Do not ask if anyone is fasting.
Tonight begins Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year.
And sometimes more than the themes of atonement and forgiveness, people tend to focus on the food...or lack thereof.
What are you eating pre-fast?
You’re not having bagels and lox after?
How about grapes or melon?
You like gatorade before?
I can’t even eat something heavy when it’s done...I only have soup.
It’s so hard. How much more time?
And on and on and on and on.
But more than that, all these questions assume that everyone fasts. Which is absolutely not the case.
So here’s a quick reminder that it’s none of your business if someone is or is not fasting.
So on behalf of everyone who doesn’t want to talk about it (in the fertility community and beyond - those with eating disorders or other mental/physical health challenges), please don’t ask.
Ever.
Yom Kippur | Jewish fast | infertility treatment | ttc | ivf | pregnancy announcement | fertility clinic | infertility journey
63 questions to ask on Rosh Hashanah
Here are 613 things to talk about at your Rosh Hashanah tables that have nothing to do with pregnancy or babies…
Ok fine, maybe just 63 topics🍎
Jewish family | Rosh Hashanah | table talk | infertility journey | ivf support
Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur
This is your reminder: G-d meets you wherever you are - in the pew, in the hallway, or at home with honey cake.
However you show up this year, you are enough.
Rosh Hashanah | fertility journey | Jewish women | ivf | pregnancy after loss | jewish community | infertility support
Yom Kippur Reflections
Yom Kippur Reflections
Coping Tips for Sukkot
Coping Tips for Sukkot
“Doing you best” looks different for everyone.
“Doing you best” looks different for everyone. Please take care of yourselves 🫂
Simchas Torah Reflections
Simchas Torah Reflections
Shofar of Infertility
Thank you to this follower for sharing a beautiful piece about the different meanings of the sounds of the shofar and how it relates to everything right now💗
5 Ways to Make Holidays More Manageable
You're going to get through this.
You're going to get through this.
You're going to get through this.
49 Questions to ask on Rosh Hashanah
There is so much more to talk to someone about than their journey to parenthood 💗
Looking Back and Forward
This time of year brings up a lot of emotions for everyone. We remember where we were last year at this time, physically, spiritually and emotionally.
Keeping It Together
You can only keep it together for so long. You need a place to be able to let it all out - a space that feels warm and nurturing and cozy.
Forgiveness & Boundaries
There should always be an element of forgiveness, but with the adult recognition that you may need to protect yourself against further insult.
Holiday Angst
Holiday tables filled with rude and insensitive family members you don't regularly see can feel like walking into a landmine. The memories can be impossible to forget.
Bad News After Bad News
“I really thought I was going to be pregnant by this year, and now I just don't know what to feel. I'm angry, sad, and numb most of the time. I hardly go out. And I don't even know if I can go to shul on RH.”
Hopeful During Holidays
Someone in one of our support groups recently asked, “A part of me is just hopeless when I think about the holidays. How do I stay hopeful during this time?”
Shana Tova Message
“It’s a New Year. I sit here and reflect where I was last year at this time. The hope that the one healthy embryo from our retrieval would implant and turn into the baby we dreamed of.”
Rosh Hashana Prayer
There is a concept in Judaism that if you pray for someone else to have _______, then that blessing will be bestowed upon you too. So, I'm asking all of you to pray.
Forgive Yourself
We want G-d to forgive us for all our sins, but He can only do so if we are also gentle with ourselves. Look inside and be kind to the you that is hurting.
It’s Yom Kippur Again
On behalf of everyone at IWSTHAB, may this be the year where no one suffers, and Hashem answers all of your prayers. Gmar chasima tova. Xoxo, Aimee