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Posts by Laura Ben-David

Mini-Layers Profile: #coronastories #pesach #LauraBenDavid

By Laura Ben-David | April 7, 2020 | 0

(1/2) “We were really lucky. My son had returned from a trip abroad with buddies and they were able to stay in the vacation apartment of one of the guys for their mandatory quarantine. We took it seriously, but back then we really thought it was just a formality. When the first one of the…

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The Layers Project Magazine
Today on Yom Haatzmaut- people all over the US are Today on Yom Haatzmaut- people all over the US are receiving their very first copies of “Layers; Personal Narratives of Struggle, Resilience, and Growth From Jewish Women.” So appropriate to begin this journey today- a day about celebrating Israel and a book that is a love letter to the holy land. Usually people say “don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” But I beg you- judge this book by it’s magnificent cover. The content inside is just as regal, respectful, deep, meaningful, and loving. I haven’t gotten my copy yet- so please send and share as many pictures as you can with us!! If you haven’t ordered your copy yet- go for it!!! Israel, Canada, and UK- just a few short weeks and it’s on it’s way!
Tonight marks the beginning of Yom Hazikaron, the Tonight marks the beginning of Yom Hazikaron, the day of remembrance for the fallen soldiers and terror victims of Israel. As a relatively new olah, this day reminds me of a stark reality. When I reflect on the Israeli culture, I think about the toughness and love, the grit and determination. People here live with such vibrancy. I've learned from living in Israel that good food, a roof over my head, people to love, faith in our hearts, and a land to live in-- these complex basics bring so much goodness to life. But what what lies beneath the surface here is so much pain and loss. So many families across this amazing country have lost loved ones. Those that have served in the military- many on the cusp of adulthood- and dying to keep the rest of us safe. To ensure that we still had a country to call our own. Families have been ripped apart by acts of vicious terror. Civilians going about their daily lives, leaving behind broken hearts and emptiness that can never be filled. Today we stand alongside each other in mourning. We grieve our sons, our daughters, our mothers, our fathers, our brothers, our sisters, our grandparents, our relatives, our friends. We mourn their absence, the wounds that never go away and never stop bleeding. We mourn the people we lost and the people they never got to be, the lives they never got to live. They say that home is where the heart is. Today we reflect on what it means to be home, and the heartbreak that is embedded in our residence and resonance. We pay tribute to all those who paid the ultimate price and their loved ones. We hold them so close; with awe, with gratitude, and with a commitment to make their lives and losses meaningful. And never forgotten. May we know no more sorrow. #yomhazikaron #israel #lifeinisrael #remember #mourning #jewishfamilies #idf #soldiers #terrorism #civilians
“They loaded us back onto the cattle cars. They “They loaded us back onto the cattle cars. They had to push us in, but we thought that anything could be better than the ghetto. We were stuck in these tiny cars for two and a half days. There was no food or water. It was torture. It was hell. Several people tried to jump out of the cars and landed on the tracks. I don’t know if they all survived the fall. ⠀ There was a man in the corner of the car who stopped moving. We thought he was sleeping. When we went to inspect, my mother pushed us away from him. She didn’t want us to see a dead man. ⠀ We were packed in the car so tightly, that we had to take turns sitting down. There was a little window high up in the car, and we tried to look out the window to see where we were going. We tried to shout for help. When we got to stations we cried and begged for assistance or water. None of the people at the stations would approach the cars to help us. They were terrified of the soldiers.⠀ We had no idea where we were, but everyone was told to get out of the cars. It was night and the whole place was lit up with bright lights. There were massive gates hovering over us. There were wires everywhere; electrical wires that would electrocute you if you touched them. Some people touched them because they didn’t know. Some people touched them because they wanted to. ⠀ ⠀ We didn’t yet know the fresh hell that was Auschwitz.” ⠀ Today on Yom Hashoah, we are sharing an excerpt from the profile of Leah Klein featured in our new book, “Layers: Personal Narratives of Struggle, Resilience, and Growth from Jewish Women” - for the full essay click the linktree in the bio.⠀ ⠀ Leah passed away just a few months ago in January 2021. She gave us the tremendous gift of her story, just a year before her passing. It was an honor to know her and learn from her. ⠀ ⠀ Please say a prayer for the aliya of the neshama of Rachel Leah Bat Avraham z”l.⠀ ⠀ #thelayersproject #thelayersprojectmagazine #yomhashoah #holocaust #shoah #auschwitz #cattlecar #ghetto #jewishwomen #layersbook #layers #jewishbook #survivor #testimony
This past year was a huge wake-up call for me. ⠀ This past year was a huge wake-up call for me. ⠀ ⠀ Like many others, the hustle of my life went completely still a year ago. ⠀ ⠀ I was moving at a fast pace and rarely took the time to stop and be in the moments that I was living. I would accomplish something and already be moving onto the next goal. I was always looking for what would come after. ⠀ ⠀ It was hard for me to sit in my own body. In chronic illness I taught myself to keep going through pain. I had to ignore my body’s constant bids for attention to function. I chose to push through anxiety and depression without seeking the root cause. ⠀ ⠀ I’ll never forget the stillness of last Seder night. ⠀ ⠀ I looked out my window onto the usually bustling Jerusalem highways and they were deserted. ⠀ ⠀ Completely empty. Not a soul. ⠀ ⠀ No one moved. ⠀ ⠀ The world around us had slammed shut and there was nothing left to do but be, and pray that we would make it through this pandemic. ⠀ ⠀ Intellectually, I know it was a year ago, but in pulling up the memory my body can remember that stillness. ⠀ ⠀ Since then, life has been a roller coaster- watching the virus creep across the globe and then into my own family. Battling fear for myself and my loved ones. The push and pull of my children’s needs and making space for my own. Moments of peace and of serenity, hard-earned. Hours spent supporting my friends and family, my Layers community. Blocks of time when I was investing in my own mental health. ⠀ ⠀ I learned so much about resilience during this time. ⠀ ⠀ Most of all I learned the power of the pause. The importance of being in the moment. The stillness of seeking my own relationship with God in the chaos of an uncertain world.⠀ ⠀ This weekend will we once again approach Seder night. In my preparations, I haven’t stopped moving in weeks, but all of a sudden tonight, once again, I felt that stillness. My mind and muscles remember. ⠀ ⠀ I am reminded to turn inward. To seek those things once more. To get rid of the internal chametz of noise and self-doubt. ⠀ ⠀ Sometimes the lights need to go out before you reach to light the candle. ⠀ ⠀ There can be so much healing in that flame. ⠀ ⠀ #Thelayersproject #pesach2021 #jewis
Gett Refusal Is Abuse.⠀ ⠀ There are currently Gett Refusal Is Abuse.⠀ ⠀ There are currently thousands of Agunot around the world. ⠀ ⠀ Thank God, people are finally starting to talk about it. ⠀ ⠀ Over the last few weeks over social media, women and men have been joining together to address and fight the injustice of women being held hostage by their husbands in dead marriages. ⠀ ⠀ For the few we are hearing about, there are sadly many more. ⠀ ⠀ When a woman becomes an “aguna”- a chained wife- the husband refuses to sign the bill of divorce and allow his wife to move on from the marriage. ⠀ ⠀ When a man refuses to give his wife a gett, he uses his power to control whether or not she can remarry, have children, or be free from him. ⠀ ⠀ Gett-refusal is a form of domestic abuse. Domestic abuse is a pattern of controlling behavior in order to assert power over another person. ⠀ ⠀ Domestic abuse is unacceptable.⠀ ⠀ We know that abuse is not only about bruises and physical violence. ⠀ A common reason to withhold a gett is to use it as leverage. Using a gett as a bargaining tool is a form of extortion. ⠀ ⠀ We know the severe impacts of emotional abuse, financial abuse, verbal abuse, and sexual abuse. ⠀ ⠀ It is time that we as a community reckon with the trauma and pain caused by gett-refusal. ⠀ ⠀ Gett-refusers are often enabled by the support or silence of their community, family, and friends.⠀ ⠀ We can no longer be silent.⠀ ⠀ We can no longer accept this status quo.⠀ ⠀ Thousands of women are waiting to be freed.⠀ ⠀ Join us in saying out loud:⠀ ⠀ “Get refusal is abuse.”⠀ ⠀ And we will not tolerate it anymore.⠀ ⠀ ⠀ #gettrefusalisabuse #freeagunot #preventagunot #freechava #thelayersproject #thelayersprojectmagazine #jewishwomen #standup #silentnomore
"It’s been three years since the roller coaster "It’s been three years since the roller coaster in my life started rolling.⠀ ⠀ If you would have asked me five years ago where I would find myself today, my answer would be very different than my current reality. ⠀ ⠀ Being a single mom was definitely not on my bucket list. At the age of twenty-two I found myself alone, far from my birthplace and biological family, with a four-week-old baby. I could not understand how I, a likeable girl who grew up in Europe, had a great childhood, was a head counselor in camp, loved life-- found myself running away from an abusive marriage.⠀ ⠀ On the outside, my life seemed perfect. I worked in a museum and made every effort to pretend I had a beautiful, loving marriage.⠀ ⠀ But on the inside, I felt like a shmatte. ⠀ ⠀ The money I made did not go into my bank account and I was not allowed to make any decisions for my own life. I was cut off from my family and friends and felt so vulnerable and alone. My life was falling apart but I was petrified to approach someone for help. After all, if I ask for help, what would this say about me?⠀ ⠀ After things just kept getting worse and worse and my husband refused to go for therapy, I realized that no matter how hard it would be, anything would be easier than living in constant fear. I reached back out to my family and with their tremendous support, I was able to take a step towards freedom. ⠀ ⠀ Deciding to leave my abusive husband was the hardest move, but at the same time the most powerful decision I ever made in my life...”⠀ ⠀ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ Thank you to our courageous anonymous writer for sharing her story with us. The Layers Project Magazine is proud to partner with ORA- Organization for the Resolution of Agunot on this International Women's Day.⠀ ⠀ To read the full essay click the link in the bio. ⠀ ⠀ #Internationalwomensday #agunot #chained #abuse #jewishwomen #thelayersproject thelayersprojectmagazine
Excited to go live with @itsmichalkaye tomorrow ni Excited to go live with @itsmichalkaye tomorrow night, 7 pm Israel time. ⠀ ⠀ She tells her powerful and emotional story in our new book, “Layers: Personal Narratives of Struggle, Resilience, and Growth From Jewish Women.”⠀ ⠀ We are gonna talk about the stigmas of singlehood, embracing the spaces and stages we are in, and looking towards the future with hope. ⠀ ⠀ Hope you join our conversation. ⠀ ⠀ To purchase the Layers book- get 15% off by using code Layers15- use the links to purchase in the bio.⠀ ⠀ #thelayersproject #thelayersprojectmagazine #layersbook #jewishbook #stories #womensstories #singlehood #stigma #spaces #stages #hope #presale
Wishing you all a happy and healthy Purim from @t Wishing you all a happy and healthy Purim from @thelayersproject ❤️😷🥳 #thelayersproject #thelayersprojectmagazine #purim #purim2021 #covid19 #pandemic #coronavirus #masks
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