Rhona Lewis

The daffodils that were planted in the hard-packed dirt at the base of the palm tree, those that are trampled on year after year, continue to break through the hard soil and proudly sprout their yellow blooms . . .

I would recall the bare beauty of the tree, and wonder again why G‑d had left the tree upside-down. What could an inverted tree possibly contribute to the world?

Light is referred to as peace, because it gives us the ability to distinguish between different things, and thus to perceive the uniqueness of every person...

“Yesterday I went into The Red Shed and looked for the photography stall. I asked the owner, Anne, if she remembered a family with lots of children coming in and she said ‘yes’ immediately,” my mother-in-law paused . . .

I longed to join those hunched figures crying at the wall, because even though I wasn’t exactly sure what to cry about, I knew that I wanted to be part of a longing for something great. I knew that one day I too would cry for the Temple and whatever it ...

I didn’t know what he wanted. Confused, I didn’t answer. In its niche at the back of my mind, the horrible truth wriggled and stretched. People don’t like Jews, my darling...

I feel my engagement ring catch on the soft fabric. Right away a cold, clammy feeling of unease settles in my stomach. There should have been a solitaire diamond sparkling there; instead the claws of the ring close over a horrendous gap of nothingness...

I remembered the good bye I had given my husband that morning: a garbled jumble of vowels, consonants and the last gulp of my coffee, a flick of my wrist as I picked up the baby, my bag, the garbage and then ran up the steps, leaving the door wide open ...

I naturally connected to the concept of transience, the devitalization of the material. It fitted in with my psyche neatly: I was the girl who never noticed the fashion, who never visited the malls. I was the girl who meditated instead of watching Dallas ...

Sailing taught me that to reach a goal, you have to strive and strain. It also taught me that sometimes, striving towards a goal requires relinquishing control and doing absolutely nothing...