London is a tough place for sure. Emuna established here with effort and hitbodedut is very much achievable. Perhaps London wasn't so much the issue but revisiting old mind sets with TV and the wrong songs being played…reminding you where you came from. This seems to be a test .For sure Hashem's Presence is palpable in Israel to those porous enough to perceive it , in London we are grateful for the occasional holy vibe after hitbodedut , like a morsel for the starving .

London Emuna London is a tough place for sure. Emuna established here with effort and hitbodedut is very much achievable. Perhaps London wasn't so much the issue but revisiting old mind sets with TV and the wrong songs being played…reminding you where you came from. This seems to be a test .For sure Hashem's Presence is palpable in Israel to those porous enough to perceive it , in London we are grateful for the occasional holy vibe after hitbodedut , like a morsel for the starving .

that exact same feeling of being distanced from Hashem, happened to me on my recent trip to the states. After 4 days I could hardly daven let alone do my hisbodedus. Boruch Hashem, after nearly a month back in the Holy Land, davening is coming back to me as well as an ability to to my hisbodedus- after much asking. Wow, how grateful I am now for what we have here every day, BH.

the same thing happened to me on my recent trip to the U.S. that exact same feeling of being distanced from Hashem, happened to me on my recent trip to the states. After 4 days I could hardly daven let alone do my hisbodedus. Boruch Hashem, after nearly a month back in the Holy Land, davening is coming back to me as well as an ability to to my hisbodedus- after much asking. Wow, how grateful I am now for what we have here every day, BH.

Dear Rivka, Trust me…YOU DO make a positive difference! I know! I read your articles every week. I appreciate your transparency and I'm encouraged to keep going forth in my little corner of the world(US); living area where we are very isolated and miles away from any observant community/opportunity. Daily I 'stay alive, keep afloat' with good books, Rabbi Brody & Breslev sites, plus two Torah Studies online from NY. Joseph survived Egypt. We can too!

RE: Rivka bummed about London… Dear Rivka, Trust me…YOU DO make a positive difference! I know! I read your articles every week. I appreciate your transparency and I'm encouraged to keep going forth in my little corner of the world(US); living area where we are very isolated and miles away from any observant community/opportunity. Daily I 'stay alive, keep afloat' with good books, Rabbi Brody & Breslev sites, plus two Torah Studies online from NY. Joseph survived Egypt. We can too!

i always enjoy your articles so much; continue to pray, pretend reconnnecting with the One that does all for the very best, and soon you'll really reconnect; galut is yester hara and the confrontation to it was hard for your soul; that's why you feel so low;and your former environment gave certainly a reflect of yourself that was negative, that's why you doubt about what you have been building for years; fight the yetser and send love and smiles to galut, soon you ll reach your previouslevel! thank you for your article lea

pretend! i always enjoy your articles so much; continue to pray, pretend reconnnecting with the One that does all for the very best, and soon you'll really reconnect; galut is yester hara and the confrontation to it was hard for your soul; that's why you feel so low;and your former environment gave certainly a reflect of yourself that was negative, that's why you doubt about what you have been building for years; fight the yetser and send love and smiles to galut, soon you ll reach your previouslevel! thank you for your article lea

Don’t worry – it’s all for the best!!!! Dear Rivka, I read your article, and I have to say that I can identify with your feelings. I moved from New York to Eretz Yisroel and then back again, and let me tell you I felt like I was falling from the tip of Mt. Everest down to the Dead Sea. It took me so long to even consider that maybe I could have an inkling of the same connection to Hashem here in NY that I can in Eretz Yisroel. But it's happening, slowly slowly, I am able to build Eretz Yisrael around me here despite all the blockages and the literally physical dirt that seems to cover the neshama up here in this galus. You visited London for a few days, and saw just how powerful the other side is out there in the world. Now you are trying to recover from that "fall." BUT you have to remember and believe that there is no such thing as a nefilah and Hashem put you in London so that you could get even closer with Him!! So what if when you were there your sensitive neshama was overwhelmed by the gashmius of that society? it's a good thing, because it shows that you are aware of its falsity. In the long run that trip is just going to strengthen your emuna and remind you every day of how blessed you are to be in Eretz Yisrael. I really appreciate your honesty and I have to admit I was waiting for that moment at the end of the article when everything turned around – but thank you for not sugarcoating. We all have those experiences and it's important to share them because it's really our neshamas against the world. I give you a bracha that your emunah should return ten fold and your experience in London should lead to a heightened sense of gratitude and love of the blessings Hashem gives you every day, and a bracha that wherever in the world you go you will be in Eretz Yisrael!!!

Dear Rivka, I read your article, and I have to say that I can identify with your feelings. I moved from New York to Eretz Yisroel and then back again, and let me tell you I felt like I was falling from the tip of Mt. Everest down to the Dead Sea. It took me so long to even consider that maybe I could have an inkling of the same connection to Hashem here in NY that I can in Eretz Yisroel. But it's happening, slowly slowly, I am able to build Eretz Yisrael around me here despite all the blockages and the literally physical dirt that seems to cover the neshama up here in this galus. You visited London for a few days, and saw just how powerful the other side is out there in the world. Now you are trying to recover from that "fall." BUT you have to remember and believe that there is no such thing as a nefilah and Hashem put you in London so that you could get even closer with Him!! So what if when you were there your sensitive neshama was overwhelmed by the gashmius of that society? it's a good thing, because it shows that you are aware of its falsity. In the long run that trip is just going to strengthen your emuna and remind you every day of how blessed you are to be in Eretz Yisrael. I really appreciate your honesty and I have to admit I was waiting for that moment at the end of the article when everything turned around – but thank you for not sugarcoating. We all have those experiences and it's important to share them because it's really our neshamas against the world. I give you a bracha that your emunah should return ten fold and your experience in London should lead to a heightened sense of gratitude and love of the blessings Hashem gives you every day, and a bracha that wherever in the world you go you will be in Eretz Yisrael!!!