To the King 
of connection

God of every 
good feeling

give me a life 
where Your light 
shines through me

where I see You 
in every face.

---

Backstory

I wrote this when staffing a trip to Morocco for Jewish college students from Florida. On Friday night we were all gathered together for Shabbat and I spoke these words to them, inspired by the blessing Jewish parents give their children each week.

When I first started working as a campus rebbetzin, the age gap between me and the students wasn’t that wide and I saw myself in a kind of big sister role. However, as the years go on, the gap gets larger. I’m not old enough to realistically be these kids’ mother, but that time is coming!

And even if I’m not there yet, I definitely feel quite maternal to my students. Like any Jewish mother, I just want them to be happy – but I’ve been around long enough to know that surface-level pleasures aren’t enough.

I want them to experience the deepest, richest form of happiness out there. The type you get not from academic degrees or career achievements, worthy as these may be – but through connecting with something greater than yourself and sharing that connection with others.