Hodaya: A Journal of Grief & Gratitude was born out of a need to strengthen myself and my community as our worlds unravel. It is a space to learn, practice, and share my commitment to moving toward justice with a compassionate heart.

In a world where so much is being taken from us—our lives, our histories, our futures—we need new ways to express and hold what we are experiencing. Hodaya is the first word for gratitude in the Torah, but its meaning is deeper than thanks alone. It is gratitude even while acknowledging grief—a practice of holding both sorrow and the possibility of renewal.

I have named the spiritual grief work I’ve been doing Hodaya because it is meant to help us metabolize our grief, cultivate gratitude, and step more fully into the work of healing our world and shaping a more just future.

But Hodaya is more than a concept—it is a way of moving through the world that sustains us in the long struggle for justice and repair. It is a practice of resilience, of making space for grief without being consumed by it, and of staying tethered to love and purpose even in times of devastation. In addition to reflections, it offers supportive tools—prayers, rituals, action steps, and community spaces—to help us navigate uncertainty and loss with clarity and strength.

I believe that grief and gratitude are not separate from the work of social transformation—they are necessary for it. To build the world we long for, we must first tell the truth about what is broken, and we must also stay connected to the love that makes liberation possible.