Celebrating Jewish Joy: Stories of Jewish Culture & Heritage

Join us for an evening of powerful storytelling as contributors to Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture & Heritage share their work from this luminous new collection. Spanning continents and generations, these essays celebrate Jewish joy, resilience, and identity with humor, tenderness, and depth. Hear the writers bring their words to life, then stay for a lively Q&A as we explore the multitudes of Jewish experience together.

Diane Gottlieb is the editor of Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture & Heritage, Awakenings: Stories of Body & Consciousness and Grieving Hope. Her writing appears in Brevity, Witness, River Teeth, 2023 Best Microfiction, The Jewish Book Council, and The Jewish Literary Review among many other lovely places. She is the winner of Tiferet Journal’s 2021 Writing Contest in nonfiction, longlisted in 2023 and 2024 at Wigleaf Top 50, and a finalist for Hole in the Head Review’s 2024 Charles Simic Poetry Prize and Florida Review’s 2023 Editor’s Choice Award in Nonfiction. Diane is the Prose/CNF Editor at Emerge Literary and the Special Projects Editor at ELJ Editions.

Matthew Lippman is the author of 7 poetry collections. His latest collection, We Are All Sleeping With Our Sneakers On (2024), is published by Four Way Books. His previous collection, Mesmerizingly Sadly Beautiful (2020), is published by Four Way Books. It was the recipient of the 2018 Levis Prize. His collection, King of the Jews, is published by Ben Yehuda Press, 2025. In 2027 his next collection, Cry Baby Cry, will be published by Four Way Books.

Julia Grunes is a writer from Monroe, New York. Her work has been published in Fabula Press, Gandy Dancer, and Iris Magazine. In 2024, she worked at IE University in Madrid, Spain as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. Julia now serves as Boston University Hillel’s Jewish Life Fellow.

Jena Schwartz is a widely published personal essayist and poet who has served as Poet Laureate of the Jewish Community of Amherst since 2020. A mother and stepmother of five grown children, she lives with her spouse and their English Bulldog in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.

Sandell Morse is the author of the memoir, The Spiral Shell, A French Village Reveals Its Secrets of Jewish Resistance in World War II. Morse’s essays have been noted in The Best American Essays series, published in Creative Nonfiction, Ploughshares, and the New England Review, among others. She lives in Portsmouth, NH.

Tzivia Gover, is a dreamwork professional and author of Dreaming on the Page: Tap into Your Midnight Mind to Supercharge Your Writing and seven other books. Her poetry has been published in Lilith, Naugatuck River Review, Pensive, The Other Journal, and dozens more journals and anthologies. Tzivia was among 36 poets selected to participate in the second annual conference for Yetzirah: A Hearth for Jewish Poetry. Tzivia shares her poetry and translations about the first Hebrew Matriarch, Sarah, in an online publication, The Life of H: Sarah, Reimagined (at https://tziviagover.substack.com). Learn more at www.thirdhousemoon.com

Who are these classes for?

Our classes are for everyone—whether you’re brand new to the topic or have been engaging with it for years, we encourage participation from people of all backgrounds, identities, and experience levels. Unless otherwise noted, no prior knowledge or experience is needed. Not sure if a class is for you? Email us at Learning@Lehr.haus!

Why are there tickets at different prices?

Our tickets utilize a Pay-What-You-Can model so attendees can pay a range of prices based on what they are able to pay to allow for greater accessibility. Please select the price point that feels right for you.

Can I eat during class?

While we do not serve food in the study, you are welcome to order and enjoy drinks during class and join us for a meal before or after class. We highly recommend making a reservation if you know you'll be dining with us. Visit www.lehr.haus/reservation to check availability and book a table.