poet laureate of Northampton\, MA. \n\n 
URL:https://ritualwell.org/event/marking-october-7-poetry-reflection-writing-with-leslea-newman/
LOCATION:Zoom
CATEGORIES:Event,Free
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261022T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261022T200000
DTSTAMP:20260830T214642
CREATED:20260811T165204Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260812T154141Z
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SUMMARY:Seeing Into the Life of Things: An Author Conversation with Rodger Kamenetz and Amy Gottlieb
DESCRIPTION:Thursday\, October 22\, 2026\n8:00-9:00 p.m. ET\n$18\n \n\nHow might we move through a noisy and distracted world with greater attention\, imagination\, and wonder?\n \nJoin the Ritualwell community for a special conversation between authors Rodger Kamenetz and Amy Gottlieb about Kamenetz’s new book\, Seeing Into the Life of Things: Imagination and Sacred Encounter. As we enter the new year\, we’ll explore how we might cultivate a deeper awareness of the sacred in our everyday lives.\n \nSeeing Into the Life of Things is both a spiritual memoir and a practical guide to restoring the imaginative heart. Through stories\, dreams\, poems\, and daily practices\, Kamenetz invites us to “see into\,” “listen at\,” and “feel into” the world around us. He explores how memory can become a source of healing\, how dreams can lead us toward sacred encounters\, and how ordinary moments can become occasions for wonder.\n \nIn this intimate conversation\, Amy and Rodger will explore imagination\, attention\, creativity\, and the sacred—and what it means to practice seeing more deeply in our own lives. You’ll have the opportunity to listen\, reflect\, and ask questions of these two wonderful writers. Come ready to pause\, wonder\, and perhaps see the familiar world in a new way.\n\n \n\n \nThis event will be recorded and sent to participants following the event. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.\n \n\nRodger Kamenetz is an award-winning poet\, author\, and teacher whose work explores the intersections of Judaism\, literature\, spirituality\, and dreams. He is best known for The Jew in the Lotus\, the international bestseller about a group of rabbis who traveled to India to meet with the Dalai Lama\, as well as The History of Last Night’s Dream\, Burnt Books\, Stalking Elijah\, and seven books of poetry. His work has been recognized with a National Jewish Book Award\, and he has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and other foundations.\n\nKamenetz taught English and Religious Studies at Louisiana State University\, where he founded the MFA program in creative writing and the Jewish Studies minor. Now based in New Orleans\, he devotes himself to writing and to working with people through Natural Dreamwork\, a spiritual practice centered on dreams. His newest book\, Seeing Into the Life of Things: Imagination and Sacred Encounter\, brings together his lifelong explorations of creativity\, dreams\, memory\, and the sacred.\n \n\nAmy 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.\n \n \n\n      \n        \n      \n    \n 
URL:https://ritualwell.org/event/seeing-into-the-life-of-things-an-author-conversation-with-rodger-kamenetz-and-amy-gottlieb/
LOCATION:Zoom
CATEGORIES:Event
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261115T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261115T130000
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CREATED:20260810T144219Z
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SUMMARY:Writing What Matters Most: In Conversation With Anita Diamant
DESCRIPTION:Sunday\, November 15\, 2026\n1-2:30 p.m. EDT\n$54\n \n\nFor more than three decades\, Anita Diamant’s books—including The Red Tent and Day After Night—have engaged readers with stories that illuminate Jewish tradition\, women’s lives\, and the power of narrative. In this special Ritualwell event\, Anita will reflect on her writing journey\, the evolution of her craft\, and what it means to be a Jewish writer today.\n \nTogether\, we’ll explore where stories begin\, how research and curiosity shape creative work\, and the practices that sustain a writing life.\n \nFollowing the conversation\, participants will be invited to write from a prompt in the Ritualwell spirit\, gather in community to share reflections and new work. Come to listen\, write\, and discover what story is waiting for you to tell.\n\n \nThis event will be recorded and sent to participants following the event. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.\n \n\nPhoto credit: Sharona Jacobs\nAnita Diamant is the author of thirteen books\, most recently Period. End of Sentence. The New Chapter in the Fight for Menstrual Justice. Her first novel\, New York Times bestseller\, The Red Tent\, has been published in more than 25 countries. Her other novels include The Boston Girl\, Day after Night\, The Last Days of Dogtown\, and Good Harbor. \nDiamant is the author of six non-fiction guides to contemporary Jewish life\, including The Jewish Wedding Now\, Living a Jewish Life\, and Saying Kaddish\, as well as a collection of essays\, Pitching my Tent. An award-winning journalist\, her work has appeared in the Boston Globe Magazine\, Real Simple\, Parenting\, Boston Magazine and Cognoscenti\, the online ideas and opinion page of WBUR-FM.  \nAnita is the founding president of Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center: a 21st century reinvention of the ancient tradition of immersion for all Jews and those becoming Jewish. www.mayyimhayyim.org
URL:https://ritualwell.org/event/writing-what-matters-most-in-conversation-with-anita-diamant/
LOCATION:Zoom
CATEGORIES:Event
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261201T120000
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SUMMARY:Imagining Beyond the Self: A Mussar Poetry Workshop
DESCRIPTION:Mondays\, November 30 and December 7 & 14\, 2026\n12-1:30 p.m. EDT\n$140\n\n  \nWhat might happen to our writing when we begin to imagine beyond the boundaries of the self? \nVanessa Machado de Oliveira calls the horizons we are walking toward “presently unimaginable futures.” We can’t fully imagine these futures as we are—we have to be changed in order to recognize them. \nMussar invites us into just this kind of transformation. At its heart is a questioning of the sovereign self: an opportunity to reimagine ourselves as people who include and depend upon others\, and whose lives are inextricably connected to the lives around us. Mussar practice asks us to see beyond the sometimes-narrow structures of the self. \nAnd poetry can do the same. \nOne of the most compelling intersections between Mussar and poetry is the way a Mussar mindset can open us to more imaginative ways of thinking and writing. It can invite us beyond familiar habits and approaches\, toward poetry that is more experimental\, surprising\, and alive. \nJoin beloved Ritualwell teacher Rabbi Joshua Boettiger for an immersive poetry workshop exploring the intersections of Mussar and creative practice. Together\, we’ll study a variety of poems and Jewish texts\, use them as portals for reflection and experimentation\, and generate and share new work. No particular experience with Mussar is necessary—come ready to explore\, imagine\, and write. \nThis series will be recorded and sent to participants. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience. \nRabbi 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. \n\n 
URL:https://ritualwell.org/event/imagining-beyond-the-self-a-mussar-poetry-workshop/
LOCATION:Zoom
CATEGORIES:Event,Immersions
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