And I don't mean that as a mere way of speaking. You, reading these lines right now, are actually quite dear to me. I'm honored to be here with you, and I'm honored that you're taking time out of your day, out of the other meaningful and important things in your life, to sit with these words, and with what our contributors have shared in this edition of Chibur.

Chibur is all about connection, about relationship. It wouldn't exist if you weren't here with me.

The responses we received to our last edition were heartwarming, inspiring, uplifting. It became even clearer to us that we're meeting a real need in this community, both to share meaningful ideas and to inspire, and simply to connect, to find a home for the searching and the reaching that so many of us carry. You'll find some of those letters to the editor in these pages. In the interest of space, we couldn't include them all.

One letter in particular stayed with me. It asked, quite simply: who are you? Are you backed by any rabbinic board, any organization? What's the deal?

I want to answer that here. We are two Jewish women: mothers, teachers, therapists, writers, people on our own paths of growing and searching. We are firmly committed to a Torah and halachic way of life. We are soul searchers, always looking to deepen our relationship to our Creator, and we believe that spiritual search and professional therapeutic tools can enhance and deepen each other, not conflict with each other. We aren't backed by any rabbinic board or organization. This is a grassroots project, built in our late nights, because we have a passion for creativity, expression, and community. That's who we are. If this resonates with you, we're happy to share this space together.

Putting together our piece on AI this issue was fascinating to me, and it brought me back to something I wrote in my last editor's note: the difference between לבד, alone, and לבוד, joined, bound together, is one letter: the ו, the vav hachibur, the connecting vav.

That one letter kept surfacing for me again as we worked on the AI symposium. Moshe described himself as כבד פה, heavy of mouth, heavy of speech. Add that same connecting vav to that same root, and כבד, heavy, becomes כבוד, honor. One letter of connection is the difference between the heaviness of feeling stuck and the dignity of being fully expressed.

I see that same movement in how so many people are discovering AI as a tool: a way of taking what's been sitting in potential, a thought, a longing, a moment of inspiration, and bringing it into actual expression, into something that can be shared with others, whether through image, through song, or through words. With it come the dangers and pitfalls that can dehumanize us and our communities when AI is not used to bring real כבוד and connection in a meaningful way. I hope that this piece will leave you pondering your own perspectives on relationship, connection, expression and what makes us most uniquely human.

My hope is that this issue inspires all of us to look honestly at our own relationship to expression, and that this month brings each of us real experiences of moving out of the heaviness of feeling stuck in our words, into a place of depth, expression, and connection, so that our souls can reach toward what they came into this world to do.

This is a time of year that calls us to take stock. We know the King is in the field. But where are we? Are we standing in a field that allows us to connect, to Him, to each other, to the parts within us that yearn so deeply for connection? All the while embracing the messiness of human life with open arms.

It is my blessing for all of us that we find real, meaningful opportunities for that connection this month. Connection that honors creativity, facilitates expression, and brings honor and coronation to our King.

We read every piece of feedback you send us, and we're grateful for all of it. Come join the Chibur WhatsApp community to be the first to hear about what's coming next.

With heartfelt wishes for a Ksiva VeChasima Tova!

Shalva