From Darkness to Light: The Intersections of Poetry, Faith, Depression and Motherhood with Rachel Tzvia Back and Sarah Breger

Poet Rachel Tzvia Back joins Moment Editor Sarah Breger for a conversation about her memoir, The Dark-Robed Mother, an unflinching exploration of poetry, faith, mental health, and survival. Blending personal narrative with mythology, family history, and lyrical insight, Back reflects on decades of living and mothering with high-functioning depression—an often-invisible form of the illness—and the marks it leaves across generations. Reimagining the myth of Demeter and Persephone against the backdrop of Jewish inheritance and war-time Israel, Back considers how language becomes a lifeline, how suffering is transformed into meaning, and how imagination and love can open a path toward return and renewal.