Loss
My Mother’s Kaddish
.יִתְגַּדַּל וְיִתְקַדַּשׁ שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא Waking in the dark beneath the heavy cloak of dawnֿ I wait for the soothing rhythm…
Widowhood as a Single Mom
The hardest thing I have ever done was when I had to tell my five year-old daughter that her father…
Nikki’s Story: Humans of Judaism
(1/6) “Grief” “Around this time of year, in November of 2013, just before Thanksgiving, my father passed away suddenly. I…
Ilui Neshama: Elevation of the Soul
On Rosh Hashanah, I saw holiness in the sanctuary. It was a most beautiful moment in its rawness, its honesty,…
Aliza’s Story: My Body, My Babies
(1/7) “Unpretty” At the time, I felt very unpretty. I felt in order to be pretty, you had to…
When G-d Says No: Coping with Miscarriage
When we found out I was pregnant, we were overjoyed. We couldn’t wait to share the news. In line with…
Learning and Growing From a Life Fully Lived
I will never forget the text that I received on January 12th, 2014: “I know that you can’t get texts…
Remembering My Mother
When I was eight, my mother went back to work. She’d been a stay-at-home mom from the time I was…
A Legacy of Words
On April 22, 2010, I defined myself primarily as a mother of four young children and a wife of a…
Searching for My Father’s Legacy
My mother was and is what we now respectfully call a stay-at-home-mom. Back then though she was “just” a housewife,…
My Father Taught Me How To Pray.
I have vivid memories of my father standing in the front corner of our dining room donning his tallit, or prayer…
Barbara’s Story: Giving Care, Giving Love
(1/5) “Decisions Needed to Be Made” “It was a reaction to the circumstance. I was trying to get my parents…