One More Dawn       

As told to Rivka Streicher by Perela Widenbaum

Both their parents were non-practicing but proud Jews. But somehow, Perela Widenbaum and her husband Dovid found their way to Yiddishkeit–and from there, overcame the challenges of infertility, of raising children with special needs, of a cancer diagnosis. Despite hardship and heartbreak, they never lost faith that Hashem would give them strength to face each new day

Back home in Southfield, Michigan after seminary in Israel, I found myself one day, climbing onto my mom’s 80s station wagon. I leaned back on the warm metal of the large, flat roof.

“Hashem,” I murmured, eyes closed against the sun. “My formal education is over. But with my non-frum parents, I have no idea how to find a shidduch. When You find him for me, will You let me know?”

It felt natural to do that. I was flummoxed and overwhelmed; why not give it to G-d? Despite coming from a secular home, I’ve always been an intuitive, “sixth sense” sort of person. Connecting to Hashem came naturally to me.