Loss
I Was Wrong, About Tisha Ba’av
I was wrong. Last year on Tisha Ba’av, I was a brand new olah, living here in Jerusalem for no…
“Born From Loss: Birkat Emunah”
This essay is brought to The Layers Project Magazine in partnership with The Eden Center. “That lady at the mikvah…She…
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,…