“May you be inscribed in the Book of Life.” In Tishrei, this is our collective goal and wish. There is no guarantee our wish will be granted, as we are reminded again and again that some of us will die by fire, by water, by the hand of God, by the hand of man. As… Read more »

This year, I had the privilege of celebrating my bat mitzvah at Ansche Chesed. At 30 years old, I stood in front of my family, friends, and Jewish community as I read from the Torah and reflected on my womanhood and the values I hope to bring into my adult life. Thinking about that weekend… Read more »

Song for Love Together As the heart opens up, it embraces the world, and with a great big shout to sing for love. Say: everything’s possible, it is not too late, the dawn has risen already (it’s) time for love. Together, heart to heart we’ll open, and we’ll see, the light in the sky. Together,… Read more »

My daughter, son-in-law, and two young children, who had made Aliyah a year earlier, left Israel days after October 7. They returned to Israel about six weeks later to resume their lives. Over this past year, I’ve struggled to live with the daily news from Israel, the intense resurfacing of antisemitism here and world-wide, and… Read more »

We each found ways of coping during this terrible year; these were my ways: I simplified my life.  I leaned into what I learned from my mother – how routine frees the mind to focus on bigger issues, how a mind unclogged with the mundane has agility, more easily focusing on the bigger picture. I… Read more »