Lessons In Emunah

Feeling more alone than at any time since arriving in New York, I looked inside myself for anything that could anchor me to bring me back to who I was, to move away from illusions of romance to my central sticking point. Suddenly and unexpectedly, being a Jew meant more to me than anything else in the world.

Nice story. But how the shidduch came about… that’s something incredible.

Normally, I enjoy air travel. But the night before a recent flight to Los Cabos, Mexico, I developed an excruciating earache. I tried nursing it with organic eardrops, but by the time we arrived at the airport, the pain had only intensified.

They realized he must have got on a bus, but they had no idea which bus. They had no way of knowing whether it had been a bus to Ramot where we live.

Not long after my mother died, I was sitting on campus talking with a friend and mentioned that it had been a long time since I had seen a frog. I used to love going out into the garden with my mother and our St. Bernard dog in the autumn evenings and see the frogs come out. I have a thing about frogs – probably from reading too many fairy tales.

I guess none of us were completely surprised when the jeweler said that most of the “diamonds” were not in fact diamonds at all and were worth very little.

If I had had the chutzpah which I now possess, I would have loudly protested and demanded equal rights. Since I was a 15-year-old, well behaved student I obeyed him.

Yesterday was another heartening day, one that provided me with yet another unexpected, but much-needed boost to my mood and self-esteem.

Later at night I got a phone call from my younger sister that lives up north in Israel. She wanted to talk to me about an incident that happened between us, which she felt she had never really asked forgiveness for. I couldn't remember anything and it took me some time till I understood what she was talking about.

Be happy. Be grateful. God knows what he is doing. It is all happening for a reason.

Geula was not the same as it is now. There were so many shopkeepers that lived there. Some were religious, some not. But it was a community. We all were one. And Ruti and I would go everywhere together.

Shlomo explained that these were non-Jewish people who had risked their lives and the lives of their families, for no reward whatsoever, by hiding and saving Jews during the Holocaust.

The entire time we were all on the rock, we were in darkness, since we were trying to conserve the cellphone lights. Besides, there was nothing to see except the night sky, which was easier to see in the dark.

Ben Zion caught his breath and apologized to Rav Ahron for barging in on him at the airport.

We had been living on the outskirts of the city, 30 miles from anything Jewish, and finally my dream of living in the heart of the community was being realized.

On the one hand, I was genuinely rejoicing for her; on the other I was already experiencing some degree of anxiety regarding the less-than-ideal timing.

I returned to work after the pre-summer Memorial Day weekend and found on my desk a brochure sent from the American Friends of Kupat Ha’ir. It described a tragedy that had recently taken place in Eretz Yisrael. A tzedakah campaign had been created after the father of 13 children was suddenly killed in a car accident, leaving behind a wife and the 13 children – including a six-day-old baby.

It all started with the recent deluge of rain we here in Israel were privileged to have.

There we stood, my husband and I, on the darkened mirpeset (balcony) of our home. It was 8:00 p.m. Our mirpeset overlooks the valley which marks the boundary of Efrat. In the distance is the road leading south to Kiryat Arba and Hevron, and north to the holy city of Yerushalayim.

Upon returning home from food shopping, I had to park my van a block and a half from where I live. It was difficult for me to carry the heavy food packages and my pocketbook, but I managed to get to the beginning of my block.

The shul was finally opened with air conditioning, furniture, and books, and has been serving Eshel for about 40 years. But that isn’t the end of Miller’s story.

Baruch Hashem, I have plenty of family in Israel, but Miriam’s host was not “family” per se, though her host would differ with me on this fact, rather someone whose family had an impact on me over 50 years ago!

The day after a wedding is not the best day to get a new air conditioning unit as we were still recovering from all of the wedding expenses, predictable and otherwise.

Avadim hayenu – we were slaves in Egypt. I looked around the table, wondering what our new Russian friends were thinking, if they were recalling their time as Jews in the modern slavery of the oppressive, antisemitic USSR.

Edy turned around and saw that her sister was trapped underneath the trolley that had rolled on top of her.

Because Yaacov had been waiting a very long time for a kidney but no suitable one had been found until then, Rabbi Hager told him that yes, he should do the transplant.

Package? No, I not in America and no package here. Maybe you vant Shulem Fastag? Ich bin Shlomi Fastag. Shulem he live cross street. I not go to America.

My eyes tear up each morning when the name of another soldier fallen in battle is announced on the 6 a.m. news.

The lovely lady in charge asked me to sing “Happy Birthday” over the telephone. I noted that that night, Rosh Chodesh Tammuz WAS actually my birthday. I sang and I was accepted.

I have always told my husband that Hashem apparently loves him very much. And I have even proven my theory by citing the fact that Hashem, in His infinite goodness, gave him me! My husband usually agreed with the first part of the statement.