<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Ronen's Torah]]></title><description><![CDATA[Ronen's Torah]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2026 21:12:17 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.ronenstorah.net/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[39]]></title><description><![CDATA[I know that 40 feels like a big number. I'm not there yet. But I've been anticipating 39 for a long time. Ronen was born at 39 weeks. He lived for 39 days. He died at 4:39 PM on 9/29, when Bob was 39 years old. Psalm 39 ends: הָשַׁ֣ע מִמֶּ֣נִּי וְאַבְלִ֑יגָה בְּטֶ֖רֶם אֵלֵ֣ךְ וְאֵינֶֽנִּי׃ (Ps. 39:14) Translations of the third word, ve'avligah, vary widely: NJPS: Look away from me, that I may recover, before I pass away and am gone. (JPS adds, to the highlighted phrase, "Meaning of Heb....]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/___39</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a0761cd4187691eea8489e1</guid><pubDate>Fri, 15 May 2026 20:08:48 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1e6929_8d8542551b8f48c2af710a37ca7f4cab~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Is Dayeinu Really Enough?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Sehnsucht  (c. 1900). Heinrich Vogeler / Wikimedia Commons I wrote this piece during the Pesach immediately following Ronen's death, which was also right after COVID locked down the world. I thought I had shared it before, but looks like it's just been sitting on my hard drive for the past six years. But every year the message and the tune of "dayeinu" being so unabashedly perky -- and the number of times I need to sing it as part of preparatory Pesach teaching -- continues to...]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/is-dayeinu-really-enough</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69cd7ef2535e7bcd2695d2e9</guid><category><![CDATA[Rituals]]></category><category><![CDATA[Torah]]></category><category><![CDATA[Celebrations]]></category><category><![CDATA[Pesach]]></category><category><![CDATA[Passover]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 01 Apr 2026 20:51:41 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1e6929_1ecd709cf5794c7a88b544a8221554d0~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_320,h_394,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Exodus 3-4: With an "Enigmatic" Punchline]]></title><description><![CDATA[Exodus 3-4 brings us the negotiation between God and Moshe, in which Moshe ultimately discovers that he has no choice but to lead. Moshe is famously reluctant to take on this role. More than just protesting on the basis of "heavy of speech," Moshe rebuffs God's continued insistence that he rise to the occasion and lead God's People out of Egypt. SIX times....]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/exodus-3-4-with-an-enigmatic-punchline</link><guid isPermaLink="false">695fada784bdf10fe9179496</guid><category><![CDATA[Torah]]></category><category><![CDATA[Midrash]]></category><category><![CDATA[Creative Writing]]></category><category><![CDATA[Shemot]]></category><category><![CDATA[שמות]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 09 Jan 2026 04:15:53 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1e6929_eab7fb970f8d4f418f889650218796ed~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_495,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Genesis 4: Adam &#38; Eve, Bereaved Parents]]></title><description><![CDATA["It’s unnatural for parents to bury their child.”  I’ve heard over and over.  	 People have said it to me, as if they think it’s comforting. (It’s not.) 	 I’ve heard it said by well-meaning clergy at funerals.  There are  bereaved parents who say this, for whom it is comforting. If it comes from them , that’s the exception. In the same way you (the outsider, not the parent) should not impose your theology on a bereaved parent’s experience, so too this is one thing you should not say to them...]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/genesis-4-adam-eve-bereaved-parents</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68f7033450938403f77181ca</guid><category><![CDATA[Midrash]]></category><category><![CDATA[Creative Writing]]></category><category><![CDATA[Torah]]></category><category><![CDATA[Genesis]]></category><category><![CDATA[בראשית]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 21 Oct 2025 14:48:28 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1e6929_9ff546a948e84640b3a3538270b10571~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_940,h_627,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Conversation with Grief]]></title><description><![CDATA[I wrote this piece in 2023, during a writing seminar on Writing Through Loss and Trauma with David Kessler and Andrea Cagan. The prompt was, "Imagine a conversation with your grief." Today, the 6th anniversary of Ronen's death on the Gregorian calendar, and as an introduction with more of my writing to come in the next weeks and months, feels like the right time to share it. I still feel his presence dancing in the shadows.]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/conversation-with-grief</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68da9d64e3cbf48a9871b4a0</guid><pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2025 15:22:34 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1e6929_78d63da029fb468f87c5d7dfd6c1645e~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_498,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Grappling with the Akeidah]]></title><description><![CDATA[Grappling with the Akeidah - the Binding of Isaac - on Ronen's 6th yahrzeit, just before Rosh Ha-Shanah]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/grappling-with-the-akedah</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68d14c16b8ec99357ba74cb0</guid><category><![CDATA[Torah]]></category><category><![CDATA[Real Talk]]></category><category><![CDATA[Yahrzeit]]></category><category><![CDATA[Genesis]]></category><category><![CDATA[בראשית]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 22 Sep 2025 16:26:24 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1e6929_5fcd40121a944a0f9b5b07dff8f93bb1~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_425,h_350,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA["Time Heals Everything But..."]]></title><description><![CDATA[Ronen,



Your 6th yahrzeit approaches on erev Rosh Ha-Shanah, and the season when I feel you here closest to my heart ends on September 29th, in just 10 days. As with every year, I grapple with the challenges of High Holy Day liturgy and theology. More on that, maybe, in the next few days. ]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/time-heals-everything-but</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68c2deeef8374b5222003863</guid><category><![CDATA[Yahrzeit]]></category><category><![CDATA[Poetry]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 19 Sep 2025 19:29:20 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1e6929_8a912bce42e34d66b1f37c3006295491~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Messages from N to Ronen]]></title><description><![CDATA[Hard to believe that 4-year-old N is older than her siblings D &#38; J were when Ronen died. It has been fascinating at best (heartbreaking...]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/messages-from-n</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68acf6c583b21ae138f6ba56</guid><category><![CDATA[Surviving Siblings]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 26 Aug 2025 00:08:35 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1e6929_e2c10488df37439f910438be67e4930b~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Now We Are 6]]></title><description><![CDATA[Reflections on what would have been Ronen's sixth birthday.]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/now-we-are-6</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68a39e0327fe4ddaa2382ae8</guid><category><![CDATA[Birthday]]></category><category><![CDATA[Surviving Siblings]]></category><category><![CDATA[Poetry]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 20 Aug 2025 04:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1e6929_f5cd22a0a01d4f528511613f29707206~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Creating Helps Me Grieve]]></title><description><![CDATA[I've been realizing for a while that acts of creation help me grieve. The summer after Ronen died (which also was the first summer of...]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/creating-helps-me-grieve</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68a5460f834f1dfd6b301ce8</guid><category><![CDATA[Real Talk]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 25 Jul 2025 20:12:54 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1e6929_af3c3d1982704b83b33369313f5d3591~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_255,h_388,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Silence When It's All Too Much: VaYidom]]></title><description><![CDATA[Aaron was silent. Today, so am I.]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/silence-when-it-s-all-too-much-vayidom</link><guid isPermaLink="false">67b751783aff204f5ff158a7</guid><pubDate>Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:30:57 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[“But... Where’s My Baby?”]]></title><description><![CDATA[Those who have been along this journey know that it has been an incredible blessing and also heart-wrenching to be along this ride with...]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/but-where-s-my-baby</link><guid isPermaLink="false">676976302daaa9e03039c223</guid><category><![CDATA[Surviving Siblings]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 23 Dec 2024 21:17:27 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1e6929_a0b2ba8497ad40f99ac586fff85a2b10~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Un'taneh Tokef: Catharsis or Emotional Blackmail?]]></title><description><![CDATA[A version of this article was originally published in the Ohr Kodesh Congregation  Bulletin, Divrei Kodesh , October 2024. Each year on...]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/un-taneh-tokef-catharsis-or-emotional-blackmail</link><guid isPermaLink="false">67040447cd457a96f47df7df</guid><pubDate>Mon, 07 Oct 2024 16:08:41 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUc02frbOyY" length="0" type="video"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[To the Freaked-Out Mom on the Playground…]]></title><description><![CDATA[Hi there. It was fun having your kiddo hanging on the swing next to mine. Since your kid is pre-verbal, I know you had fun talking to my...]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/to-the-freaked-out-mom-on-the-playground</link><guid isPermaLink="false">66de125a623e80d7c3b2db0c</guid><category><![CDATA[Surviving Siblings]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 09 Sep 2024 02:18:37 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1e6929_669b83910e0d45a18a066b9d8cb90a3c~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_390,h_293,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[What's in the Box?]]></title><description><![CDATA[At the top of my closet, in an unobtrusive but visible place, is a wooden box, about one foot by two feet, about a foot tall with rounded...]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/what-s-in-the-box</link><guid isPermaLink="false">66c4c0cbb57801e2b7eda97c</guid><pubDate>Tue, 20 Aug 2024 22:32:11 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1e6929_e86842eb2881401c892eefff24894d3f~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Pulled]]></title><description><![CDATA[I wrote this poem within the year after Ronen died, before we put up his stone, sitting in the grass next to his kever (Hebrew for...]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/poem-pulled</link><guid isPermaLink="false">650dab073657e5034de99f73</guid><category><![CDATA[Poetry]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 29 Sep 2023 17:04:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1e6929_8b9a4b169eb8484dbda3f68752d1b089~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[What Stories Could One Dress Tell?]]></title><description><![CDATA[I bought this dress more than 10 years ago, but I don't remember where. And it's the perfect one piece dress, which looks like two...]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/what-stories-could-one-dress-tell</link><guid isPermaLink="false">650c5eed217b311c2f8281a4</guid><category><![CDATA[Real Talk]]></category><category><![CDATA[Yahrzeit]]></category><category><![CDATA[Rituals]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 21 Sep 2023 17:44:29 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1e6929_1e89da6bcb38403eaa861281fe9f8f23~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[On Ronen's 4th Yahrzeit]]></title><description><![CDATA[On this day in history, 4 years ago on the Gregorian calendar, a little boy snuggled into the crook of my arm and fell asleep. I tried to...]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/on-ronen-s-4th-yahrzeit</link><guid isPermaLink="false">650b2db68486072af6bb6a16</guid><category><![CDATA[Yahrzeit]]></category><category><![CDATA[Torah]]></category><category><![CDATA[Real Talk]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 16 Sep 2023 04:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1e6929_cceb5851c893446b83de96a352226fa7~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_768,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[36: Life, Doubly So]]></title><description><![CDATA[I love my birthday. Maybe more accurately, I love anticipating my birthday... the countdown, the "it's almost here." For several years on...]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/36-life-doubly-so</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6462489a0cbfea024ad09f7d</guid><category><![CDATA[Birthday]]></category><category><![CDATA[Celebrations]]></category><category><![CDATA[Hospital]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 15 May 2023 16:35:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1e6929_ec2c2750929e4a1380b8c96ee313ef35~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA["God Decides"]]></title><description><![CDATA[After Ronen died in 2019 and the pandemic shut everything down in early 2020, I started planting. I planted cucumbers, pumpkins, carrots,...]]></description><link>https://www.ronenstorah.net/post/god-decides</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6439b688f0f4857af609712b</guid><pubDate>Fri, 14 Apr 2023 21:03:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1e6929_03a55cd7150c4c53be9f03cd19197da9~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Hinda Eisen Labovitz</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>