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Sorrow Alongside Joy

The article on Jewish grandparenting, “‘Nachas, With a Capital N,’” in the September/October 2026 issue, struck a sour note with me. I have never had the experience of being a grandparent, and there are likely many other members of Hadassah who share my sorrow. 

There are a wide variety of reasons someone doesn’t have the grandparenting experience. Children in this current generation are more reluctant to marry or have children—if they can. According to the Jewish Fertility Foundation, infertility affects about one in six Jewish couples, compared to one in eight in the general population.

Children choose to become estranged from once-loving parents (my situation) and, when or if they have children, the grandparents are excluded. Then there are families where children die young, and there can be no grandchildren. The list of reasons goes on. 

I haven’t yet read the entire article because it is too painful to observe all these joyful families relishing their progeny and imparting their legacy. I have no legacy, and this sorrow runs deep.

Darien Alpern Arnstein
St. Louis, Mo.

My husband and I have 10 grandchildren between the ages of 18 and 35 living across the country. How to keep in touch with them? As I prepare Shabbat dinner, my husband sends an individual text to each of them. He begins with “Shabbat shalom” and tells them something we have done during the week. He then asks them what they have been doing. He even writes separately to our grandchildren’s spouses. 

The responses pour in immediately. Sometimes, a grandchild will text first and write, “I beat you to it.” We occasionally know what they are doing when even their parents haven’t heard the latest news. Hopefully, when our great-grandchildren grow older, we can continue this tradition with them.

Sue Spector
Sarasota, Fla.

GLP-1 Pioneer

Thank you for highlighting some of the Jewish researchers behind GLP-1 science and medicine in “The Benefits and Costs of GLP-1s” in the September/October issue. There is an important omission, however. I think readers will be excited to learn about Svetlana Mojsov, an outstanding female scientist and one of the pivotal researchers whose breakthroughs made the field possible. Mojsov is married to the Jewish scientist Michel Nussenzweig, and together they have raised two children with Jewish values.

Mojsov’s inspirational story includes coming to New York as a graduate student from Macedonia, then part of Yugoslavia, in the early 1970s and choosing for her Ph.D. project the challenge of synthesizing the hormone glucagon (the “G” of GLP-1), which many thought impossible by methods then available.

Mojsov’s modesty and collaborative style meant that her contributions were not appreciated for many years, but since 2023 she has won some of the most prestigious awards in biomedical research, among them, the Lasker DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award.

George Barany
Minneapolis, Minn.

Blessings of Friendship

Thank you for “A Unique Judaica Collection Finds a Permanent Home” in the September/October issue. Deborah Brodie came to my attention when my oldest son, who is on the autism spectrum and is now 34, was bar mitzvah age. We were looking for a tutor, and the director of our religious school recommended Deborah. She was a 5-minute drive away. How convenient was that?

This convenience turned into an amazing 20-plus year friendship. Not only did she tutor my oldest son, she also tutored my other two boys.

Walking into the townhouse she shared with her husband, Jay, was like walking into a museum. I was proud to add a painting of a fiddler to their collection, which has inspired me to collect as much Judaica as I can. And I was thrilled that Deborah and I had a connection through not only Hadassah, but Young Judaea, too.

I happened to bump into her in a grocery store a few months before she passed away. If I had only known that would be the last time I would see her, I would’ve hugged her even more tightly when I said goodbye.

May Deborah and Jay’s memories be a blessing.

Elyse Lattner
Rockville, Md.