About

Katy Z. Allen is a rabbi, chaplain, poet, and eco-chaplain whose lifelong love of the outdoors shapes her spiritual and creative work. From her early days exploring fields and streams in Wisconsin to decades of teaching, writing, and leading in Massachusetts, she draws wisdom from the natural world and helps others discover meaning there too.

 

She founded Ma’yan Tikvah – A Wellspring of Hope, an outdoor congregation, much of whose programming has since moved to Congregation Beth El in Sudbury, and she co-founded the Jewish Climate Action Network-MA. Katy has also served as a hospital and hospice chaplain, bringing care and nature-based spirituality to those she served.

 

Her recent book, A Tree of Life: A Story in Word, Image, and Text, reflects her love of weaving poetry, story, text and image. She is also the editor of Earth Etudes for Elul and other works, and she previously shared reflections at www.mayantikvah.blogspot.com.
 

In her retirement, Katy has turned her focus to poetry and her work has appeared online at New Verse News and in The Jewish Poets Collective Journal. Forthcoming, her work will be included in the Art on the Trails chapbook and online at Bluebird Word.