Program Description:
Ethical wills — or "wisdom letters" — are a 3,500-year-old Jewish tradition of passing values, beliefs, and love across generations. But some letters do something more: they take on a life of their own, becoming torches, reunions, and living presences for the people who receive them.
In this experiential workshop, Dr. Lesley Simpson shares remarkable letters from her ongoing collection: letters that have been read at Passover seders and Chanukah gatherings, that have sparked innovation, and that have reunited families separated by war and time. Then we write. Participants will leave with raw material for their own wisdom letter, whatever form it wants to take.
Join us as the High Holidays approach, a season already given to reflection on legacy, memory, and what we leave behind.
Speaker:
Dr. Lesley Simpson is a former Canadian journalist who worked as a staff reporter for Canadian daily newspapers and CBC radio. She recently defended her PhD dissertation about Jewish ethical wills. Lesley creates customized writing workshops for people drafting their own ethical wills or wisdom letters.
Lesley is now collecting Jewish letters from around the world in L’chaim: The Jewish Letters Project on substack.