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I am a breast cancer survivor. Before my diagnosis, I knew of individuals who had survived breast cancer and some who had died of breast cancer. None was a family member.
Project Rozana trains Palestinian health professionals in Israeli hospitals to enhance their capacity to deliver needed health care in the Palestinian territories.
As Jews, our pursuit of tikkun olam means repairing the lack of access, stigma, and quality of mental health care so that individuals on the margins can receive appropriate and necessary services...
My faith in God has never been more important to me than in the last two-plus years – ever since my son became extremely ill during his freshman year of high school.
In April 2015, when I was 15 years old, I learned that my grandfather had taken his own life after fighting with anxiety and depression for many years.
I am a lawyer. I graduated Harvard law school and have practiced law for major corporations and large law firms. It shouldn’t, therefore, have been much of a challenge when the Union for Reform...
A recent experience at the gym reminded me that, far too often, my own self-centeredness blinds me to my abundant blessings.
On the night of January 21, 2005, a drunk driver paralyzed me. I was 21 and just starting my music career.
I speak about my BRCA-related cancer to synagogue groups, Jewish day schools, and women who ask. I will continue to shout about it until everyone knows who is at risk.
Created in the Divine image, we are obligated to take care of the sacred gift of our bodies by watching how we treat them, what we do to them, and what we put into them.
Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish year, but for those of us who struggle with eating disorders or disordered eating, it can be one of the most challenging.
Who shall live, and who shall die? During this season, it is a topic to which we give much thought.
The Jewish mystics also understood that adversity, even tragedy, can hold the key to discovering one’s divine mission or calling.
April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month, and – in honor of the one million people living with Parkinson’s disease in the United States – I want to share my story.
to an array of social justice issues can make it difficult to find time to take care of my own well-being. What’s the best way to find the right balance?
It is a mitzvah to keep our bodies safe. It is a mitzvah to protect the bodies of others.
Shmirat haguf – literally, guarding the body – is the religious imperative to take care of our body and soul. Learn how you can fulfill this mitzvah in 2018.
We always lit two menorahs at Hanukkah: One used candles; the other was electric, with bright orange bulbs. That second one became a precious symbol of life and light.
Positive psychology has from its inception been unabashedly influenced by ancient philosophical and religious wisdom, embracing teachings and values found in Judaism.
As a young Jewish woman, one of the reasons I am so impassioned by this cause is because of the Jewish prayer for healing, the Mi Shebeirach.
The median age of our community is now 50 and every day some 10,000 people turn 65. This boomer cohort has helped redefine American Judaism in the last several decades.
13 Reasons Why, the new miniseries from Netflix, is filled with painful stories about sadness, bullying, rape, and suicide. Teens need their parents' help unpacking it.
My encounter with Karen was as unexpected as that of our forefather, Joseph, who, wandering, meets a “man” who knows exactly where his brothers are shepherding
With serendipity, I stumbled upon my youth Hebrew school lessons of pikuach nefesh, the concept of saving a life. It's our obligation to save lives whenever possible, even above observing the...
Like any child, growing up I relied on the support of my parents. Due to my severe learning disabilities, this support was even more essential. Although I was reading at age 4 and showed a...
I am a living, breathing example of what the ADA can do for public school students in need of services. If someone tries to tell you otherwise, share my story. It's not one in a million. It's one...
In commemoration of World AIDS Day, I'm again struck by the final lines from American playwright Tony Kushner’s Angels in America.
Just how is infertility a Jewish issue? Our community has always placed a value on raising Jewish families.
Reproductive choice advocates across the United States are cheering today after the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, deeming unconstitutional a Texas law in Texas...
In his first book, Melanoma: It Started with a Freckle, Jewish author David L. Stanley tells the story of his battle with melanoma. His humor comes through – yet he never minimizes the seriousness...
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to consider how we can help prevent and treat mental illness – including the agonizing scourge of clinical depression. It’s also the month leading up to...
Passover is usually one of my favorite holidays. I love the ritual of preparing the house, the smell of the food, and the joyous atmosphere at the seder table. But this year is different. Passover...
Purim is coming, a wild holiday that holds its place alongside Yom Kippur and Passover as a dramatic story in the Hebrew Bible’s accounts of redemption and revelation. But, unlike these other...
As a communications director, it’s my job to tell other people’s stories. However, I’m not always so comfortable telling my own. Even so, I want to tell you my dad’s story. More than that, I need...
Although I tell my hereditary cancer story again and again, it never gets old. There are always new people to hear it, and its potential to change the trajectory of just one person’s life makes the...
When in Jerusalem, I try to tap into both its earthly and ethereal realms – the Jerusalem below (Yerushalayim lamata) and the Jerusalem above (Yerushalayim lamala).
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Here's something that you probably don’t know about Israel: Israelis are very happy. In fact, they are among the happiest people in the world – far happier than Americans, and a bit happier than...
Since celebrating my 50th birthday, I have enjoyed attaining many milestones: half a century of life, 25 years of marriage, the graduation of all three of our children, and the publication of my...
I am not from the athletes.
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There was a time in my life where I had a lot of trouble sleeping. When I encountered the following Talmudic text, I empathized with Rabbi Yohanan whole-heartedly: “Rabbi Yohanan said: If one says,...
The Mi Shebeirach, a Jewish prayer for healing, has been set to music by several contemporary Jewish musicians, including the late Debbie Friedman. Her interpretation – just two short stanzas – is...
In the second year of their journey from Egypt, God instructs Moses to send 12 scouts, one from each of the 12 Israelite tribes, to spy on the Promised Land (Numbers 13 ff). Moses requests that the...
By this week's Torah portion, Parashah B'haalot'cha, it is no surprise that the children of Israel are complaining. This time the desert cuisine of manna is not to their liking, and they demand...
Shortly after I tested positive for a BRCA gene mutation in 2010, I received a large envelope in the mail. In addition to the note scribbled by the friend who’d sent it, the envelope contained all...
Passover can be overwhelming. Why not simplify it? Here are five easy tips for reconnecting with the meaning of the holiday.
Someone new recently joined my weekly atheist meet-up group, so the subject came up again: What was your former religion? When and why did you stop believing?
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The events of my son’s bar mitzvah day don't begin to tell the story of how Max arrived at that moment. Nor do they tell the story of the special connection that he, and we, have developed with the...
In 1937, my grandfather and great-uncle left Germany for America. My grandfather was young – maybe 17 – but he was mature and ready for the journey. Among his many preparations for the voyage and...
When the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed the American Jewish Congress in May 1958, he explained that “our unity is born of our common struggle for centuries, not only to rid ourselves of...
Turning on the news, it seems like all that anyone is talking about these days is the Ebola virus. From the news, to our offices, to our conversations amongst friends, we’ve been hearing every day...
