For Lucy Marshall, the birth of her second child last summer brought with it not the sleeplessness and exhaustion that often comes with motherhood, but rather a rush of creativity.
“I was prolifically creative writing whenever I could; overnight, while feeding the baby, typing on my phone,” said Marshall. “I felt really grateful for the support I had in that moment to be able to allow me to like release some of this creative energy that I was feeling.”
The result of the creative burst was Me’ugelet, Marshall’s soon-to-be-released online zine. Me’ugelet is a Hebrew word that means both “she is round” and “she is encircled.”
Marshall said that having space after her second child’s birth, which she didn’t have after her first helped her to be able to reflect more.
“To be able to have creative expression to support us in, kind of navigating through these transformative journeys of pregnancy, birth, postpartum,” she explained. “As I’ve been interacting with folks and sharing that experience of mine, I found so many people could relate, or even kind of mourn or grieve, like ‘I had that feeling and never was able to make space for that and make time for that.’”
Marshall said that she was blown away by the response that her open call for submissions brought.
“So many people were really excited to contribute,” she said. “People all different experiences and journeys. And I felt really excited by offering this platform for the creative energy and the stories that we want to elevate.”
What Me’ugelet offers is a platform for people who aren’t necessarily formal artists.
“One person was processing birth trauma right after they gave birth. They wrote a poem, and she said, ‘You know, it’s just been sitting here. I didn’t know what to do with this for the last five years, and now that I have somewhere to submit it, I feel like I can finally release and let go of this trauma I’ve been holding onto. Whether or not it gets published.’” Marshall said of one submission that will be in the issue. “It’s a beautiful poem, but I think it just speaks to the power of being able to like people have these stories. We need to share them; there’s something healing about sharing it, and also to read it or receive it and see yourself in that can be really powerful and healing.”
That submission was one of the first Marshall received and she said it brought her to tears – as have so many of the submissions she’s received.
“The breadth and depth of the experiences reflected in these art pieces are amazing,” she said. “I felt really inspired.”
The first issue of Me’ugelet is set to be released in mid-August, in time for the Jewish month of Elul,
“For Elul, this is a month that we’re leading into the new year, leading into Rosh Hashanah, and it’s a time when there’s in the Jewish calendar where we do a lot of reflection,” Marshall said. “There’s kind of taking an accounting of like the past year and what’s changed, what’s new, how do we want to enter into this newness. And there are so many themes with Rosh Hashanah: The creation of the world that is similar to this pregnancy and creation of a life.”
The first issue has more than 20 contributors from across the United States, as well as Israel and the United Kingdom. Pre-orders are open for the first issue, and Marshall has seen them coming in. Artists are sharing with their networks and Marshall has invited in sponsors – aligned organizations who would “appreciate being connected to the audience,” like the Jewish Fertility Foundation.
“It’s really a full mosaic,” Marshall said of the submissions in the first issue. “Each experience was unique, and that matters. Our Jewish stories about these things matter, and our voices do.”
Marshall is planning the next issue for Nisan – in time for Passover – which Marshall said has symbolism in the splitting of the seas/birth canal parallel.
“Navigating the desert, the wandering of the 40 years can often be likened to the first 40 days after birth – that postpartum period,” she said. “We call it the fourth trimester, where we’re also like searching and wandering and trying to survive. I liked that symbolism as well.”
It’s currently available for pre-order with a “pick your own price” model. Marshall has paid an honorarium to all of the artists and writers in the issue.
“It’s really important to me that the publication is open to folks,” she said. “But 100 percent of [of what people choose to pay] will be funneled to the artist contributors.”
Marshall works as the engagement and education director at Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Minnesota, although this is a side project for her. She has done a lot of at JFCS to create programs and opportunities looking through a Jewish lens at pregnancy, birth and postpartum.
“To invite people into that sense of Jewish connection even before their baby has arrived has been a really meaningful kind of on-ramp into Jewish life and community,” she said.
The creation of the zine fills a void in this topic area. Marshall said she thinks not much had been available because it’s a topic area that many consider more intimate or private.
“There really is so much historical and ancient Jewish wisdom on these pieces, and my sense is that most of that had been kind of passed down in the family or community circles, rather than this kind of public sphere,” she said. “And I think just a lot of our like close circles around that have changed or disappeared, and so we’re needing to build that up a bit more.”
Marshall said that while there is so much Jewish wisdom in this space, the wheel doesn’t need to be recreated.
“We can be contributing to that lineage,” she said. “I love the idea of 200 years from now, someone’s newly pregnant, and they’re like, ‘What’s the Jewish wisdom about this? Where can I go?’ Then they find Me’ugelet as this archive space of what people were feeling and thinking around these topics in 2026.”