US figure skater Alysa Liu, made a remarkable comeback, winning an Olympic gold medal last week after taking two years off from her sport. Fans noticed the joy that was infused into her routine. Her story isn’t just inspirational for the regular reasons. It is also bizarrely connected to the Makom branch of our organization, […]
When Rebecca Blum walked across the graduation stage at Hofstra University this spring, donning her cap and gown, the diploma she carried bore the weight of everything it took to get there: years of healing her relationship with Judaism, and the slow, courageous process of making it through college. Rebecca grew up in New Square, […]
Nechuma Schweitzer had an upbringing that didn’t quite serve her. She grew up in a Hasidic community and something about it didn’t feel right. She didn’t connect to what she was learning and didn’t feel comfortable asking questions to get answers that might change that. She didn’t even want to get married or have children […]
Important change is happening in the Belzer Hasidic community. Unfortunately, when someone decides not to remain religious anymore, they can be cut off from their family and the community they grew up in, which often, is all they know. This doesn’t always happen, but it exists, and it is now being both publicly addressed and […]
I am a husband and father living in Lakewood, New Jersey. On the surface, I look like I live a standard religious life, but underneath, I’m on a deep journey of spiritual growth, pain and reconnection — thanks to Makom. Makom is helping me in a way I could never have imagined. I grew up in […]
It is early Shabbos morning. I’m relaxing on the couch with my ritual morning coffee, inhaling the steam, wrapping myself in the serenity of Shabbos. My siddur rests on my lap, awaiting my sacred time spent with God. Honestly, I carry God with me all the time, sometimes consciously and other times unconsciously. Sometimes I […]
