That Summer I Became Frum
Last night was the 8th-grade graduation of my fourth daughter, Moriah, which took place in the Neve Yerushalayim auditorium. I was feeling really emotional. Moriah is my 4th daughter to have attended that school, and my last. When we moved to our new neighborhood, I decided it would make more sense to send my 5th […]
Read MoreThe Father I Saw Get Hit by a Car (4-Minute Mommy Peptalk)
Why did Hashem want me to see that car accident? This past Thursday, at 7:50 in the morning, I was walking Yoni to gan when suddenly I heard a crash and then yelling. Then I saw a young man lying in the middle of the street, in front of a car. I walked over to […]
Read MoreThe Terror Orphans’ Matchmaker
I wrote earlier this week about the moving wedding of two orphans of terror this past Sunday. And today I received an Email with an amazing footnote about how this match came to be. One Family founder Chantal Belzberg wrote to tell me that, in fact, the couple met over 15 years ago through One […]
Read MoreThe Lost Boy at the Amusement Park
Yesterday, on the mothers-sons trip to the mini-amusement park, I was talking with three other mothers beside the bouncy castle while our 4-year-old sons jumped and played inside. When it was time for us to get going for the group’s pre-bus popsicle, one of the little boys ran up to me with a face full […]
Read MoreThe 35-Year-Old Bride Became a Mother of 5
This morning I traveled with my four-year-old Yoni on an end-of-year mothers-sons trip to an amusement park near Jerusalem. While I’ve been kicking and screaming for weeks about how I didn’t want to give up a day to do this, in the end (after I discovered that none of my older daughters would be available […]
Read MoreWhy I Get Stressed Out at the Dentist (Clue: It’s Not What You Think)
Sitting in my dentist’s chair yesterday, I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. And not because I share the wide-spread fear of dentists. I’m not afraid of dentists, I suspect because I have what I think of fondly as dental “yichus.” While, to the best of my knowledge, there were no great rabbis in […]
Read MoreUnder the Chuppah of 2 Orphans of Terror
In 2002, the mother and father of Avigdor Gavish were brutally murdered when Palestinian terrorists broke into the family’s home. Just four months later, the mother and father of Ayelet Dickstein were also brutally murdered by a terrorist while on their way to spend Shabbat with relatives. A decade and a half later, Avigdor and […]
Read MoreWhat I Said to the Mom Getting Divorced (3-Minute Mommy Peptalk)
Reminding myself, in the age of social media, how important it can be to help a single person. This morning I saw a mother I see several mornings a week at gan drop-off and pick-up. She looked unusually lovely this morning, in a long flowing floral dress. So I told this mother, whose name I […]
Read MoreDos and Don’ts from the Mother of an OTD Son by Moishe’s Mother
I read this letter on Shabbat in Family First, and have been thinking about the hard-won and brilliant advice it contains ever since. I think this letter should be required reading for ALL mothers of teenagers (and older) whether they are OTD* [have left the Torah path] or not. Because our growing and grown kids […]
Read MoreJewish Women Sing “Ori, Arise”: In Memory of Ori Ansbacher HY”D
Last night I attended my daughters’ end of year dance performance, which included a song I’d never heard before that brought tears to my eyes. This song, based on a poem written by Ori Ansbacher HY”D (translation below) was performed in Ori’s memory by the gifted musician Ruchama ben Yosef along with hundreds of other […]
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