At the end of this heartbreaking year, I wrestle with grief. Sometimes, grief comes as a physical sensation, an outpouring. Sometimes, as a set of questions. What do we do with grief? How do we, as vulnerable humans, manage this predicament we are in? How should we, as Jews, live our lives in this unbearable… Read more »

On October 7th, the world shattered… and on October 13th my first nephew, little Dovid Shapiro, arrived. He was certainly one of the cutest, smartest and most angelic newborns ever, and being born to my 45-year-old brother and his wife, a long-awaited gift. But how could I possibly even feel a spark of joy, while… Read more »

It is no great revelation to say we are living through phenomenally complicated times, both here in New York and in Israel.  But complicated doesn’t feel like an adequate adjective.  My husband and I studied at the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem as part of the Community Leadership Program this past June.  For the first time… Read more »

It hasn’t even been a year since I stood in front of the congregation on Yom Kippur to reflect on my experience in the Yom Kippur War fifty years prior. The following week, I went to Israel to visit family for Sukkot. On Simchat Torah, October 7th, 2023, at 6:30 AM, we woke up to… Read more »

This past year has been full of tremendous joy and unbound sorrow – exquisite light and dreadful darkness. In April I went to Israel and helped to remove floral deformations from several mango orchards in the north. I was in Haifa for Shabbat on April 13. I travelled to Tel Aviv the next morning, trying… Read more »