Shalom NoVA - Women

Never a Better Time for a Book Purchase

It was my absolute pleasure to meet Rabbi Sherre Hirsch this year. I called Rabbi Hirsch to invite her to be a speaker at the Seaboard Region Education Day after I saw her on The Today Show talking about her book, We Plan, God Laughs. There is a subtitle to her book - 10 Steps to Finding Your Divine Path When Life Is Not Turning Out Like You Wanted – but when I saw the show, all I heard was the first part, because at the time, with what was going on in my life, I felt like I had planned and God had laughed. The past three years have held many challenging moments for my family and I didn’t even realize just how deeply the tsouris had penetrated until the day Rabbi Hirsch and I first spoke about this event. I shared with her when I got to meet her in person, the impact that our first conversation had on me. Her words were ones I will never forget because they helped put me back on my path. She said, Susan, God must be smiling on you, because I will be on the east coast then, and it looks like I can do this event. I was beyond thrilled that she would be able to come to Education Day, but I was also thrilled to know that God could be smiling on me. Even with all the “stuff” in my life, and we all have “stuff” from time to time, God can smile on us. I immediately ordered her book and thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Rabbi Hirsch is one of those people I consider myself so lucky to have encountered in my life. When she speaks, I pay attention. Her insights are noteworthy, she makes me think about things in a new way, and she inspires me.

I check Rabbi Hirsch’s website from time to time to read through her blog and tonight I found this message:

What to do when life hits you over the head

Life certainly hit us over the head. Four months after We Plan, God Laughs was published my mother was diagnosed with Glioblastoma (GBM) stage 4 brain cancer. I dedicated this book to my mother for her courage and how she overcame so many challenges in her life. Now she is facing her biggest challenge yet, and she and many others suffering with GBM need your help.

Today June 16, 2009, my mother turns 65 years old and the paperback of We Plan, God Laughs with a new epilogue goes on sale.

In celebration , I am donating 10% of the profits to the Art of the Brain Fund to help in the fight against brain cancer.

To celebrate with us:
1. Buy the paperback of We Plan, God Laughs.
2. Send this email to three friends and ask them to do the same.

I pray that the new edition of We Plan, God Laughs will heal in more ways than one.


Please check out Rabbi Hirsch’s website for yourself at www.sherrehirsch.com and please consider buying a copy of her book. You will find healing and inspiration for yourself and you will help in the fight against brain cancer at the same time. There has never been a better time for a book purchase.

Background on Rabbi Hirsch

In 1998, after being ordained by JTS, Rabbi Hirsch joined Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, becoming the first female rabbi in its century-long history, where she served for eight years. She developed the popular Jewish Women’s Spirituality Retreat for Canyon Ranch, where she now serves as a spiritual life consultant. In January 2008 she joined MomLogic.com, a website for thinking moms who don't have time to think, as their spirituality expert.

Since stepping out from behind the pulpit, Rabbi Hirsch has brought her expertise to television viewers nationwide on shows such as “New Morning” on the Hallmark Channel, serving as a spiritual expert for “The Today Show,” a relationship expert on “The Tyra Banks Show” and a guest on the PBS series “Thirty Good Minutes.”