$180 for 5 Sessions  

“A dream unexplored is like a letter not read,” says Rabbi Hisda in the Talmud (Brachot 55b). The biblical Jacob before him called his dream a portal to the Divine. Kabbalists after them both called dreaming a form of prophecy.

For many of us, dreams have become especially vivid during these tumultuous times. Whether or not that is true for you, dreams are an invitation to look deeper. They can be a window to your soul and a channel for your divine inner voice. In five sessions, I will introduce you to the wonderful world of dreamwork in the method I was taught, which is primarily a Gestalt approach, influenced by my experience in spiritual companionship. The main principle in my dreamwork is that the dream belongs to the dreamer, and only the dreamer holds the key to decipher it. The role of the dreamworker is to help the dreamer understand their own dream, not interpret it for them.

Participants will be asked to start keeping a dream journal before the immersion begins, and together, we will share and work our dreams. Topics will include: keeping a dream journal, learning to “interview” our dream elements, the ego in the dream, following your intuition and curiosity, prophetic dreams, and more. Participants will be paired off into hevruta dream partners, and you will be invited to work together practicing the method between sessions, which will be every other week. Together, we will discuss texts on dreams in pairs and as a group, and work one another's dreams in class, with me demonstrating and offering guidance.

Although sessions will be recorded and sent to you afterward, live participation in the session is recommended.

Rabbi Haviva Ner-David is a writer, rabbi, mikveh specialist and spiritual companion. She is the founder of Shmaya: A Mikveh for Mind, Body and Soul, at Kibbutz Hannaton, where she acts as a mikveh guide and consultant. She has two published memoirs with Ben Yehuda Press (Life on the Fringes: A Feminist Journey Towards Traditional Rabbinic Ordination, and Chanah’s Voice: A Rabbi Wrestles with Gender, Commandments, and the Women’s Rituals of Baking, Bathing and Brightening) and the forthcoming Getting (and Staying) Married Jewishly: A Guidebook for Couples. Her debut novel, Hope Valley, which is about the friendship between a Palestinian-Israeli and a Jewish-Israeli woman in Galilee, came out in April with Bedazzled Ink Publishers, and her third memoir, Dreaming Against the Current: A Rabbi's Soul Journey, is due out later this year. Haviva is a spiritual companion (for both individuals and couples) with a specialty in dreamwork, and she often combines that work with mikveh immersion rituals. She lives on Kibbutz Hannaton with her life partner, Jacob, with whom she parents their seven children. She also lives with a degenerative genetic muscular disease called FSHD, which has been one of her greatest teachers. 

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.

Ritualwell is committed to offering an accessible space to our community members. We commit to:

1. Providing participants with all the session materials ahead of time
2. Providing automated captions on all live sessions
3. Providing subtitles for all recorded sessions
4. Using the chat function and read it aloud during the sessions
5. Asking for participant accessibility needs and doing our best to accommodate them. Please feel welcome to contact us at ritualwell@reconstructingjudaism.org.