…RISC Resettlement Coordinator Cordelia Revells 8:00 a.m. I start my day early since HIAS, the agency that sends us clients for resettlement, is based in New York. Today we’re corresponding about a family of five from Burma that is flying into SeaTac tonight along with another family of Rohingya migrants that is arriving in two…
Becoming a Family Caregiver
Many life stages have clear markers. At B’nai Mitzvah, we become an adult in the Jewish community. Our 18th birthday marks legal adulthood in the greater community. When we marry, we become a husband or wife, and the birth of a child makes us a parent. Transitioning from a spouse, child, or loved one into…
You Have No Idea
This poem from a Project DVORA client illustrates the challenges that many people face in their attempts to break free of the guilt, shame and feelings of isolation that permeate situations of trauma and abuse. As a society, it is easy to say that we stand against domestic violence. Very few would endorse the stereotypical…
The Calculus of the Vulnerable
Not long ago while working in the Polack Food Bank, I noticed an older woman who seemed to be weighing her food before she put it in her basket. Each can, each piece of fruit, every vegetable. Some things she would take and others she would set back in the box on the table. She…
In the Season of Turnings
My story is a familiar one, almost a cliché: I married a Jewish man, began raising Jewish children and, after many years, chose Judaism for myself. Of course there is more to the story than that. This is part of that story. In the season of t’shuvah – which literally means turning toward – I…
Feeding the Heart & Soul
…Jewish tradition recognizes a meal as a time for intimacy, fellowship, and significant conversation… Because eating creates intimacy amongst people it creates opportunities for encounters of the intellect and the soul… Rabbi Yehiel E. Poupko I was blessed to experience the gift of an intimate table as a child. Then as an adult, my husband…
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