Baltimore, MD - Nov. 28, 2022 - Last  year, at the end of Chesvan  TShP”B, or October 2022,  something I thought I never would do, happened.  I published a book. Having always liked to write as a teen, and then filling that outlet with my  preschool newsletters, this somehow morphed into writing poetry, and then later on into essays.

It was on a trip to Eretz Yisroel that my husband took to visit our son who was learning there several years before the book was published, that my writing took on a whole new form.  Like anyone who travels to the Holy Land and pours out their heart in prayer there, I joked with my husband after the book was official that I don’t know what window he opened up in the Heavens as that was when my writing took off.

In a burst of creativity, I was writing almost every night.  At some point, I began sharing my thoughts with those I thought would appreciate the writing.  I received a lot of positive feedback and was told by many that “they were waiting for the book.”  I laughed it off and  responded that they were indeed very kind and thank you very much.  At the same time, I began writing for LINKS, an organization that helps Yesomim, for  their magazine that they distribute. This  filled a therapeutic need for me  and not just as an outlet. Having lost my father when I was 5, I discovered a whole new world of healing was out there in the form of pen and paper, or rather keyboard and screen. Upon continued urging from friends about publishing, I began to take this idea somewhat seriously.  And lo and behold, I began the journey of self-publishing with a terrific publishing company, Jewishselfpublishing.com, and oh what a fun ride it was.  Being that my publisher was in Israel, he would e-mail me sometime in the night, and I would e-mail back in the morning.  It was a great way to wake up and start the day!

I know that people get Scared off of Poetry. The response I get  when they hear I published a book is, “Wow!  How exciting!”  What follows next when they hear what the genre is “,oh.” So!  To all you poetry-phobics out there!  This is not your high school poetry you had to endure!  It is more like an essay of thoughts yet written in unstructured form. Much of the content is relevant to anyone going through challenges, raising children, enjoying Nature and living a Jewish Life.  And surprise!  Women are not the only ones readingthe book.   Rabbonim, Bachurim, men, teens and children are also enjoying the selections as well.  Jews of all “colors and stripes” find it applicable and meaningful.  One woman told me she reads some of the poems, repeatedly.

A dream of mine now is to encourage others to write as well, not just the non-writer! Writing does something for  you that nothing else can.  It brings out the quiet voice that’s within each and every one of us. Almost like the shofar, that says so much in its blast, so too each and every one of us has much to say about our unique selves, our world, our lives in our experience that we call Life.  This is the impetus for Write for You writing groups.

However, the most important thing to me is that this book project is dedicated to my father, z'l, who never got to fulfill his dream of being an author, as well as inspiring  those who have read Seasons of the Rain.  This one’s for you Dad.

L’Zecher Nishmas Avi Yaakov Mordechai Ben Yitzchok Tzvi