Beshert | A Dishwasher’s Cycle of Kindness
“This stranger-on-a-train held onto my father’s kindness for decades and, at the moment when I needed it the most, she gave it back to me.”
Beshert | An Internet Piece, An Inner Peace
I wore my necklace almost constantly for years, thinking of my grandparents each time I rubbed my fingers across the star’s face.
Beshert | A Vow Not to Marry, Then a Walk Down the Aisle
“I’m grateful that Arthur, new to the city, ventured out exploring that weekend, grateful that he chose to walk up Sixth Avenue, grateful that he saw me through the shop’s window that Saturday in 1986, and came in to discover, ‘who belonged to that face.'”
Beshert | The Tikkun Olam Globe
It seems beshert to have this small world to remind the three of us that we are needed to repair the larger one. As a family, we practice tikkun olam with Jewish values like tzedakah, teshuvah, gemilut Hasidim. And hakarat hatov, gratitude.
Beshert | My Three Husbands
“An excruciatingly prolonged relationship with Mr. Not-Even-Jewish consumed the balance of my 20s. He was black and his cultural identity was a hugely significant part of his life. That motivated me to look more deeply into my own cultural identity.”
Beshert | A Tale of Two Converts
“When he sings Eyshet Chayil before kiddush, he reaches across the table for my hand. Not one convert, but two, we’re partners on the journey in the fullest sense of the word; soulmates, beshert.”
Beshert | Love on the Line
“For Arie, it was love at first sight when I entered the Zolla Lieberman Gallery on the near north side of Chicago in the spring of 1979. For me, it was the glowing images on the walls of the cavernous loft. Light reflected from aluminum extrusions upon a white canvas created an evanescent aura of rich pastel colors. I had to meet the creator.”
Beshert | The Blessing was the Memory
Some days are made from “Who says life has to be fair?” Some days you get a bolt of beshert from the blue.
Beshert | Warming to a Climate Maven
“David was four years younger than me. I fell hard. Lying next to him in the night, I wanted him to teach me everything he knew.”
Beshert | I Said “Yes to the Dress.” Twice.
“We decide not to send the wedding invitations. Instead, I spend the day canceling the venue, florist, photographer and the princess style dress fitting while hot tears flow onto the unsent invitations.”
Beshert | An Angel in Scrubs
“Now, when the world feels too unpredictable, I remind myself that sometimes the exact thing we need is something we would never think to ask for, and that sometimes it—or he—is right around the corner.”
Beshert | There Really Was a Punch Line
I first met Dawn in October 1982, by the punch bowl at a monthly singles event organized by the Northern Virginia Jewish Community Center. I was 27 and had relocated to Virginia from California that January to do a post-doctoral fellowship at the US Naval Research Laboratory in DC after getting my Ph.D. in theoretical physical chemistry. Dawn, 24, had moved to Virginia from Ohio that spring for a job after getting a master’s in gerontology.