Before I address the personal, I want to pause and notice how poignant it is that this Shabbat of Parashat Beshalach—also known as Shabbat Shirah, because of the Song of the Sea and the haftarah with Deborah’s song—falls in the same week that the body of the last remaining hostage, Ran Gvili, was released from Gaza. Song and silence, redemption and loss, hope and grief all collide this week. And yet, perhaps precisely because of that, we are being invited to begin thinking about the future—and about peacemaking.

Against this larger backdrop, my own life feels small, but it too is in motion. Since I wrote last week about my big move, I have contacted a mover, bought a bed, and started going through my clothing—helped along by good friends who are gently pushing me and encouraging me forward. I even spoke to the local rabbi in Tivon where I am moving, and arranged to read from the Megillah on Purim. And still, alongside these concrete steps, I find myself escaping into Netflix and into books of all kinds, from novels to self-help. I have always been an eclectic reader, and perhaps now more than ever.

This tension between movement and........

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