World Childless Week

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On the Intersection of Jewish Identity and Childlessness

With Everlasting Love, “From One Generation to the Next” is still mine.


Ruth D Berkowitz


Grief is messy. I befriend sadness, not as a yoke, but as wings and light.

I shelter and shower my heart as I LIVE this life unexpected.

I shelter and shower the world's messiness, it's suffering.

My LIFE is enough. 

I am the dream of my ancestors. I am singer, dancer, lover, healer.

I am Rebecca and Ruth, Miriam and Esther.

With Ahavat Olam, L'DorV'Dor* is still mine.

*Ahavat Olam means Everlasting Love and L’DorV’Dor means From One Generation to the Next in Hebrew.


It is a Jewish custom to name a child after a relative that has died, often, by choosing another name with the same first letter. I was named Ruth after my great-grandmother, Rebecca. My Hebrew name is Rivkah, translated, Rebecca.

In Egypt, Miriam saved baby Moses and along with him, led the Israelites out of slavery with her singing, dancing, and timbrel-playing. During the Persian Empire, by seducing and marrying the King, Queen Esther saved the Jews from a plot by his courtier to kill them.

Both women are exalted for their leadership and heroism, not for being mothers. Whether or not they went onto bear children is not included in text or relevant to their stories.


Your Lemonade Life

Welcome to Your Lemonade Life, with Ruth D Berkowitz MA. Individualized, One-on-One coaching sessions to guide and support you as you come to terms with being childless not by choice and begin to reimagine your future. Together, we build your recipe, your protective and restorative elixir.

Possible ingredients include meditation, movement, writing, and nature, as well as more conventional Mental Well-Being approaches. Most importantly, I will give you a place to share what is too difficult to express to friends and family. I get it when it seems that no one else does!