Rabbanit Sharona Halickman, who leads Keren Gefen’s Fertility Chavruta and learning and discussion workshop, has shared a blog post on the Times of Israel, "Keeping in Mind the Fertility Challenged at the Seder” . She touches on the verse from Shmot 1:7 included in the Hagadah: “The children of Israel were fruitful (paru) and swarmed (va-yishretzu), multiplied (va-yirbu) and grew (va-yaatzmu) more and more (bimeod meod). The whole land was filled with them.” Sharona continues on to talk about how this affects the fertility challenged:
"The seder is set up as a family oriented ritual focused on the concept of “you shall teach your children” with the Ma Nishtana (Four Questions) recited by the youngest child, the discussion of the Four Children, the different activities which keep the children interested culminating with the search for the Afikoman etc. It can be challenging for couples who are suffering from infertility to feel part of this.”

We encourage you to read her full post. To read it, visit the post on The Times of Israel Blog.

You can learn more about the Fertility Chavruta program on the program page or by contacting Keren Gefen.

Happy Passover!

Image: Detail of Midwives before Pharoah, The Golden Haggadah f8a

Is healthy food good for trying to conceive? Sarah Frankenburg, nutritionist and Chinese medicine practioner, recently gave a workshop at the Gefen Center that opened our eyes and our appetites on the topic. Starting off with a picture of a nice big salad versus a nice hot bowl of cooked grains, she went on to say a fertile body is a warm body and warm foods will help to promote that.

I’m jumping courses, sorry! Let’s backtrack to the appetizers of the evening.

Not all foods are bad for everyone

Sarah prefaced by stating that what she was about to say is a generalization and every person is distinct with their own unique constitution. In other words, certain foods aren’t bad for everyone, and not all foods are good for everyone.

That being said here are some tasters of the night:

Cold or Hot?

Cold drinks are a NO NO. If we got one thing out of the evening, it was learning to drink water that is room temperature or hotter.  Most meals are best cooked and warm. As tempting as it is to eat straight out of the fridge (or freezer) that is another habit to break. I must confess, it’s not so easy when you’re HUNGRY!

אנו שמחות להודיע שלאחר חג הפסח נפתחות סדנאות גוף-נפש חדשות בעברית ואנגלית.

הסדנאות בעברית:

בשיתוף עם נעמת, גפן-רימון גוף נפש פוריות מזמינה אתכן לסדנת גוף-נפש לתמיכת פוריות בהנחיית ד"ר צביה בירמן, עו״ס קלינית, מומחית בתחום הפוריות.

הסדנה מעניקה כלים להתמודדות עם אתגרי פוריות. מחויבות בסודיות. עשרה מפגשים בני שעה וחצי.