Led by Hila Ratzabi

Sundays, May 3, 17, 31, June 7, 11:00 AM –12:00 PM Eastern 

$144 for four sessions

All sessions will be recorded and available to participants. You may join the session live or watch recordings at your own convenience.

In a time of uncertainty and anxiety, we need practices that connect us to our inner strength and source of hope. The writings of Etty Hillesum are a treasure trove of the human spirit; she wrote her diaries and letters from 1941 to 1943, before her life was tragically cut short in Auschwitz. Her writings reveal an astonishing spiritual resilience and a deep and universal love for humanity and for God, even during the darkest times. In her diaries, Hillesum explored her own psychological development, and in the process she crafted a unique spiritual vision and approach to prayer and meditation that can inspire us today. 

In this series of online gatherings we will read and discuss Hillesum’s writings as a springboard for creating our own writing and spiritual practices. Together we’ll explore major themes in her work: creativity, prayer, meditation, love, suffering, acceptance, death and freedom. We’ll engage in writing exercises and meditation practices inspired by her work. With the intention of connecting to our inner voices and crafting our own paths to resilience, we’ll support each other in imagining and creating a better world. 

All participants will receive a 30% discount on the Etty Hillesum Cards, a collection of her quotations translated from the original Dutch into English, Hebrew and Arabic.

This course is open to people of all religious backgrounds and levels of writing experience.

Recommended text: Etty Hillesum: An Interrupted Life the Diaries, 1941–1943 and Letters from Westerbork.

To view our full list of online learning opportunities visit: www.ritualwell.org/learn.