Open Search form

Rachel Z. Goodman

Jewish insights on mind, memory, and meaning

Apply for a Blog

May 18, 2026, 4:50 AM

The Blessing of Female Friendship: Lessons from Ruth and Naomi

Each year, Shavuot returns us to Megillat Ruth — a story of faith, continuity, and belonging, but also one of the Torah’s most enduring portraits of female friendship. At the heart of the Megillah are two women bound together through...

Jan 27, 2026, 6:08 AM

How Do We Remember When Memory Fails?

Every year on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we are asked—explicitly and implicitly—to do something both simple and immense: to remember. Many share an image online that reads “#We Remember.” Two words meant to hold history, grief, and resolve. As Elie...

Jan 6, 2026, 4:11 AM

Dor L’Dor: A Jewish Intergenerational Model of Brain Health

Dor L’Dor—from generation to generation—is among the most familiar phrases in Jewish life, woven into prayer and ritual and often spoken with reverence. Over time, through both my personal history and my professional work, I have come to understand...

May 4, 2020, 2:38 AM

Why I Am Observing the Community Mental Health Shabbat (& Why You Should Too!)

Last year, together with my co-chair, Yair Meyers, we spearheaded an initiative in our community in Montreal which became known as the Community Mental Health Shabbat. Our goal was to get as many synagogues in our community as possible...

Apr 22, 2020, 7:33 AM

Alone but not apart

For the past several weeks, my mother has been foremost in my thoughts. My mother, Sylvia Karwaser Goodman, is a child survivor of the Holocaust. Like so many other seniors during this pandemic, she is living alone, as she...

Apr 22, 2020, 2:31 AM

Apart but not alone

For the past several weeks, my mother has been foremost in my thoughts. My mother, Sylvia (Karwaser) Goodman, is a child survivor of the Holocaust. Like so many other seniors during this pandemic, she is living alone, as she...

Load more

About Me

Dr. Rachel Goodman is a clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist whose writing is shaped by intergenerational resilience, including her family’s Holocaust legacy, Jewish communal life, and a deep commitment to brain health and mental health awareness. Drawing on decades of clinical work and personal experience, she explores resilience, memory, caregiving, and meaning across the lifespan, with particular attention to prevention and destigmatization. She is the co-founder of the Annual Mental Health Shabbat in North America and weaves professional insight with personal reflection to examine how individuals and communities endure, adapt, and grow.

Contact Me