By Mindy Rubenstein Gail Halpert takes daily walks around her tree-lined Mandarin neighborhood, sometimes a mile or longer. She dresses beautifully, puts on her necklace and earrings, and carefully does her hair. She loves to cook, especially things like hearty soup and other favorites from her childhood in Romania, where her family grew fruits and … Continue reading Gail Halpert: Finding Light in the Darkness
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Learning to Love Your Body
Everything we do as Jews, even the seemingly mundane things like healthy eating and exercising, becomes part of something so much higher when we do things with the right intentions of serving Hashem.
JUDAISM DIDN’T FIX MY LIFE, I NEED TO DO IT
I thought I was broken. It was an emotional pain sometimes so deep it consumed me. I thought that when I discovered Torah Judaism 12 years ago, it would fix me. Those thoughts that exist in your mind that tell you that you’re not enough, you don’t have enough; I had believed them. And so I searched … Continue reading JUDAISM DIDN’T FIX MY LIFE, I NEED TO DO IT
Etched in Silver on the Soul
By Manya Goldstein Eight years ago, I landed in Israel for the first time and spent a phenomenal summer connecting to my heritage and giving back to the land on NCSY GIVE (Girls Israel Volunteer Experience), a Jewish youth group program. I am eternally grateful to NCSY for giving me such a special inaugural Israel … Continue reading Etched in Silver on the Soul
Jewish Book Club
By Emily Rosenbaum My book club journey began seven years ago when I went with Rebbetzin Henny Fisch of Etz Chaim Synagogue on the JWRP (Jewish Women's Renaissance Project) trip to Israel as a madricha (youth counselor). A few years later, a non-observant woman who went as a participant wanted to go back as a … Continue reading Jewish Book Club
My Dance Journey as an Orthodox Jewish Girl
By Shani Weinmann As a little girl, I did what many girls do as soon as they learn to walk: I took ballet. While the other girls in the class dropped out one by one, I stuck with it. I continued to study under two amazing women and despite my many frustrations, my mother (a … Continue reading My Dance Journey as an Orthodox Jewish Girl
How COVID-19 helped me settle into myself and my community
By Mindy Rubenstein There's a Jewish saying: Meshane makom, meshane mazal. Which means, one who changes her location, changes her luck. After moving quite a few times -- in Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida -- I have learned that this applies not just to our physical place, but also to where we find ourselves mentally, … Continue reading How COVID-19 helped me settle into myself and my community
Integrating My True Self into Religious Life
By Mindy Rubenstein I feel like I hover between two worlds. I discovered a more traditional form of Judaism as an adult — already married with children — and jumped in with my entire being. Over the next 13 or so years, I tried to quickly learn and absorb the mitzvos and to emulate the … Continue reading Integrating My True Self into Religious Life