Relief from Grief Chevrah Lomdei Mishnah

Mrs. Esther Gendelman, MS, LPC, ACSMrs. Esther Gendelman’s passion is to help people foster meaningful relationships. There is no such thing as a perfect person, which means there’s also no such thing as a perfect relationship, although some relationships feel rock solid. Yet loss can impact even the strongest relationships with ripples of uncertainty.A mother can feel so confused as she watches her daughter navigate the pain of losing a child.Where is her place in all this? And does her pain...

Some of the podcasts that receive the most feedback are those that delve into complex relationships. It might seem that if a relationship is challenging or even painful, losing a loved one within that dynamic wouldn't be as difficult or would provide a measure of relief. However, more often than not, that assumption doesn't hold true. In fact, the loss of a loved one within a difficult relationship can be even harder to navigate than when someone is in a typical relationship.Shira had complic...

Hillel Fuld was preparing for Yom Kippur. Although he had heard the news about a terror attack in the neighborhood where his brother lived, he didn’t know that his brother was the victim. Because… well, these things only happen to other people. Except that sometimes they can happen to us.During this time, when our hearts are with our brothers in Eretz Yisrael, when we all need to work on our emunah and we wonder why the world hates us, Mr. Fuld reminds us that halachah b’yaduah she’Eisav sone...

Rabbi Naftoli Kassorla, Speaker, Teacher and Rebbi in YerushalayimImagine getting an unexpected call informing you that your brother died. Presumably, you would always remember it as one of the most difficult phone calls of your life. But what happens if you haven’t spoken to that brother or had any kind of real relationship with him in years?For valid reasons Rabbi Kassorla had found it simply impossible to maintain a relationship with him. In fact, Rabbi Kassorla was told that b...

Mrs. Mindy Blumenfeld, LCSWMrs. Mindy Blumenfeld is positive and upbeat. She is smiley, and she makes you smile.You would never know that she lost her youngest son Hillel to cancer. Although she hasbeen profoundly impacted by her loss, she won’t let the pain bring her down intonegativity.She started writing about Hillel as a means of finding comfort. But really, her journeywith writing about her son began with the puppets she created when Hillel was firstdiagnosed at age six. Faced with the c...

Mr. Broyde, who happens to be my first cousin, discusses his struggles and pain after losing an uncle, aunt and cousin who were an integral part of his family.He was part of the same tragedy that was my life. But as Mr. Aaron Broyde says repeatedly, it was from a seat further back. No one realized how much the loss of his relatives affected him because he was a nineteen-year-old bachur learning in yeshiva in Eretz Yisrael during that time.He had stomach problems. The Israeli water is easy to ...