Blog
I am a Nevergiveupper by Yael Surovsky
[One of the highlights of my week is participating in a therapeutic writing workshop facilitated by Yocheved Rottenberg. And one of the highlights of that weekly highlight is hearing the beautiful poetry of fellow participant, Yael Surovsky, originally from South Africa and now Har Nof. It was only a few weeks into the workshop that Yael shared with us that her husband, Dr. Binyamin Surovsky, once a dentist with a thriving practice, suffered a devastating stroke during the COVID pandemic and was left severely disabled, unable to work or help...
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My Son’s Sweetest Kaddish by Hagai Luber, father of Yehonatan HY”D
[Hagai Luber is a father of 9 from Beit El, and founder of the religious theater company Aspaklaria. On December 25th his 24-year-old son Yehonatan was killed while fighting in Gaza]. A week ago I met with Brothers in Arms [a left-wing protest-movement for secular IDF reservists] out of a common concern for Jewish and Israeli unity. It was a meaningful encounter. We listened to one another, and even came to some tentative understandings on various issues. But no, that’s not the story I want to share. After two hours I told them I had to...
read moreThe Unplanned Homebirth of the Soldier’s Wife
There have been so many births in my neighborhood over the last few weeks (and so few women to cook for the newborns’ families, because so many women have husbands in the army and/or are already busy with war-related chesed projects) that I’ve received unprecedented amounts of last-minute emergency requests from the community coordinator to cook for families. 2 Fridays ago, I received one such urgent Whatsapp, so I added some water to my chicken soup and put together whatever I could towards a Shabbat meal and brought it over about...
read moreMeet the Babies of Battalion 8103
https://jewishmom.com/wp-content/uploads/62dd8350-1b18-4837-90cd-5cad9a5b855f-2.mp4 Since October 7th 26 babies have been born to the soldiers of Battalion 8103. Mazal tov!
read moreThe Child’s Broken Glow Stick by Rabbi Meir Simcha Sperling
A message of hope for all the broken people.
read moreMy Neighbors’ Double Simcha
Last Shabbat my neighbor Shlomit Hazan gave birth to her 3rd and 4th children, boy and girl twins. And this morning was the bris/kiddush for off-the-charts adorable Yinon Avraham and his sister Esther. Esther was named, in accordance with the Sephardic tradition to honor living relatives, after Shlomit’s mother-in-law. Savta Esther and her family have been homeless since October 7th when they were evacuated from their home in Kiryat Shmonah. And it will probably be many months before they can return home again. I told my incredibly...
read moreThree Words by Charlie Harary
I watched this last week, and since then I’ve found myself over and over, when small things or big things don’t go the way I’d hoped they would, using these 3 words. Even this morning, I got very disappointing news. And these 3 words really helped me. Thank you Hashem and thank you Charlie Harary! https://jewishmom.com/wp-content/uploads/05dadf6f-806a-41cc-9248-e5e98f37e7e5-1.mp4
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