For the past few weeks, I have been holding my breath over what may happen to the Jewish state and all its inhabitants, especially during the holidays.

Already the death toll has reached 1,200 in Israel. A doctor in Gaza said: “The smell of death is all around.”

I wept and wept without knowing why. I then had an epiphany: What I really desired was to have Jewish children, raised to know their rich heritage.

With a haunting melody that includes descending notes, Prelude in E Minor is one of the most iconic of all time. Expressive and moving, Chopin actually requested that it be played at his funeral.

Matzo (or matzah) brei, a fried egg and matzo scramble, is a Passover breakfast favorite. And, while there are endless variations on this beloved dish, Michelle Streit Heilbrun (heiress to the Streit Matzos empire) outdoes them all with this lox and onion version from her outstanding Matzo: 35 Recipes for Passover and All Year Long: A Cookbook.

This ancient story of Purim is all plot-twists and ironic turnarounds, but G-d isn’t mentioned at all. It’s as if He left the fate of His people to the roll of the dice—or did He?

Before we can ask for forgiveness, we need to know where we went astray and try to understand why. Before we can ask to be written in G-d's "Book of Life," we need to know how our choices have brought more pain, and even death, into the world.

He told our ancestors to eat “in haste,” with our bags packed, and our sandals strapped on. So we ate alone in our homes, with a terrifying plague just outside our doors.

Sound familiar?

We all get used to seeing the world from our own perspective. But if it's only from that one viewpoint, is it really accurate? Wouldn't it be better to see the world from as many angles as possible?