Next week, Mayyim Hayyim will honor the authors of Blessings for the Journey: A Jewish Healing Guide for Women with Cancer. Since its publication this book has brought hope and renewal to women throughout the world. One of them is Rabbi Robin Nafshi, who also happens to be the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Jacob, the New Hampshire synagogue of the event’s other honorees, Betty and Peter Shapiro (nothing is a coincidence!). Below is Rabbi Nafshi’s 2012 post about her personal experience with Blessings for the Journey (available for purchase here).
We hope you’ll join us on May 18 to celebrate Blessings’ authors and inclusion at Mayyim Hayyim.
Okay, now on to the post:
The Gift of the Guide
Written by Robin Nafshi, Rabbi of Temple Beth Jacob
This past June, I was diagnosed with uterine cancer. While I was only 50 at the time of my diagnosis, it really wasn’t a shock. My father – and his sister – had cancer. So did his mother and his uncle. And I have since learned, so did his grandfather, his mother’s father. I have always taken after my father. Although not consciously, I think I have been “waiting” for a cancer diagnosis for about the past ten years.