Our Story
Our coming together as a couple is a miracle in so many ways. Love is wonderful at any age; we so appreciate our love and each other, because we have had a lifetime to prepare for our encounter and "to open our eyes" to see what could be possible by "coming home" each with the other. Please read our stories below to share our joy.
The Miracle of our Meeting
Jeff's Story
We met on a September evening Havdallah hike through our synagogue Kol Shofar. We had known each other as acquaintances, but the timing that night was perfect as "the stars were aligned".
We met several more times and began to talk about seeing each other before we actually became a couple. Even though we each had made different choices in our lives (I had divorced and had grown children and Ilene had not married before), we were alike in many ways. We also communicated and listened exceptionally well. Perhaps because each of us came from a lifetime of experience with others, we cared for and appreciated each other in miraculous ways. We did not fall in love; we grew in love, deeply.
One interest we share is Israel. Each have had life changing experiences through visits and experiences there. Indeed, we separately had been to Israel right before we met; I departed after a one month stay the same weekend Ilene arrived. Our connection to Israel bound us together in both logical and mysterious ways. But I will let Ilene tell her story so you can see how.
The Miracle of our Meeting
Ilene's Story
In April, 2006, I was teaching dance therapy at Lesley University’s campus in Netanya (Israel) when I took a very private pilgrimage to Sefad. I had been advised by my friend to visit a particular tomb with the reputation of bringing people to their beshert, their Beloved. This blessing came true for his, and so he sent me the website for the Tomb of Rabbi Yonatan Ben Uziel.
After trudging hours through the Galilee I found a modest tomb and walked 7 times around it. I noticed that there were stones like the Western Wall, and people had inserted prayers and wishes. I had neither paper nor pen with me, and there was no one to ask. Finally, I noticed a scrap of paper fluttering past me. It was blank. I looked at it, realized that I obviously had not known what to ask before, and gave it over to G-d. I put the blank piece of paper into the wall and asked G-D to choose and send me just the right person for me.
It was shortly after that that I met Jeff. I had done what I could to prepare for the beshert—I took a mikvah, threw a lot of my past into the bay at Tashlicht…and then a Havdallah hike to the beach. There, holding flashlights and candles, we started to discover that we were soul-mates.
Our love has grown deeply since that time, as we discover more and more ways we can support each other and share lots of depth, laughter, love of people, and idealism—and deeply Jewish souls.
I feel very blessed and am awed at the power of the connections we have made with each other and with many special people from each other’s lives. We give each other family and a rich sense of generativity, as in the sense of being fruitful and multiplying (life). It feels like a state of grace.
I look forward to bringing this grace down to earth and building a new life together with as much fearlessness, honesty and love as we can.
