Haviva Ner-David, at The Blogs

Oct 18, 2024, 5:24 PM

Hineni, I am here: Not alone and not afraid

It is Shabbat morning in the Galilee, and I am out walking my dog Munchkin, in the forest. I am thinking about the war, about the situation in Israel-Palestine now. An Israeli peace activist, I am trying to remain...

Oct 11, 2024, 5:30 PM

A Year of Death

It is hard to fathom that it has been a year since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack. For many, the world was altered forever and has stood still since then. Here in Israel, many mark the date in two ways....

Sep 4, 2024, 10:20 PM

Why I went and why I stay

“Do you ever think about leaving?” my thirty-one-year-old daughter asked me last Shabbat, after returning from working on staff at Ramah in the Rockies all summer. “The kids there have such an easy, secure life. Don’t you ever think...

Aug 27, 2024, 2:03 PM

Only Together — Arabs and Jews — Can We Be the Change We Want to See

At a recent visit with a Palestinian-Israeli friend in the Lower Galilee, where I live, I invited her to come to a local conference organized by Standing Together, a joint Jewish-Arab Israeli national activist movement working for peace, equality,...

Aug 16, 2024, 12:23 AM

Israeli Arabs and Jews Collecting Aid for Gazans: An Injection of Hope

I participated in one of the most moving experiences of my life this week. The grassroots movement, Standing Together (a movement of Palestinian and Jewish Israelis working in partnership for peace, equality, and justice), in which I have been active...

Jul 29, 2024, 11:21 PM

On Zealots and Journeys: Reading Matot-Masei with a Heavy Whole Heart

Reading this coming week's Torah portion and the ICJ’s advisory opinion about the Israeli occupation of the West Bank (and Gaza, as the opinion considers Gaza still de facto occupied by Israel) brought up for me feelings of...

Jul 2, 2024, 6:07 PM

Replenishing Hope for Partnership and Peace

I, an activist for peace and partnership between Palestinians and Jews, was emotionally and spiritually down Monday after participating the night before in a webinar with West Bank Palestinian activist, journalist, and trauma healer Ashira Darwish. She is featured...

May 21, 2024, 5:28 PM

Why is there war?

I have been grappling with existential questions since the beginning of this war. Ideally, I am against war and violence. I do not believe violence is a cure for violence. And I do think conflicts can be solved through...

Apr 27, 2024, 4:41 PM

Featured Post

From a Columbia Alum Israeli Peace Activist

At our local Standing Together-Women Wage Peace demonstration

If you from abroad want to demand something, demand a resolution of the conflict, not the annihilation of one side

Mar 15, 2024, 11:29 PM

This is a Story to Open Your Hearts. Are you Willing?

These are very hard times to be an Israeli peace activist, working on the ground for Palestinian-Jewish partnership and mutual understanding. Not because of internal strife between Palestinian and Jewish Israelis – in fact, membership in the grassroots Palestinian-Jewish partnership...

About Me

Rabbi Dr. Haviva Ner-David is a rabbi and writer. She is the rabbinic founder of Shmaya: A Mikveh for Mind, Body, and Soul, the only mikveh in Israel open to all to immerse as they choose. She is the author of two novels, three spiritual journey memoirs, and the first and only children's book on mikveh. Her memoirs include: Dreaming Against the Current: A Rabbi's Soul Journey, Chanah's Voice: A Rabbi Wrestles with Gender, Commandment, and the Women's Rituals of Baking, Bathing, and Brightening, and Life on the Fringes: A Feminist Journey Towards Traditional Rabbinic Ordination, which was a runner up for the National Jewish Book Council Awards. Ordained as both a rabbi and an inter-faith minister, certified as a spiritual companion (with a specialty in dream work), and with a doctorate on mikveh from Bar Ilan University, she offers mikveh guidance and spiritual counseling for individuals and couples, and mikveh workshops and talks for groups. Her debut novel, Hope Valley, is available at: https://www.amazon.com/Hope-Valley-Haviva-Ner-David/dp/194929059X/ Dreaming Against the Current: A Rabbi's Soul Journey, is available at: https://www.amazon.com/Dreaming-Against-Current-Rabbis-Journey/dp/1949290751/ Yonah and the Mikveh Fish is available at: https://www.amazon.com/Yonah-Mikveh-Fish-Haviva-Ner-David/dp/196037320X/ Her new and second novel, To Die in Secret, is available at: https://www.amazon.com/Die-Secret-Haviva-Ner-David/dp/1960373099 Getting (and Staying) Married Jewishly: Preparing for your Life Together with Ancient and Modern Wisdom, is slated for publication in 2024. She lives on Kibbutz Hannaton with her husband and seven children.

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