Faith comes naturally to children, and we start life with a pure and steady call to
God. And then we experience pain, loss, doubt, challenge – and what was once whole becomes fragmented and broken. We are devastated by our losses and even more by the crumbling of our faith.
But in the words of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotsk, there is nothing as whole as a broken heart. If we can find the courage in those humbled moments to continue to seek God, we will find Him, and with a call that is steady and unwavering we will once again reclaim Eden.
Chana Silberstein, PhD, is the educational director of the Chabad House of Ithaca. She is an organizational consultant and also the former dean of curriculum of the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute.