The Jewish Mom I Met Last Night
A few weeks ago a mom named Rachel wrote to tell me she’s coming to Israel from the US, and has been following http://JewishMOM.com for around 10 years. Would it be possible for us to get together?
So we met last night at a cafe in the shuk and I heard about the life of this beautiful Jewish mom from a small, far-flung Jewish community.
Rachel told me how broken she’d been 13 years ago when her boyfriend of 2 years suddenly announced he was becoming Orthodox.
She became so depressed that she lost 10 pounds that month. But then, she decided she owed it to her boyfriend and to herself to at least learn a little about the lifestyle chosen by the man she’d hoped to marry before she broke up with him.
Rachel went to some Shabbat meals. She took some classes. Her mother introduced her to some Orthodox coworkers, whom she would meet for an hour or two with a notebook and pen in hand, taking copious notes on what it means to be an Orthodox woman and Jew.
And, she told me, a miracle happened. The clouds of shock and confusion opened up. And a rare ray of clarity shone through. She wanted this too. She wanted all that beauty, light, and meaning that her boyfriend had discovered in Judaism in her life too.
A few months later she and her boyfriend got married, and they spent their first year of marriage in Israel learning Torah.
Today, Rachel’s a mother of 4 children she’s raising with the Torah and traditions that she only discovered and embraced in her late 20s. Her life as a Jewish mom is a dream that she never dreamt she’d have, come true.
WONDERFUL, B’H!