A Selfless Mom’s Awakening
Yesterday, JewishMOM Tamar Stone left the following wow of a comment:”This past Shabbos i was sitting and feeling very sorry for myself. My internal dialogue kept telling me that i was losing my sense of ‘self’ after all these years of being a wife and mother. I heard that little voice keep whispering that i […]
Read MoreWhen Her DH Was On a Psychiatric Ward (3-Minute Mommy Peptalk)
When a young mother’s husband spends 2 months on a psychiatric ward, she brings to life the avoda of the 9 days. Right now, we are in the 9 days of mourning leading up to Tisha B’Av. This is how my teacher, Rabbi Nivin, explains why many people, including me, find feeling sad this time […]
Read MoreThe Highlight of My Shabbat Candlelighting
6 months ago, at the Geula Gathering, I saw this video below about Ner Echad, and thought it sounded cool. Thousands of Jewish women across the world praying for each other when they light Friday night candles, simultaneously donating $1 of charity to Rebbetzin Kanyevsky’s charity fund for widows and orphans. So the next day, […]
Read MoreA Mikveh’s Lady’s Extraordinary Act of Kindness
First of all, I need to tell you that I think mikveh ladies are incredible. They sacrifice their nights for very little or no pay in order to enable us Jewish women to perform an important mitzvah. Imagine what that’s like. Not being able to attend weddings or other evening simchas or events. Not being […]
Read MoreAfter I Kept the Speech Therapist Waiting for Half an Hour
Yesterday, at 4:29 I got a text message from my kids’ speech therapist asking why we hadn’t shown up for our 4 and 4:30 appointments. What 4 and 4:30 appointments?! Yes, I did remember setting up appointments. But for some reason, they weren’t on my calendar. The speech therapist was rightfully upset. Her schedule was […]
Read MoreThe Mother who Refused to Give her Baby a Pacifier
My current stage of life, as a mother of children ranging from 4-21, is complicated. As I’m sure you can imagine. But over the last few days, I’ve spent some time with young moms with little kids and toddlers and babies. And I’ve been reminded just how hard THAT was. Being a mother, like me, […]
Read MoreMy Daughter’s Rocky 1st Day at Camp (3-Minute Mommy Peptalk)
Keeping the faith under challenging circumstances. My teenage daughter started a new summer program today. I had heard from a friend that it is an incredible camp and her daughter loved it. It cost a lot of money. But if it’s that incredible, I thought, I’d sign her up. And then, this morning, at 8:30 […]
Read MoreMy Great-Grandma Jenny’s 1934 Trip to Palestine and Stalinist USSR
As I already told you, my parents have been decluttering their home this year and have been discovering all sorts of historic treasures. The most dramatic discovery, IMHO, was of a travel diary written by my great-grandmother and namesake, Jenny (Celia) Bernstein. I’ve heard some stories about this great-grandma from recorded interviews with my grandmother […]
Read MoreThe Shiva After a Child’s Tragic Death
Yesterday I got tragic news, the 19-year-old son of our former neighbors, after only 3 months in the IDF, committed su icide last week. So yesterday, a friend and I went to the shiva. I knew the father quite well from shopping at the store he owns. The mother and their late son, less so. […]
Read More20 Little Things Happy Successful People Do Differently
One of the highlights of my trips to the US every year or two is visiting a bookstore–where all the books are, get this, in ENGLISH! I could literally spend days on end there and have the most awesome time. On this year’s trip to the bookstore in Baltimore, this book caught my eye “1000+ […]
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