FAQ
How do I subscribe?
Click here.
How do Paid Subscriptions Work?
You can subscribe to Life is a Sacred Text's House of Study at the paid tiers on a monthly or annual basis.
No matter when you cancel, you will retain access for the period you paid for. Subscription management tools are fully in your hands (more on this in the questions below). This means that you are responsible for managing your subscription, and there are no pro rata refunds for access to 404 Media. After you cancel, your access will be automatically turned off once the period you paid for expires.
Q: Who owns Life is a Sacred Text?
A: You do. Life is a Sacred Text is investor-free, and 100% independent. Readers become subscribers (you can subscribe here). 100% of our revenue (which funds this project and Rabbi Ruttenberg's other writing work and unremunerated advocacy work in the community) comes from subscriptions and donations.
How do I sign in to the website?
Go to LifeIsASacredText.com and click "Sign In" in the top right corner. You will be asked to enter the email you used to subscribe. When you click "Continue," the site will send a magic login link to the email you entered.
If you are having trouble logging in, please make sure that you are not already logged in. Once you login for the first time, you will likely stay logged in for weeks or months before having to log in again on the same browser.
Can I create/use a username/password?
Currently, Ghost uses magic login links tied to email only. This is more secure than using a username/password, because we at LiST do not then need to store usernames and passwords. We understand there are pros and cons of using magic links, but this is currently the only way our service provider offers user logins.
Can I unsubscribe from the FREE newsletter?
You can, by clicking the "Unsubscribe" link that exists at the bottom of every newsletter we send.
Notably, you can stay a LiST member but not get email! Consider doing this, so that you can retain your login access, and have access to member-only posts and read them on the website.
How do I cancel my PAID membership?
To cancel, please follow the steps below:
- Log in to your account at LifeIsASacredText.com
- Click on the Account button in the top right of the screen, and click 'Change' next to your subscription category
- Scroll to the bottom, and click "Cancel subscription." In the next window, click "confirm cancellation."
You will retain access to the paid sections of the site for the duration of the period you paid for.
Because we strive to put control in the hands of the reader with this friction-free subscription management interface, we do not offer refunds unless there are extenuating circumstances—please email us at life@lifeisasacredtext.com.
PLEASE NOTE: If you click 'Manage' next to your email preferences and switch some or all email delivery off, this does not cancel your paid subscription. It simply stops email delivery.
Likewise, canceling your paid subscription will not unsubscribe you from the free email. See "Can I unsubscribe/cancel my free subscription?" for managing your email preferences.
Do your subscriptions auto-renew?
Without additional intervention from you, subscriptions auto-renew at the full rate whether you subscribed at a discount or not. We send a subscription renewal reminder email a week before annual plans are set to renew.
If I cancel my subscription before the time I paid for runs out, will I retain access to the paid areas of the website?
Yes. You can "pre-cancel" your subscription using the subscription cancellation process above if you are concerned you will forget about the auto-renewal. You will retain access to the site through the paid period. However, you will not receive a notice about this event. You will simply stop receiving the paid-tier access at that time. Your premium podcast feed will also stop working.
Can I switch from a monthly to an annual subscription, or vice versa?
Yes, you can. Note that if you switch to an annual subscription from a monthly, you will be immediately upgraded to an annual subscription, and your year of paid access will start on the date you upgrade. That means if you have time left in the month you already paid for, it will be lost; therefore, if this concerns you, consider waiting until your current paid month has nearly or totally run out before upgrading to an annual subscription.
If you switch from an annual to a monthly subscription, you will retain access to the site through the annual period for which you paid, and then will be charged monthly after that. (This is a good solution if you are concerned about losing track of annual auto-renewal, but wish to prevent gaps in service.)
I am a free subscriber, but think I am not receiving any of the emails!
We strongly recommend whitelisting the domain @lifeisasacredtext.com in your favorite email provider. So far, we haven’t had trouble with our emails going to Spam, but this should prevent that from happening.
I can't remember my login email!
Check the newsletters you have received to see what email address they are being delivered to. If that doesn’t work, email us at life@lifeisasacredtext.com and we will check the backend—it is possible you signed up with a typo; we’ll do our best to help you.
Q: How can I comment on a post?
A: Comments are available for subscribers. In order to comment, you have to subscribe. You can subscribe for free to have access to the Monday long essay or become a paid member of the Life is a Sacred Text House of Study community to get access to the Thursday interactive posts, text studies, Q&As, behind the scenes of my writing, and all the archives. Once you subscribe, you can scroll down to the bottom of any post on our website and sign in, then comment. If you are already signed in, you should see a way to comment easily.
Q: I want to subscribe to Life is a Sacred Text, but paying isn't on my can-do list now. What can I do?
A: Life is a Sacred Text is meant to be a space of learning for everyone! If you email life@lifeisasacredtext.com, we'll hook you up.
Q: I want to help the folks in the last Q!
And if you can support Life is a Sacred Text at a higher subscription level, you help to subsidize the subscriptions we give away (and we give away a lot of subscriptions). Please support this work so that we can share it with anyone who wants it. Thank you.
Can I make a one-time contribution to Life is a Sacred Text?
Yes! Thank you! Here's the tip jar.
Q: I'm not getting emails. What's the problem?
A: First, make sure you have emails turned on. Some people unsubscribe accidentally. Go to your account (click here) and click "Manage Emails":
Then make sure emails are toggled on. You want it to look like this (or, at least, the top one. You decide about the bottom):
Second, check your spam, promotions and junk folders. Search "noreply@lifeisasacredtext.com" in your inbox and make sure the emails aren't going to a separate folder. If they are, be sure to mark them as important or open and reply to an email, which will teach your inbox you like us.
If neither of these work, shoot us an email at noreply@lifeisasacredtext.com with the subject line "Subscription Issue" and we'll figure it out.
Q: I want to change my settings — change my email address, manage which emails I'm getting, update my credit card, etc. Where do I go?
A: You can manage all your settings by going to your account here: https://www.lifeisasacredtext.com/#/portal/account.
Q: Is it OK if I share the post link out in the big world? Is it OK if I quote from it?
Yes!
Some folks have asked if they may quote from the free Monday Life is a Sacred Text essays. You can! (Please understand that House of Study newsletters are meant for paying members only.) Please just provide 1) appropriate reference (citing author, title, site name) and 2) a link back to the source material at LifeIsASacredText.com (even if it was originally a Substack post–all archives are on this site now). Thank you!
