Reports about Jewish life on campus often focus either on our laudable collective successes or on experiences of antisemitism. After a decade of working on college campuses with leading Hillel foundations, I believe a lot of good things are happening on campus for Jewish students and that these positives outweigh the challenges. But if you…
I am an anxious Jew. By which I mean (a) I am Jewish, and (b) if I had to pick the overarching emotional theme of my life, it would be fear. Or worry. Or panic. One of my first memories is a pediatrician’s visit where I was so scared of an impending vaccination that I…
Here’s a fun game: pour yourself a glass of wine. Dip your finger in it. Move one drop of one to a plate or a napkin every time you answer yes to one of the following questions: Lately, Do you find yourself attempting to quell anxiety by actions like getting rid of certain foods that…
A version of this article originally appeared in New Voices. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a worrier. As a perfectionist, everything felt dire. There’s a running joke this means I’m Jewish, but I’ve learned it’s anxiety. When I arrived at the University of Florida in 2011, I was unsure about everything….
Today I am going to the mikveh and I can barely breathe. The anxiety starts days before when I know that I have a week left until I have to go. I put my children to sleep and begin the long process of preparing to dip my body in the pure waters. But the weight…
A curly-haired, ten year old boy entered my office this week toting a colorful calendar sent to him from the sleep-away camp he will attend later this summer. On it, all of the colors of the rainbow indicated the different activities available – horseback riding, arts and crafts, sports, swimming in the lake… though the…
My daughter is confused. She has asked me a number of times in the last few weeks what it means to be a Jew. She’s 5. So confusion about identity is not an unusual state for her — she’s also been wondering aloud lately about why she can’t fly. But her questions about Jewishness are…
illustration by Lior Zaltzman Three years ago I decided to take Abilify, an anti-psychotic medication, prescribed to me to boost the waning effectiveness of my anti-depressant. I had been on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) since the fall of 2001, and Abilify would be the third psychotropic prescription in my pill organizer. Almost immediately, though,…
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