Originally published by TimesOfIsrael.com

I. HINENI
My friends, I humbly come before you. I am grateful to have this privilege to share what I hope will be a contribution to the conversation we are now engaged in in this moment of transformation.

I acknowledge that who I am – my very name – might make it hard to receive anything I might wish to offer. Still, our tradition teaches us that silence is consent, and I cannot remain silent in the face of so much pain.

II. I HEAR YOU
My sisters, I hear you. I cry with you. I walk with you. I will stand with you until that day when the world commits to healing and wholeness for all, for the countless women who have suffered the evils of sexual harassment and assault.

I pledge to walk through this narrow-bridge world with you, listening to your hearts, hearts that sing with pain and strength, resilience and passion, feelings that resonate to Heaven as loudly as any song I’ve ever sung.

It is with great joy and excitement that I announce my engagement to Rabbi Menachem Creditor!!

After a life journey filled with twists and turns, I have finally found my true companion and soulmate. I am so, so very blessed.

Our five gorgeous children, Menachem, and I are walking on air. We hope to eventually respond to every email, text, and post individually. In the meantime, please know we celebrate your beautiful responses and thank you for the blessings and good wishes. We are receiving all your love and sending it right back to you

We learn that we all cry with one-half of our hearts and laugh with the other half. Joy and sorrow are forever one. As we celebrate now, I also acknowledge that this month marked 23 years since my beautiful father zt’l left the world. 

This year, for the second year in a row, my closest loves/girlfriends/soul sisters, came to New York from all across the country to surround me with song. I am grateful beyond words for their presence in my life, for our sisterhood that transcends time and space, for the strong musical force we are together, for our expansive hearts, and for the way we love each other.

Friends,

I hope that your summer has been sweet and that you and your loved ones are well.

According to tradition, we learn that as we spiritually prepare for the New Year, we have the opportunity to create deep, magical and transcendent changes in our own lives. And so, In that spirit, I am proud to share an important shift in my life with all of you.

With the encouragement and support of beloved friends and family, I have been handling practically every aspect of my business on my own since my father passed away. I am both overwhelmed by and deeply proud of the success I have achieved.

Now, after one of the most successful years of my work (so far), for the first time in my career, I have decided to work with and be represented by a music agency.

My dear friends, I hope you are all well and happy.

As we are still breathing in the lingering joy of Purim, I wanted to share the piece I wrote last year at this time.

The response I received to that newsletter was overwhelming; truly the pain we each can carry is unfathomable. Deborah Green, again I want to acknowledge you publicly for your ongoing bravery and strength. You inspire me and encourage me to speak my deepest truth aloud. I am forever thankful for that gift and for you.

Today, just one Purim later, our world has shifted so dramatically. My father’s mission to see, to make space for, heal, hear and embrace every human has never echoed more loudly in my heart and mind. He taught us that as we laugh with one-half of our hearts, we often cry with the other. The quest for joy is never simple, even on the happiest day of the year. I pray this teaching from my father opens your heart and that his melodies, influence and gigantic, expansive heart continue to be ever-present in this world.

And, as we continue experiencing both laughter and tears, I am thrilled to share my new website with you.

Today, as so many of us we are filled with uncertainty and fear, at this moment of transition in the American Presidency, here is my prayer.

May we Stand as One.

May we be joyous, whole, holy and free.

May we live, bring, and breathe love, more love than ever before.

May we sing and pray with all that we are, loud enough for the whole world to hear, but soft enough to hear the Angels join us.

I love you so very much.

Good Shabbos,
Neshama

“The most thunderous sound in the universe is not the attacks from our enemies but the agonizing, poisonous silence of our friends.”

-Rabbi Michael Adam Latz