
A Decade Later, Hope
Last week, I was deeply moved by news of the wedding of a young woman named Tamar Fogel in Israel.
Tabby Refael (@TabbyRefael on X and Instagram) is an award-winning writer, speaker, and weekly columnist.

Last week, I was deeply moved by news of the wedding of a young woman named Tamar Fogel in Israel.

For a year-and-a-half, I’ve been privy to the pains of some friends as they’ve struggled with being married and raising children in a pandemic that, let’s face it, has the potential to bring out the worst in others.

Twenty-four Angelenos perished on 9/11; the youngest was only three years old. In asking “Where Were You On 9/11?”, we also wanted to know how some processed the horrific events in New York through the timeline and possible trauma of their own lives.

Some Americans who watched the horrific events of 9/11 on television felt anger. Others felt grief. My family and I felt both, but as refugees who escaped post-revolutionary Iran, we worried that the enemies we had left behind had come back for us.

The yearly sermon, which is the brainchild of synagogue founder Rabbi David Baron, invites extraordinary individuals, Jewish or not, who uphold values of freedom and courage to connect with worshippers through a shared humanity.

Indeed, none of us knew what to say at the sight of a giant, cooked trout head next to a cup of wine. My brother-in-law explained that it was a North African custom symbolizing a hope to be at the metaphoric head, rather than the tail, of the year.

Those who have read my weekly columns during the pandemic know that in the past eighteen months, I’ve essentially regressed into a 1950s housewife, as, like many mothers, my professional pursuits took a backseat as I quickly morphed into a chef, housekeeper, chauffeur, teacher, medic, entertainer and hair stylist (I rue the day I tried to give myself bangs).

Ask an average Iranian-American woman about what’s transpiring in Afghanistan today and she will reveal a humble, empathetic understanding of some of the plights of Afghan women.

While human life was put on an unprecedented halt, creatures were still going about their business (literally).

For a regime that makes such noise about how many foreign leaders attend an inauguration, it sure is quiet about how many citizens it has murdered.