Eighteen years ago, I sat nervously in my doctor’s office. It was a cold and sterile place. Under the fluorescent lights, as I watched the clock tick by, I felt uneasy and unable to sit still. I came in because at age 36, while I was pregnant with my youngest daughter, I experienced strange numbness […]

“I grew up thinking that if you don’t do Rosh Hashana right, then terrible things are going to happen,” Jamie commented during a discussion of the High Holidays. By the nods around the room, it was clear that he wasn’t the only one who grew up with the Jewish guilt strong around this time of […]

Elul is known as the period when “the King is in the field.” Both in our tefillot (prayers) and mitzvot (commandments), Hashem is tangibly closer to us. The Shechina (God’s presence) is stronger, the kedusha (holiness) is more intense. God is more accessible at this time.   The layers of camouflage which normally mask reality and make […]

Years ago, I had just arrived at seminary in Israel and soon after I learned that a friend who was key to inspiring my journey had misrepresented herself to me. I was confused, upset and didn’t know how to continue having a spiritual experience when I had been so let down. I confided in a […]

Late Saturday night, the world received dreaded news – six Jewish hostages taken by Hamas on October 7  had been executed by the terror organization shortly before the IDF reached them. Among the slain was American citizen, Hersh Polin-Goldberg, whose parents have become symbols of an indefatigable fight to rescue their beloved son held in […]