Word-by-Word: A Jewish Women's Writing CircleWord-by-Word: A Jewish Women's Writing Circle

"...I am grateful to God for this gift, this possibility of developing myself and of writing, of expressing all that is in me."
- Anne Frank

Word-by-Word: A Jewish Women's Writing Circle supports a group of 20 talented Jewish women writers with resources, guidance, community, and a yearly stipend as they work toward the completion of a book of textual analysis that will be a significant contribution to any Jewish library. Led and created by Dr. Erica Brown and Sara Wolkenfeld, Word-by-Word offers its writers expert coaching, peer workshopping, and other opportunities that enrich and enable their writing process.

This program is generously funded by Micah Philanthropies, Walder Foundation, The Covenant Foundation, and the Arev Fund.

About the Program

BenefitsBenefits

Fellows attend regular meetings that feature peer workshopping and a diverse roster of visiting speakers. Each writer is allotted 10 hours of one-on-one coaching per year with a professional of their choice. Every summer, fellows enjoy an in-person retreat that allows them to strengthen their relationships with each other as well as their work; participate in craft-specific workshops; hear from industry and creative professionals; and engage in intense, undisturbed writing time.

FellowsFellows

The Word-by-Word cohort represents three different continents and includes writers with expertise in Tanakh, Talmud, medieval scholarship, and halakhah. Their manuscripts span a wide range of topics, voices, and target audiences.

Selected SpeakersSelected Speakers

Dan Friedman

Sarah Hurwitz

Sharon Mazel

Mark Oppenheimer

Eli Sacks

Jeffrey Saks

Penina Eilberg Schwartz

Abraham Socher

Elana Stein Hain

Gillian Steinberg

Reuven and Yael Ziegler

Dan Friedman

Sarah Hurwitz

Sharon Mazel

Mark Oppenheimer

Eli Sacks

Jeffrey Saks

Penina Eilberg Schwartz

Abraham Socher

Elana Stein Hain

Gillian Steinberg

Reuven and Yael Ziegler

Word-by-Word Leadership

Sara Wolkenfeld — Program LeaderSara Wolkenfeld — Program Leader

Sara Wolkenfeld is the Chief Learning Officer at Sefaria, an online database and interface for Jewish texts. Sara is a member of Class Six of the Wexner Field Fellowship and an alumna of the David Hartman Center at the Hartman Institute of North America. Her current research and writing focus on the intersection between Jewish ethics and advancements in technology. Sara's writing has been published in The Atlantic, First Things, and Religion Dispatches, as well as numerous Jewish publications.

Erica Brown — Program LeaderErica Brown — Program Leader

Dr. Erica Brown is the Vice Provost for Values and Leadership at Yeshiva University and the founding director of its Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership. Her latest book is Morning Has Broken: Faith After October 7th (Toby/Koren). She is also the author of The Torah of Leadership (Maggid), Kohelet and the Search for Meaning (Maggid), Happier Endings (Simon and Schuster), which received the Wilbur and Nautilus Awards for spiritual writing, and 13 other books, two of which were finalists for the National Jewish Book Award. She has been published in the New York Times, the Atlantic, Tablet, First Things, and the Jewish Review of Books. Erica was a Jerusalem Fellow, an Avi Chai Fellow, the recipient of the 2009 Covenant Award, and is a faculty member of the Wexner Foundation.

Alicia Oltuski — Project ManagerAlicia Oltuski — Project Manager

Alicia Oltuski is a writer and speaker. Her work has appeared on Esquire.com, NewYorker.com, W Magazine, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from Columbia University and has lectured at the Johns Hopkins University Advanced Academic Programs Master of Arts in Writing program.

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