Join Rabbi Haviva Ner-David for a reading and discussion of her new novel, Hope Valley, with poet and novelist Amy Gottlieb.

Hope Valley is the story of two women who come together to form the unlikeliest of friendships. Tikvah, a Jewish-Israeli second-generation Holocaust survivor, is a frustrated artist with multiple sclerosis and a husband who suffers from trauma from the First Lebanon War. Ruby, a Palestinian-Israeli second-generation Nakba survivor, is a renowned artist who has come back to her village after many years abroad, to be treated for cancer. At first, Ruby befriends Tikvah to get into her house and find the diary her own late father left hidden there, before he was expelled from the village in 1948. But as a relationship develops, the women begin not only to open up to each other’s narratives and humanity, but also to uncover secrets from their own lives—past and present—that will have lasting consequences for their futures and well as those of their families. How the women ultimately come to terms with life’s difficulties, disruptions and disappointments, and with each other, speaks to the enduring strength of the human spirit.

Rabbi Haviva Ner-David is a writer and rabbi. In 2006 she became the first woman to publicly receive Orthodox rabbinic ordination, only to leave Orthodoxy and call herself a post-denominational rabbi. Ten years later, she received interfaith ordination from the One Spirit Interfaith-Interspiritual Seminary and now goes by post-denominational inter-spiritual rabbi.

She writes both fiction and non-fiction and is the author of three spiritual journey memoirs, a novel, short stories, essays, a blog on Times of Israel, scholarly articles and a guidebook for engaged couples. Founding rabbi of Shmaya: A Mikveh for Mind, Body and Soul on Kibbutz Hannaton in the Lower Galilee, she officiates and helps create on-site personalized immersion ritual ceremonies and facilitates group mikveh workshops. As a spiritual companion, she works with individuals and couples and specializes in *dreamwork, inner child work and nature soul work, as well as general sacred listening.

Amy Gottlieb's debut novel The Beautiful Possible was a finalist for the 2017 Harold U. Ribalow Prize, a 2016 National Jewish Book Award and Edward Lewis Wallant Award. Her fiction and poetry have been published in Other Voices, Lilith, Puerto del Sol, Ilanot Review, On Being, Zeek, Storyscape, The Bloomsbury Anthology of Contemporary Jewish American Poetry, and elsewhere. She has received a Literary Fellowship and Residency from the Bronx Council on the Arts, and an Arts Fellowship from the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. Amy is a graduate of Clark University and the University of Chicago. She lives with her family on the edge of the Hudson River in New York City.

About Ritualwell

Ritualwell is the most extensive online resource that curates original Jewish rituals for Jews and fellow seekers. We publish rituals, ceremonies, prayers and poems to mark sacred moments in Jewish life. Through creating and sharing rituals, hosting Ritualwell Immersions (online learning experiences), curating an online Judaica shop and hosting Rabbi Connect, Ritualwell fosters a supportive environment for Jewish creativity, spiritual growth and discovery. Learn more at www.ritualwell.org.

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