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Are we, the Jewish people, the bush – ablaze but not consumed? Marlo Newton shares a powerful drasha she delivered on Yom Kippur this year Read More As Rosh Hashanah approaches, Em Lewin invites us to consider our capacity for forgiveness as she honours her grandmother’s story of survival. Read More “On Rosh Hashanah, all who enter the world pass before Him,” reads a passage in the Mishnah. Marilyn Shapiro reflects on our journeys through life. Read More In this heartfelt story, a curious young girl questions the fleeting nature of clouds and the deeper meanings of Judaism, seeking beauty and significance in all she sees. Read More A beautiful vignette about a Jerusalem jeweller and how they elevate jewellery with their love for Hebrew and Jewish history Read More Gail Arnoff evokes her mother’s memory through her jewels and finery, and the joy they bring to her granddaughters Read More A personal response to the question, “Is it stressful?” — reflecting on life in south Jerusalem during uncertain times. Read More After a violent attack on Miznon and the firebombing of East Melbourne Synagogue, a cancelled Jewish artist reflects on resilience, identity, and the unbreakable light of community.” Read More A raw, personal account from Jerusalem during the Israel-Iran war—where sirens, shelter drills, and maternal love collide with resilience, exhaustion, and the longing for peace. Read More In the wake of October 7, Kate Lewis reflects on the sharp, ironic reflection on how anti-Zionist activism has co-opted Jewish symbols, and slogans—turning grief into a grotesque parody. Ros Rogers reflects on a family visit to Israel amid rocket fire, safe rooms, and unwavering resilience. Read More Frances Prince offers a personal reflection from Jerusalem, where she has been facing sirens, shelters, solidarity — and the small choices that define life under fire. Read More Maggie May Moshe reflects on Shavuot, and the joy and love at the heart of discovery Read More Marlo shares an amazing find that connected her to the past, present and future all at once Read More Rebecca Hoffman shares the unexpected joys of starting over. Our first vignette in the ‘Reinvention’ series. Read More Marilyn Shapiro shares the truly remarkable story of Jewish trailblazer, Ruth Gruber. Read More Atida Lipshatz reflects on her growing Hebrew vocabulary in the shadow of war, and the versatility and spirit of one very Israeli phrase. Read More The Jewish Mother is iconic, not incidental. In honor of Mother’s Day, Sandra Taradash celebrates this cultural treasure. Read More Marilyn Shapiro on mothers, music and memory Read More For Sharon Easton, unraveling the mysteries of her family’s history has brought new possibilities and fascinating people into her life. She writes about the transformative process of writing their story. Read More Menucha Saitowitz reflects on the mixed feelings of celebrating Israel while still at war, of seeing miracles amidst the pain and strife. Read More A leisurely stroll through the streets of Paris uncovers the hidden history of a trailblazing Jewish woman – Eva Kotchever, who built community for lesbian women in the US and Europe in the 1920-30s before meeting her tragic end in Auschwitz. Read More Two Polish Holocaust survivors from Poland. United by shared tragedies and strengthened by the love for the children they raised. Here is their story. Read More Viv Parry writes about the intersection of October 7 and her powerful work to preserve the legacy of Melbourne’s child survivors. Read More Debbie Wiener asks what it means to be free in an age of social media-fuelled antisemitism. Read More The Haggadah demands that we ask, reflect, and tell the story anew. Explore how women have done this across the generations, and why this year it is more urgent than ever. Read More The war has seeped into every interaction we have. It has become the lens through which we view the world. But it doesn’t have to be. Menucha Saitowitz shares a reflection from Israel. Read More For the first time in my life I saw the real face of anti semitism. Read More Ironically, I was rehearsing the role of Yente in a local Merimbula, NSW production of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ on 7 October 2023. Read More But when I think of the last 12 months it is the reinforcement of three parts of my identity that have stood out: my core Jewish identity, being a parent of Jewish children, and my sense of being part of a chain of (family) history. Read More The conflict in Israel and the fight against anti-Semitism continue to dominate my thoughts. In the early hours of each morning, I habitually seek news updates, articles, podcasts and social media headlines from Israel. Read More On the evening of October 6th, I boarded a plane at Ben Gurion airport. After 30 years of living in Israel, I was going home. Read More I own a lovely little Magen David pendant. My grandmother bought it for me in Israel many moons ago and I don it around my neck at the start of every year’s High Holidays. Read More Has my life changed since 7 October 2023? Irrevocably. Totally and completely. I measure what I say now, weighing up my words against what I have to lose. I choose not to argue with people who live in an echo chamber instead of embracing a more holistic understanding. I find myself fighting against polarities and binary notions in a world that has become more polarised and divisive. Read More A Palestinian flag flies above a building right in the centre of my picturesque rural town of Castlemaine. It has been there for almost a year. It demonstrates, for those who raised it, a commitment to peace, love and support for the victims of a devastating war on the other side of the planet. Read More Covid closed down my Israeli dance class permanently so I signed up for ‘Circle Dance’ which offered dances from around the world Read More I can’t get the images of the three Israeli women hostages who were released over the weekend out of my mind. Read More At the start of 2023, we decided to celebrate my son’s barmitzvah in Israel the following year. Read More Ziemba was born in the Lodz Ghetto on September 9, 1942, one day before 13,000 children under ten were to be sent to an extermination camp. Arrangements were made for the infant to be hidden in a garbage truck and smuggled outside the Ghetto where a Christian Polish farmer retrieved him and took him home to be raised as his own. Read More We usher the year out with a late Chanukah holiday, coinciding closely with Christmas Read More Zaydee loves horseradish and often tells me that it comes from mixing a horse and a radish, but he can’t fool me. Read More And speaking about Christmas music, I only learned recently many of the most popular holiday tunes were written by Jews. Read More I have become like one of Cinderella’s wicked stepsisters trying valiantly to slip an outsized foot into a glass slipper. Read More I wrote the poem in response to the Holocaust revisionism that crept into life during the pandemic when an appalling first-person essay by Canadian writer Debra Dolan compared the inconveniences of the pandemic to the way Jews must have felt when hiding for their lives in the Holocaust. Read More Erwin remained in Paris before boarding the ship in Le Havre, France, on August 29, 1938. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, marking the beginning of World War II. Read More Nonno Betta, Umberto’s 93-year-old mother who lived above the shop and founded the restaurant, was herself a survivor. Read More Step by step, I came to understand myself better, to connect more deeply with the spiritual rhythms of my life. Read More Saturday night. My husband returned from shul and tried to turn the key in the lock —the same key he had used earlier in the day. But the key would not turn. Read More If I could be at my grandparents’ house on a Friday before dusk I could watch my grandmother light the Sabbath candles. Read More Throughout our history, we have experienced plenty of hardship, but we have flourished and thrived, and we will again. Read More In a village near the Zuider Zee we visited a tulip farm where acres of cut tulips were piled in heaps — luminous purple, blue, orange, crimson, yellow, green–like splendid dead parrots. Read More It is feeling isolated and afraid , yet more determined and united than ever. Read More Even though his name is spoken often in my family of origin, none of us has ever met Ezekiel Coloneo. He died in 1753. Read More Reading and travel are two of the greatest pleasures in life. The chance to combine the two is a dream come true Read More One cannot begin to imagine what these young concert goers went through when they realised that they were being chased and gunned down by terrorists. Read More Israel and Hamas, like the monsters in the painting, point fingers at each other, and each blames the other for the terrible situation. Read More Parashat Chukat and the current events in Israel, Gaza, and the entire region teach us about the profound impact of loss and the importance of transition. Read More If there can be said to be a silver lining, or possibly a mere silver thread since the horrors of October 7, it is the demonstration of civic responsibility of the thousands who volunteered, showing up when the country was in the depths of crisis. Read More Larry and I brought our then eight-year-old granddaughter to her first concert performance. Read More In retrospect, using that now collector’s set of Loony Tunes was not such a great idea. Read More On her way to class Lior passed a group of kaffiyeh-clad students putting up tents in the leafy-green courtyard of Columbia University Read More My own history of mispronunciations started young. Read More I am uncomfortable with the phrase, bring them home. It seems to place the onus on the brave Israeli soldiers. Let our people go, might be more apt. Read More I shared with them that I was in a bomb shelter for 3 days after the October 7 attack and how the word “genocide” deeply affects me as a Jewish student who is also the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor. Read More Jewcy explores the diverse backgrounds and experiences of being a Jew, queer; and for some, having a non-traditional gender identity. Read More Lou was born a Jew during a period of extermination, hidden by a resourceful mother, taught Polish by a non-Jewish Polish family, taught German by nuns in a convent, recovered from TB, and taught Yiddish and right from wrong by his parents in a German DP camp. Read More Yesterday my 87-year-old mother and I spent the afternoon taking down Hamas posters. Read More …one of the few silver linings to this tragic war is the quiet support of Israeli Arab citizens, including Muslim Israeli’s towards their fellow Jewish citizens. Read More I am for the first time in my sixty years on this earth, fifty five of them living in Australia feeling a sense of unease, an anxiety that being Jewish in this country is not what it used to be. Read More The distrust of women continues to inculcate countless narratives, rendering moot experiences like Mia’s and Amit’s as ambiguous in the absence of the requested excruciating detail. Read More Given the times, our community needs to reflect and be inspired. More than ever, women today need to acknowledge: We are standing on the shoulders of giants!We need to emulate their strength, courage, and compassion and match it with our own. Read More She was so beautiful—like a poem silenced and given no name. She was just what the world fears most—a woman put together, need unmet, yet cleverly resolved and blameless. A Jewish woman who’d survived numerous rewrites and script changes. Read More I was never comfortable with the identity of victim associated with being Jewish. Yes, we were victimized in the past. But today, the wholesale destruction of all of Gaza by Israel shifts the narrative. Now we are seen, globally, as victimizers. Read More Lou Gehrig’s Disease. A slow, degenerative death sentence. Charlie refused intravenous feeding. He would rather starve. Read More The Anne Frank House revealed a photograph of a roundup happening right on our doorstep. The Diary had gripped me as a child, but that photo chilled my adult heart. Read More How might we collectively, use this unique moment in time, to explore, learn and share innovative ways of supporting start-up entrepreneurs, not just in Israel, but globally, to focus on serving humanity, today and in the future? Read More The Purim story is “dependent on a female heroine taking a stand against a patriarchal monarchy, thus linking Jewish liberation directly to the feminist experience.” Read More As a child of Holocaust survivors, I am indeed a Jew learning to live anew in a hostile world. Whilst going to Israel intending to provide strength and support, I returned strengthened that I am not on this journey alone. Read More She began to lead the crowd in the infamous, dreaded chant: “from the river to the sea/Palestine will be free”, which was echoed by the entire audience at full volume. Read More Hamas is equally a threat to Palestinians seeking their own homeland as it is to the future of Israel. Read More Israel has fascinated me since my youth. I came of age at the time of the Six Day War. It was a time of heroes and miracles. Read More And then, the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel occurred and its unrelenting aftermath. Consequently, pretty much everything I was covering curriculum wise felt trivial, except the teaching of this play. Read More ‘Japan?’ Rachel is still utterly confused. ‘Why didn’t you tell me, wait. You haven’t answered my question. Why have you been invited to support these Jewish refugees? Read More I always felt safe in America. This was my land. Just like in the song, her purple mountains rang out the music of the country in my soul. Read More I have several fewer friends now, and some of unknown status because they never said a word to me since the conflict started and I’m afraid to ask. Read More The pendulum had not yet swung hard enough left to erase me and my lived experiences of racism and hate. Read More Just like the roses in The Broken Jar, he hopes his life and legacy will reflect integrity, unity and harmony. Read More Despite life being turned upside down since 7 October, everyone I met had found a way to continue living, to find any silver linings, the cracks of light, to help others they considered in a worse position than themselves… Read More Now more than ever “Her” story is vital to the collective healing of sexual violence of Israeli women, children, babies, and men at the hands of Hamas terrorists. Read More These acts of violence are unspeakable – and the failure to acknowledge them is a further violation; a double assault. Read More Once in Palestine Dora set about trying to find premises to open her own health spa and in 1935 she realised her dream and opened the doors to her vegetarian health centre. Read More Now, 2190 years later, Jews are facing another enemy whose goal is to wipe Jews off the face of the earth. Read More Senior year, I go to Israel, I hide in a bomb shelter fearing for my life as Jihad aims bombs at the city my family has lived in for 40+ years. I am afraid. Read More Bring balance if you want to help. Help fight the terror that maintains the problem. Read More And HOW, how in 2023 are we still in this place where they all hate us? Have we learned nothing from history about senseless hate and about good versus evil? Read More Being together, it is what Jews do. Every aspect of Jewish life is designed around the communal experience. When we mourn, we gather in a minyan to say Kadish. Read More This particular year, my year of kaddish for my mother, how do I sit in this shul and not feel in every part of me her presence beside me, her reading the prayer for Australia or the prayer for peace as if they were theatre pieces. Read More But this is not a cookbook. It’s a history of our mother’s cooking aspirations throughout her married life… Read More Some women inherited romantic notions of what it means to be a mother and reality catches up to them quickly. Read More What happened to my father when he was a kid scared me, and it made me angry….What do you do with all that fear and anger? Revenge is nice but change is better. Read More This is NOT a cookbook! I had been working on this book since March 2020, and I knew that the chosen title best reflected all those months of dealing with the pandemic. Read More Jews are survivors, one of our strongest attributes and part of our DNA. Hawaiians who survive their tragedies are known as Me ola and are people of Kupa-always standing firm and steadfast. Read More Rebecca wasn’t a hero. She didn’t do anything that you’d normally write about in history books but there was something in her story about trauma, migration, hereditary, survival and healing that felt important. Read More Some may have questioned my choice but to me it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. Read More Mikveh is a somatic experience, bringing together the purity of our body with the beauty of our soul. Read More Last year my mama and her best friend concocted a plan. They were lamenting that both their children were so wonderful and so brilliant but that they were both so single… Read More Not long after, I trained as a Laughter Yoga leader. I became an expert extolling laughter’s virtue to anyone who’d listen. That was until a distinctly un-funny time in my life—a bowel cancer diagnosis at age forty-two. Despite there being nothing humorous about cancer, I knew deep within that laughter was inextricably bound to my experience. The moment had arrived to practice what I preached. I just needed time (and a couple of major operations) to connect the dots. Read More A universal language, across societies we guffaw, chuckle, chortle, howl, snigger, roar, snort, titter, hoot, whoop, snicker and cackle. Our cultural background shapes our laugh-print. Read More I chose the university of life: Israel, USA, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe. I wanted information, answers, knowledge. And I searched and searched. When Leah Boulton goes to an ultra-Orthodox Jewish wedding she completely “frums up”. She covers her exuberant red hair and dresses neck to knee in the style of those communities. Read More Non-Jews are sincerely committed to responsibility and reconciliation of their nation’s horrible past. Read More At the war’s end, my grandparents sought details about their families only to discover that everyone was gone. Buba’s parents she was informed had been taken to a forest and shot. Read More One cannot dispute, however, that every single soul that is visible in this picture standing on the deck of this rusted tub eventually found refuge and composure. Read More I started riding lessons in 2019 as an adult and my soul immediately responded with love for these beautiful animals. Read More I look tenderly at inanimate objects. As if they somehow embody my parents. By giving them my concentrated attention and gentle touch, I am giving my parents the same. Read More There’s room enough in your life for all kinds of people. Act smart. Take risks. But if you are too smart to take the risk or too risky to play it on the safe/smart side, surround yourself with the other — it will make you a more rounded person Read More Spiritually and physically, the month represents the shift from darkness to light…The Purim story deals with a shift from death to life. Read More In both stories, the Jewish people are redeemed thanks to the efforts of a single individual…Rather than shirk from this responsibility, they set an example of leadership through the ages. Read More I can’t tell you how many times someone has had no problem in telling me that I don’t look Jewish. What does a Jewish woman even look like? Am I supposed to have a big nose? Is it my petite features that throw them off? Read More When our family was asked to participate in the first ever Brothers for Life (BFL) delegation to Australia, we had no idea that these eight days would prove to be life-changing for everyone involved. Read More And then my daughter turned four and I couldn’t believe it. How was she four already? Where had time gone? Read More I didn’t understand at that time that in all that excruciating pain and suffering, releasing and tears, my body had its own natural way. My body knew. I stayed with the grieving, the pain and with whatever my body needed to do at that moment. Read More In Poland, I discovered the importance of carrying on Jewish traditions for those who no longer can. Read More Each volunteer was allowed to “adopt” a child to play with after work hours. I adopted you. We sat outside on the front lawn and sometimes you smiled or even laughed. Read More May 2022 saw the peaceful transfer of power from the incumbent Coalition to the Labor Party. No cries of a stolen election were heard even by the most disappointed in the outcome. Read More Soon after, Barnes and Noble, as well as Apple, removed the material. Amazon, however, had not. Read More In the space carved between us that travel has created , it is easier to observe what she and her friends have chosen to hold close. Read More “Come where?” I wonder, each time I listen to this song. I let Raichel’s intoxicating voice reach the deepest parts of my emotional and mental abyss. Read More By the time my friends in Australia read this, Larry and I will have finished our leftover turkey and stuffing. Read More The Civil Rights movement, the greatest social justice movement of the 20th century, would not have been as successful as it was without the support of the Jewish community. Read More We want to encourage women to seek out that precious time, to find out what they’re thinking. To be brave and share their thoughts and ideas with our community. Read More I didn’t attend my wedding. True, there was no wedding either; just a wedding dinner after a secret wedding. I was so used to living underground that I could no longer imagine living openly in the USSR. Read More My only goal was buying a cup of the famous Berthillon ice cream at its original Île Saint-Louis location. Read More My synagogue has been assisting a village of Jewish subsistence farmers in Uganda. Read More Half the men I meet have no loving person within five thousand miles. Their temperaments vary, but the dates do not. They speak their stories and I listen, breathless. Read More From his coat pocket Len produced a brown paper package and placed it carefully on the shiny table in front of them. Read More When I was growing up, in the 1950’s and 60’s, Americans spent about 10% of their annual income on clothes. Most of the fabric was milled and the garments were sewn in this country. Today, Americans spend about 3.5% of our income on what we wear. Read More I used to want nothing more than to develop some sort of immunity to the heartache that death caused me. However, now I see how much enduring these difficult experiences has given me… Read More …we don’t know what to do. To gap year or to stay put? To interstate uni or to not uni at all? These questions need answers, and we don’t have them. Read More Once a year, for 25 hours, the country stands still…One by one, children, teens and adults swarm the empty streets. They walk, ride bikes, run around, laugh and talk. Main roads, that usually have heavy traffic, become filled with bicycles, scooters and pedestrians. Read More Because one day they stop asking. And the silence is worse. And she stops talking about it. And her heart is so heavy she can barely stand. Read More Very recently, I discovered 2 letters addressed to me, amongst correspondence to my parents. They were for my 1st and 2nd birthday in 1940 and 1941. Read More So this year, as I sit down to write my list of highlights, I ask myself and everyone reading: What do I want to remember from the past year? And what do I not want to remember because it hurts, but know that I need to remember? Read More Writing gives me power. I feel strong when I write, and my individuality emerges. Read More Jews are not lonely men or women of faith. We are not a people of monks, nuns or hermits living alone at the tops of mountains. When we suffer, eat, pray, argue, learn, grieve or rejoice we are not alone, for better or worse, we do it together. Read More So many things could have gone wrong with the mural, but it survived through fate and circumstance. It’s not just a surviving remnant. It’s a surviving piece with an astonishing history. Read More We want to hear your stories of courage. Jewish Women of Words invites you to submit your own experiences for publication. As we approach the High Holidays send us reflections about your year, your life, your experience. Read More Is this what is must have felt like during the war when Jews could not worship? Was this what it was like being black and not allowed entry to a hotel or restaurant in the 40’s or 50’s? Read More What to do with the pain? With the need to hold up my head while holding their hands? How to settle into to life as a single parent? Read More With tenacity, chutzpah and respect, she graciously texted the teacher sharing her concern… Read More We must know the difference between high voltage work deadlines and adults behaving badly. Instead, l reward myself with peace. Read More I am a believer that everyone needs help carrying their ‘backpack’ at some point in life. The Social Blueprint mitigated two of the most significant challenges: Asking for help and knowing where to look for support. Read More Without citizenship, a stateless individual has no legal rights or access to any services or privileges. We know the fate of the stateless Germans during World War II… Read More I am asking our Australian Jewish community to be a comfortable space for all Jewish people, regardless of how many mitzvot they keep, and their partners. Read More Mothers in the yeshiva world told me that they believe a woman’s role is to have “baby after baby,” just like their husbands’ role is to learn “page after page of Gemara.” Read More Children need a strong sense of identity, I’m told. They need to be proud of their heritage. If they have a strong sense of who they are, they can be more resilient. Read More For thirty years I suppressed my grief. I took on the role of caretaker for my family. My grief took a back seat. Read More On Monday, I attempted my usual walk but felt as if I were plowing through mud. By Tuesday afternoon, exhaustion was accompanied by congestion and a runny nose. Read More AJFN’s mission is to ensure that no Jewish Australian is alone on their fertility journey and that finance is never a barrier to trying to build a family. Read More On the surface, my family endured its share of hardships, but we women never gave way to depression, laziness, anger, or jealousy. Read More Despite Jewish people writing down our history and traditions, there is a void within the writing in our tradition: the voices of women. Read More “How can you trust the water to hold you afloat?” “I did it once when I was a child and then I knew.” “So you had to let go of your doubts and fears to give it a try?” Read More As of 2022, 1400 scrolls have been allocated on loan around the world As of 2022, almost every Torah has been loaned out to synagogues and museums, including thirty in Australia. Read More Stepmother was an extraordinary person, her acting abilities were so great that she knew how to be truthful, sincere and frank. Read More “Sh’ma Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adoni Echad. Hear O Israel, The Lord Our G-d, The Lord is One.” Read More In my head I thought I’d ‘live’ and then write. But why not write and then live? The most accessible books for me are about women in their thirties, but that’s just because women in their twenties are too busy dealing with imposter syndrome. My thoughts…no way? Read More …one of the critical moving parts that needs to be considered is diversity, and this is well and truly something that is not only within the control of organisers, it has to be front and centre from the moment planning starts. Read More …if you’d asked me previously what I believed to be a layperson’s most efficient participation in democracy – ballot counting wouldn’t have even crossed my mind… Now looking back, why hadn’t it crossed my mind? Read More Things that make me laugh or cry for the sheer joy of it being here: the spectacular view of the old city, a nine minute walk from our apartment Read More I can now quite confidently tell you, that all abilities line was utter bollocks. Read More Go ahead and criticise specific policies or incidents that occur – Israel has its flaws just like every other country. But when you question Israel’s right to exist we see that you have very quickly forgotten the past. Read More Aunt Vera did not recognise any religious faith. She was a freethinker…She did everything gracefully, with a certain amount of cunning and dexterity… Read More Ms. Goldberg emphatically stated that Jews are not a race. Her comment goes straight to the heart of the problem. If Jews do so well, how can they be subject to racism? Read More Fast forward to my Bat Mitzvah at our Conservative shul and I’m wondering why I am relegated to a Friday night service and no Torah reading. Read More Could we create a performance bringing writers and musicians together in a meaningful collaboration to commemorate the Shoah? We were both committed to the idea of focusing on ‘women and war’. Read More Nathan never again saw his family in the Ukraine, but my cousin remembers that his sister sent letters…The letters ceased abruptly in 1941. Read More The two women sat at the table, exposed to the wind of the open front door, and read, together, about the path, out of slavery, to the promised land. Read More I feel that the worst parts of this pandemic have passed over us. It is as if our doorposts were marked with a blessing that prevented illness and sadness from touching so many that we love. Read More …anyone who compares what is happening in Ukraine to the Holocaust is insulting the memory of the millions of men, women, children… Read More It was time to leave and the genuine appreciation for what they had experienced was written over both their faces. Read More I was highly anxious about ‘coming out as a writer.’ I’d been missing in action during all of those seminal high school English classes Read More How does a young Jewish girl visit Israel on an organised youth trip to learn about her culture, religion, and roots, only to never return home? Read More Jigzi ‘s focus is “Learning Through Creation”. We have empowered our teachers to create and search for content that is specific to their needs, whilst uncompromising on ease of access, usability and operability Read More It took no time to adjust. Thirty years in that house and I do not long for the space. Read More All the former Soviet Union ladies wore shoes like hers. Each one wobbled, but no one turned their ankle. No one fell. Read More Only one word is needed to capture the start and finish to this entire encounter, B’shert… Read More …my bubbe’s story is not much different than what is happening in Ukraine today; frightened people running for their lives… Read More Because of her sharp tongue and difficult character, grandmother often found herself in very difficult situations. One day she found herself in an extremely dangerous situation: she was about to be killed. Read More I was hooked. Who would have every believed that I had words, and sentences…waiting to burst forth out of me. Read More I know that the mission of the Chabad Lubavitch is… to do Judaism their way. I’ve chosen to do it my way. Read More I now look at my children with an understanding of why they seem wise beyond their years. Read More In this conflict declared by the few I like to think of Valentine’s Day as a day in which we acknowledge… the power of love to make us all feel fully human. Read More So at my funeral, I think I will have the last word. I will ask the mourners to dwell on the enormous gratitude that I had for my life… Read More Sometimes there are words and sometimes there just aren’t. Well, they’re in there…but they can’t seem to find their way out. Read More Where everything goes, grows to become An imaginary bullseye exists beyond the doors, Let me show you Rabbi Ralph chose that path or perhaps it chose him, but as rabbi, teacher, student, mentor, writer, activist, husband, father, grandfather he has proven to be a man who is the sum of his many many parts. Read More All Jews were registered and forced to wear yellow stars on the clothes and post the yellow stars on their homes. Read More What is a Jew seeking? A home in which to live in peace, albeit in poverty, but safe. We did not have such a house… Read More Solly had two teachers because his mother and his father could not agree on what approach to take to his coming of age. Read More But the ending of the story always made Moshe cry. Why wouldn’t G-d not let Moses into the Promised Land? Grandma, did Moses know how to read? Read More Morris Baker always wore the same crumpled jacket and had a habit of leaning toward you as if you owed him something. Read More Stilton looked at Mrs. Downey…at the waiting grave and closed up the bag. He knew he had trespassed sacred ground and stepped away. Read More I am grateful that our close encounters of the wild kind have ended well for both us and the animals. Read More Where we can all commemorate Thanksgivukkah! Read More The Hipster’s motives are still a mystery. The fear he instilled in our congregation remains… Read More My aunt informed my mother that she had found the perfect girl for me, and that all other plans, if any, had to be eliminated. Read More The Cabalist stood on the edge of his roof in new overalls and surveyed a sea of terracotta tiles. Just that week, in the storm, murky water had splattered their Sabbath tablecloth and stained its lovely white embroidered rosettes with black grime. Read More I have not been inside our temple building for more than 18 months due to the pandemic. But the real story started when the Board decided that the congregation could no longer support the building… Read More The narrative around poverty has commonly been one of “bootstraps”; the belief that anyone, with sufficient effort, can pull themselves out if only they tried hard enough, or that poverty is the inevitable result of poor choices. Read More …when I’m in trouble, when the airplane unexpectedly coughs or rolls or dips, I am the first to recite the “shema” silently, urgently: “Hear O’ Israel, the Lord our God the Lord is One.” Read More For now I will take one day at a time, continue my lockdown routine and take small steps each day. Read More As a psychologist and a writer, I believe in the power of story. For who are we but the stories we tell ourselves? And so I was drawn to write a book about some of our founding stories, the Genesis stories. Read More One of the questions often asked by readers of Les Parisiennes, is: was it justifiable for mothers working for the Resistance to compromise the safety of their children by using them as decoys in their missions? As one of those children, my emphatic answer is yes. Read More Chaya was a master educator and lifelong learner in every aspect of her life. She was driven by the most beautiful desire to make every child – and every human being – feel heard, valued, and respected. Read More I ask Dad to tell me about his Lodz childhood. I already know bits and pieces. I am hoping for some new snippets. Read More “Can anyone be taught talent?” Maya was asked. “Talent is a mystery. It is impossible to teach. That is what is given.” Read More But some things were non-recyclable, including a tattered teddy. “Maybe it’s time to say goodbye to Boomer,” I said to Larry. “No way!” he cried. “Besides, we need to keep him at least until our grandson is able to come to Florida to visit. He has to meet Boomer.” Read More But, when he found himself face to face with her at his cousin’s 21st, just when they called for the boys to take the hand of the nearest girl and lead her to the dance floor, his heart went out to her. These fleeting opportunities for connecting, in a time so challenging. We’ve lost so much this year. Only these brief, beautiful moments of exchange remain. Read More On this Yom Kippur, this Day of Atonement let us turn towards ourselves and each other with the kind of forgiveness that heals the world. The kind that doesn’t judge or shame or divide us, but rather the kind that uncovers and gathers the broken fragments of God and Light and puts them back together. Read More What is the meaning of compassion? For it seems to me, if one aspect of our lives, one attribute, that has almost disappeared in the last 18 months it is compassion. Read More I was struck by the intensity with which the woman davened, head beat slightly forward, machzor open in her hands. She wore a simple skirt, a short-sleeved blue-grey shirt and sandals. She did not wear a hat. Read More While the contest was an opportunity for budding artists to make their name, it was also an opportunity for the judges to make theirs. Read More And then there is the annual question of Yom Kippur: to fast, or not to fast? Fasting is contraindicated for ED recovery – but what does that mean for one’s neshama? Read More If we can find a way to lean into this chaos, weave it into our perceptions of reality rather than dismiss and repress it for the sake of simplicity and order – perhaps we may feel less hollow and disconnected… Read More I think when I look back at this time I will still grapple with the juxtapose of being in paradise while others suffer. Read More I don’t mind … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Six splashes (some say eight), alternating, side to side. The vessel passes from hand to hand: right, left, right. By the end of this article, I will have convinced you that this is the best article you’ve ever read. You’re gonna give me the biggest clap. It’s gonna be huge. You will all be absolutely convinced that I’m the best. Me. Read More They rush to drop children at childcare at 7:30am, then ignore their baby’s tears as they speed away to find a carparking spot at the station, so they’ll be at their desk on time. Read More … … … … Trying to fit in with different synagogues but I was always disappointed. Celebrating Judaism at home became a better choice Read More … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Your relationship with your children is like a money box: if you keep it in full (with positive interactions), the occasional withdrawal (negative interaction) won’t dent the box. Read More …
I became strong, resilient, independent. Read More
All battles depend on You
So black blaze this white fire
Until ancient letters combine Read More
I can hear angels sing as they fly over the altar
Awakening the dawn
Read More
The doors that lock behind us,
With fear lying in front of us. Read More
How to flush your skin
Of its mistakes
Drain it of the stray marks
With the whisk of my wand. Read More
Why? Because she had smiled. Read More
pushing the night bugs
from the surface
of the water Read More
