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Author’s Note

My Personal Lev Moment

In October 2014, my youngest sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was thirty-eight years old and living in Israel. Since I was living in the United States, I could not get up and drive to visit her. I could not hug her or share time together just sitting next to each other, so I had no other choice but to come up with something I could do 10,000 miles away to not only keep in touch, but also to remain positive along the way.

It was a Friday night when I received the news. I recall that day very clearly. My synagogue holds Friday night Kabbalat Shabbat (greeting the Sabbath) services and a lovely traditional dinner. Usually, I would look forward to going, but not that particular weekend. I had sadness in my heart and heaviness on my chest; I needed to stay by myself. I urged my husband to go with our son, and I was left in our quiet home all alone.

For the three hours they were gone, I did not leave my place on the sofa. I did not turn on the TV; I did not look at the news or watch any of my favorite shows. I did not read either. I just stared at the kitchen cabinets in front of me, focused on nothing and lost in my thoughts.

It is amazing what can happen when you empty your mind. New ideas enter. The seed for this book was born.

When my family returned and my husband walked through the door, he saw a resolution in my face. He would tell you that he saw a glimmer of excitement. I say that there was hope! I had made plans to launch a Facebook page called Lev Moments, where I would share once each week an uplifting message for the coming week. I combined the Hebrew word lev, which means “heart,” with the English word moments. I later used these words to create the title of this book Moments of the Heart. I designed a logo with my good friend Lisa Berkley, and we were ready to go! The day was chosen. Saturday night was my first night. As we bid farewell to Shabbat, as many traditional Jews do on Saturday night when three stars are seen in the sky, my youngest son recorded as I spoke to the world words intended most for my sister. Then, we uploaded the video—that simple.

I began to feel better. I began to feel connected to my sister who was so far away. The two of us conversed about the Lev Moments, and I even surprised her four months later on her birthday by arriving in Israel and accompanying her to her weekly chemotherapy appointment.

I created these weekly videos for an entire year. During that year, I saw my sister go through hardships no one should ever have to experience. I saw her lose her hair and gain weight from the chemotherapy. But I also saw unexpected positive changes. She regained her inner strength and grew into her new self. I saw her husband and her children striving to be strong for her. I saw my mother and sisters pleading to God with questions unanswered. Why her? And all the while, I was recording and taping positive messages and putting them out to the universe. I initially started this project to benefit my sister, but I received much more in return.

These moments of the heart benefited me, and they benefited the people around me—those I worked with and those I lived with, those I liked and those I liked less, those I knew and those I didn’t. Creating the weekly Lev Moments made me a better person. I used Hebrew, the magnificent God-made language, to illustrate different points and new ways to look at commonly used words. I learned a great deal as I created this deep library of material and wisdom—wisdom from our Jewish ancestors, making our life relevant and meaningful today more than ever.

At the end of a year, in the winter of 2015, I had recorded over fifty episodes, and I thought “What now?”

Now it is time for this book to be born. In the last year, I have composed, arranged, rewritten, and polished what has become the treasure you now hold in your hands. I have separated the book into four chambers, each one giving us a glimpse of different aspects of our relationships.

So sit back and take the first page into your hand. Don’t rush through it. Do one entry a week, or however you feel led. Explore “Your Personal Lev Moments” with your children, with your partner, with your parents, with your colleagues, or with your boss. Create a book club for the year; offer the guidance within this book to a class of B’nai Mitzvah students. The possibilities are endless.

Each one of us brings to this life wisdom that is waiting to be discovered within ourselves. Discover yours and share your wisdom with others. Write in the spaces within this book wherever you see fit and let your answers be your guiding principles.

—“Create for me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalms 51:12). This verse highlights how, at times, we need guidance, help, and inspiration from a higher source. I know I needed that so I could not only create the videos in 2014 but bring this book to fruition now.

I have learned through the process of writing this book that what we hold inside our hearts—our thoughts, our feelings, our attitude—shapes us. If we become a manifestation of our hearts, let’s take heed. By writing this book, I was given the gift of a fuller and more grateful heart. The process was not easy. At times, I had to dig deep and hold on to a lifeline to keep my head in line with my heart and my mind focused on being the best I can be. May it be for you, too, a reminder of who you want to be always. May this book open your mind to the right thoughts to put in your heart and the right actions to be manifested by your being.

My hope is that this book will help you become the best version of yourself possible.

“If you don’t know what you’re living for, you haven’t yet lived.”1–Rabbi Noah Weinberg