My mom was born in 47, and would have been 74 today. I miss her every second. She taught Talmud to women, made sculptures, painted, played accordion and became a partner/CPA at a firm in DC .. I mean, she was a badass Yemenite Jewess, and I see her in my kids and I’m thankful for that. I can’t not tear up just writing even this little bit about her.  I’m just trying to stay in the @dontblockyourblessings and @thelightofinfinite space as much as it’s possible, as it’s been helped heal my broken heart.
I learned almost everything from my mom, by just seeing how she navigated and loved the journey of it all. We connected on so many things, but one of the most special was going to concerts together; two in particular stood out – one was Buena Vista Social Club, whom we loved dearly, and where we met one of the singers from the group, Ibrahim Ferer, after the show (he passed away shortly after.) And the other was seeing McCoy Tyner at the Blues Alley in D.C.; I had him sign the cover of my all time favorite album which he was such a big part of with John Coltrane, “A Love Supreme.”
A Love Supreme, indeed.


*** I wrote the following on October 28th, 2020 the day my mom passed away.

If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

My mom always had a positive outlook and judged everyone favorably, Reb Nosson speaks about this at length in Halacha Aleph in Likutei Halachot. I’ll be expounding on this in many ways in a new project I’m working on called @dontblockyourblessings in memory of my mother, and in memory of my kids moms Bubbie, who also had an incredible outlook and light about her, always showing love and uplifting everyone around her, just like my mother.

As Mendel Kalmenson explains, ‘Just like light in the famous wave-particle duality of quantum mechanics, all life can be seen as a jumble of independent, isolated particles, or as a unified wave form, with every part connected to every other part, depending on how we view it.’

Focus on the good, focus on God. View everything as connected and as One. I will do all I can to honor her memory and inspire the world the way she inspired and supported me. Celebrating the good points, and that blessings brings more blessings and Light. Here’s to a new world with Light that shines over all the darkness.

* Frida Levona bat Shalom, May her beautiful neshama have an ALIYAH, ברוך דיין האמת