Membership Benefits & Criteria

Yetzirah Regional Chapters are local groups of Jewish poets and readers of Jewish poetry, organized and hosted by Yetzirah members with the support of Yetzirah staff, which meet to offer programming and community-building aligned with Yetzirah’s mission. We believe an important part of supporting Jewish poets is helping people make connections in their own communities, facilitating local networks of mutual support and inspiration. After all, online friends can’t drop off soup and a good book when you have the flu.  

Yetzirah Regional Chapters share Yetzirah’s mission of fostering a community space for Jewish poets, and supporting writers and readers of Jewish poetry. We are delighted for Chapters to hold any events or programs that further this mission, provided they are aligned with our principles of inclusivity and nonpolitical engagement.

The membership criteria for our Regional Chapters is designed to help ensure the high quality of programming associated with Yetzirah National. Though each chapter will have its own unique character in response to the needs and desires of its members, a Regional Chapter in good standing will hold space in a way consistent with Yetzirah’s welcoming atmosphere, nonpolitical guidelines, and responsiveness to staff communication. 

In turn, Yetzirah will provide ongoing support and check-ins, program ideas and resources, communication tools, regional membership benefits (outlined below), publicity for chapter events, and access to a national network of Jewish poets.

Yetzirah Regional Chapter Membership Benefits

1. Regional Chapter Profile & Event Amplification
   1. Chapter leader(s) will be listed in the program for the Yetzirah Jewish Poetry Conference.
   2. Your chapter will be listed on Yetzirah’s Regional Chapter page.
   3. Once you have a program planned and scheduled, let Danny know so that we can help to get the word out in whatever ways will work best for your community and your programming. We can share this via our Community Calendar and/or social media (you can tag us on Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky at @yetzirahpoets). If you would like us to share your program on our calendar, please email Danny the following information:
      1. The event’s title, along with a short description.
      2. The time and, if you are sharing it publicly, location.
      3. Whether or not the event is open to the whole public, or only to those already involved in your regional chapter.
      4. Contact information for an organizer.

2. Support for Chapter Membership Expansion

1. 1. We are now working to update our Discover Jewish Poets database to make it easier to search by state.
      1. Until this update is in place, please contact Danny if you’d like to receive (when possible) a list of Yetzirah community members in your region.
   2. We will also add an option to this database so Regional Chapter members can be designated in their profile as a member of their Regional Chapter.

3. Access to Yetzirah’s Regional Chapter Resources

1. 1. From our work with existing chapters, we’ve compiled a rich list of potential program structures on which you can draw for your own event planning.
   2. We will provide a Google email Group for each chapter to facilitate in-chapter communications.
   3. We recommend Calend.ly for scheduling meetings and will support you in the initial setup. 

4. Ongoing Support and Check-Ins

1. 1. You won’t be alone on this journey. Our team will regularly check in via email and, when requested, by phone or Zoom. We’ll help publicize your events, offer troubleshooting advice, and celebrate your successes.

5. Connection with Other Regional Chapter Leaders

1. 1. Yetzirah staff will also organize semi-annual, voluntary online gatherings for Regional Chapter leaders in order to share best practices, ways to work through challenges, and possible organization structures and programming ideas.
   2. Yetzirah National will host an annual AMA/feedback session for chapter leaders to share new programming on the horizon and learn how we can better support your work in your local communities.

6. Yetzirah Jewish Poetry Conference: Dayenu Discounts

1. While all members of official Regional Chapters are of course welcome to apply to be part of our on-campus cohort, if they’d like to join our offsite Dayenu Cohort, they will receive a 10% discount on tuition.
   Featured Poets Nominations
   1. 1. All members of Regional Chapters will have the opportunity to nominate poets for inclusion in Yetzirah’s online Featured Poets series, which highlights new work by Jewish poets from diverse backgrounds

7. Upcoming Future Benefits: Yetzirah Circuit

1. 1. We are in the process of creating a central messaging board where Jewish poets can share brief descriptions of their new and forthcoming books, along with the Regional Chapters to which they’d be willing to travel. Accessible to chapter leadership, leaders can then invite authors they feel their community would appreciate to their local events.
   2. We have applied for a grant for the 2026 Jewish Poetry Conference to offer Regional Chapter Leader Fellowships, to subsidize the travel of one representative from each chapter to attend our conference as part of the off-campus Dayenu Cohort. We believe this opportunity for regional leaders to meet, as well as study, write, and dine together, will solidify this community of regional groups by facilitating connections to enable mutual support, invigorating and strengthening our national network in turn.
   3. Once the Yetzirah Book Award is established (circa 2027), one of the parts of the award is a tour of the Yetzirah Circuit for the winning author.

Yetzirah Regional Chapter Membership Criteria

1. Adherence to Yetzirah’s Guiding Principles
Creating a Safe & Welcoming Space

1. 1. All RC’s will be asked to sign a form affirming their willingness to adhere to these guidelines: “All Yetzirah events work to provide a safe and welcoming space of community and support for Jewish poets of all denominations, degrees of religious engagement, races, ethnicities, sexualities, genders, socioeconomic backgrounds, and political affiliations. Yetzirah views diversity, equity, and inclusion as vital to our goals of supporting the flourishing of Jewish poetry.  You will confirm your willingness to abide by Yetzirah’s values of inclusivity, mutual respect, and collegiality.”
   2. As we are bolstered as much by the differences among us as the commonalities we share, Yetzirah welcomes any and all poets who identify as Jewish and we ask that our Regional Chapters do the same for their members.
   3. While Yetzirah’s events celebrate the work of self-identified Jewish poets, we welcome poetry lovers of all traditions to attend our readings, workshops, discussions, and events, as we believe that the more members of all communities can learn about Jewish poetry and Jewish culture, the more likely those individuals will be to push back against detrimental assumptions and antisemitism. We ask that you do the same for your events open to the public.

A Zero-Tolerance Policy for Harassment
Any forms of harassment are anathema to Yetzirah’s values; please reach out to Yetzirah staff immediately if questions or issues arise, so that we can support you in responding appropriately.

Commitment to Creating a Nonpolitical Space
Yetzirah acts as a nonpolitical space in which Jewish poets of all backgrounds and politics can come together. Yetzirah’s members have a diverse range of political commitments and beliefs, and Yetzirah and its Regional Chapters avoid making any normative political statements, or engaging in political activism of any kind. If something comes up and you’re not sure how to respond, please reach out to Danny as soon as you can and he or someone in Yetzirah’s leadership will be in touch.

Welcoming Jewish Poets from Diverse Levels of Observance
In order to be maximally inclusive for Jewish poets from diverse backgrounds, please avoid scheduling events on Shabbat that would involve the use of technology, including computers, smartphones, microphones, and writing. If your event is serving food, and a local participant requires kosher food, please make a good faith effort to provide a kosher option, although in some cases this may not be possible. Feel free to contact Danny with any questions about any of this; we are happy to help.

2. Chapter Leadership

1. Every Regional Chapter will have at least one designated person with an email address publicly accessible on our chapters page for people interested in learning more about that chapter.
2. The RC leader will respond to messages from Danny in a timely manner to maintain a strong channel of communication.
3. This leader, or another designated individual, will be responsible for collecting and sharing event attendance and, when possible, event photos (more details about this below).
4. If leaders are not already a Yetzirah Member, please join through this link. Your membership enables us to support and expand Yetzirah’s programming, including the Yetzirah Regional Chapters, while connecting you to other Jewish poets and poetry lovers, and providing you with discounts for Yetzirah events.

3. Regional Chapter Commitments

1. For an individual to be an official member of a Regional Chapter, we ask that they become a member of Yetzirah National at whatever level of support feels best to them (this could be for as little as $5/month).
2. Each Regional Chapter agrees to host at least one event per three month period. (This is a rough guideline, of course, and if organizers need to step back or lessen their commitments we totally understand; please just let us know.)
3. Share pictures of your Yetzirah Regional Chapter event, when possible, and keep track of attendance numbers. Staying informed of event attendance will help us when we apply for grants and other funding. After your event, please send photos and attendance numbers to Danny, and let us know how everything went!
4. When possible, Regional Chapters will collaborate with Yetzirah staff and board members on development and fundraising opportunities.
5. We also ask that Chapter leaders share Yetzirah communications about national programs, conferences, and other opportunities, and facilitate communication from Yetzirah staff and board members to Regional Chapter members.

4. Provisional Period for New Regional Chapters

1. Each new Regional Chapter will undergo a provisional period of six months.
   1. This will allow our staff time to work with new chapter leaders through start-up challenges that may arise, and help ensure that when the chapter opens to broader regional membership its structure is sound.
   2. During this time, the chapter will hold at least two events.
2. After a successful provisional period in which the Regional Chapter adheres to Yetzirah’s Principles and Chapter Commitments as outlined above, that group will become an official Regional Chapter whose members can receive Yetzirah RC Membership Benefits.