From Pain to Purpose

Last week, I sat at our Shabbat table with an army commander and noticed the small, involuntary eye tics he said had started recently.

His words were still strong and steady, but the trauma he experienced sits quietly beneath the surface.

My former editor told me she was recently in Israel — and everywhere she went, people were talking about trauma.

I read her words and felt how detached they were from what we are actually living.

Here, being a Jew is everything.
It’s not a label. It’s not a background detail.

It’s a mission.
And we are in it together.

This land is the most breathtaking place on earth — and it forces you to be real.

To face the pain and still choose life.
To know why you’re here.
To know that you’re working for something higher, for something eternal.

My friend from London lost her youngest son just a few months into his army service.
Another girl we know — a beautiful, soft-spoken 18-year-old — was just sent to the Egypt border. She was at our home the day before she left.
Our son will soon begin his army service.

During my 2.5 years here (and other times in my lifetime), I have experienced some of the deepest trauma and grief a human being can experience.
It’s also in my DNA.

And yet — I have chosen to turn it into light.

To learn to love myself unconditionally.
To forgive.
To live with courage and purpose.
Because life here demands it.

And because life here is spectacular.
The wild spring flowers bloom everywhere — bursts of yellow, red, and hot pink.
I pick tiny Israeli strawberries — tutim — from trees and eat them as the spring breeze caresses my face.
The view of the Mediterranean literally takes my breath away.
We live atop a mountain where the Creator of the world reveals Himself in every color, scent, and breeze.

I can feel His love here.
I can feel Him asking me — every day — to choose life.

Tonight we enter Yom HaZikaron — the day we remember the ones who fought so we could live.

And right after, Yom Ha’atzmaut — the miracle of our Jewish land.

Pain and love, courage and rebirth.

We remember.
We choose life.
And we say thank You.

A Prayer to Begin Your Day: Modeh Ani
Living and eternal Creator,
You have mercifully restored my soul within me;
Your faithfulness is great.

Say these words when you open your eyes each morning —
Before anything else.
Before the noise.
Before the fear.
Start by remembering that God believes in you.
There is nothing to fear.

Tell your children: “God gave you today because you are needed in this world, and you’re never alone.”