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,…
חוה ראָזענפֿאַרב און זעניע לאַרסאָן זענען געווען נאָענטע חבֿרטעס ביז זעניע האָט פּובליקירט זייערע בריוו אין 1971.
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