Hope Will Find You: My Search for the Wisdom to Stop Waiting and Start Living [Hardcover]

Naomi Levy (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 21, 2010

How can I get my life off hold?  When will my life really begin? 
 
We all ask ourselves the same questions when we are struggling to move forward.  As a rabbi, Naomi Levy frequently offered spiritual guidance to people seeking the answers. But when a doctor told her that her young daughter, Noa, had a fatal degenerative disease, Rabbi Levy’s own insights could not prevent her whole life from unraveling.
  
In Hope Will Find You, Naomi Levy shares her journey and the wisdom she gained.  She describes with humor and honesty how she came through a time of uncertainty and fear and learned how to stop waiting for life to begin.  A natural and engaging storyteller, Levy has written a book filled with invaluable lessons for living in the present and for opening the door to an extraordinary future.

Hope Will Find You is a book that will be passed to friends when life gets confusing, a book that will rest on our bedside tables when we are searching for hope and direction.    

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Levy, one of the first women to be ordained as a Conservative rabbi, often counseled her congregants when they faced problems. But when her daughter, Noa, was diagnosed with a potentially fatal degenerative disease, she found herself unprepared for the crisis. Putting her life on hold, Levy focused on finding a way to heal her daughter. As she moved through her journey of pain, she eventually realized that she needed to restart her own life and learn to live well despite her family circumstances. Ironically, Noa supplied the necessary inspiration, accepting her physical and learning disabilities while persevering and maintaining an optimistic attitude. An honest account of a family struggle as well as a tribute to a very strong mother-daughter bond, this will appeal to those who gravitate toward self-help books based on Jewish wisdom. --Barbara Bibel

Review

Praise for HOPE WILL FIND YOU
 
"A breathtaking journey of concern and connection, fear and faith. Rabbi Levy lets us in and allows us to see the human face of spirituality."
-Jamie Lee Curtis
 
"A sign of a great book is that while you're reading it, you're thinking of all the people you are going to give it to, Naomi Levy's Hope Will Find You is that book. This is a deeply affecting memoir that you may want, but you unquestionably need. It blew me away."
-Julie Klam, author Please Excuse My Daughter and You Had Me at Woof
 
"Naomi Levy gained much wisdom from the tribulations of her own family.  We can gain that wisdom by reading her moving book about it."
-Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People
 
“This beautifully written, personal and poignant story carries the universal truth that patient wisdom keeps the doors to celebration and gratitude always open.”
-Sylvia Boorstein, Author of Happiness is an Inside Job
 
"If you're reading this blurb, then believe me:  This book is extraordinary.  The storytelling is profoundly moving, the message of not giving up or giving in even more so, and Rabbi Naomi Levy's ability to draw out meaning from biblical texts is innovative and profound.  I opened up the book late one evening, and didn't put it down until I finished."
-Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, author of Jewish Literacy and A Code of Jewish Ethics
 
“An inspiring, honest and beautifully written memoir; you will be grateful it found you.”
-Rabbi David Wolpe, Sinai Temple Los Angeles, author of Why Faith Matters
 

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Harmony; First Edition edition (September 21, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385531702
• ISBN-13: 978-0385531702
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1 x 8.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #540,746 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

NAOMI LEVY, author of the national bestseller To Begin Again and Talking to God, is the founder and leader of NASHUVA, the Jewish spiritual outreach movement. Named one of the 50 top rabbis in America by Newsweek magazine, she was in the first class of women to enter the Conservative rabbinical seminary. Naomi has appeared on Oprah, The Today Show and NPR. She lives in Venice, California, with her husband, Rob Eshman, and their children, Adi and Noa.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Lesson of the Waiting Room November 24, 2010

By Story Circle Book Reviews

Format:Hardcover

Naomi Levy saw her dream, her dreams, come true. As a child she dreamed of being a rabbi--even if, as she was told, "Girls can't be rabbis." She graduated from a Conservative rabbinical seminary, a member of the first entering class with women members. Like many young women, she dreamed of a soul-mate husband and a family. Rob Eshman appeared, as shortly, did Adi and then Noa. The family prospered, the career took off. Life was good.

One thing Levy preached and Levy lived: don't wait for life to begin when fill-in-the blank (get the degree, get married, lose weight, gain weight) happens. Life is here. Live now. Then Levy's own dream-life ended. Her world crashed one Sabbath evening when a doctor called and callously announced that five-year-old daughter Noa had a degenerative and eventually fatal disease. Even though this death sentence was later commuted to a wait-and-see, it-could-be-something-else probation, life for the family changed forever. Especially for Levy, life changed.

Now she was one of the people who need help. One of the people waiting for something to happen. Her child became her career. Treatments, therapies, time in the car, time in the waiting room. The dream was a nightmare, pulling down not only Levy but her family.

Have faith! Naomi did--hers wasn't lost; it was misplaced. Through the help of her family, a study partner, and the memory of the strong religious background her father instilled, she found it, realizing "things get better."

In Hope Will Find You, Levy recounts the journey to the better place--it was, and is not a straight road but a curving, unfolding and sometimes rocky one. Honestly, and with the support of her family (daughter Noa named the book), she tells how she did not solve all of her problems--some may be insoluble--but she did regain her life. She strengthens her own story with those of others she has known and helped.

Levy's strong rabbinical training, counseling skills, and engaging writing style make this a book worth reading. Who will welcome it? Families who share the agony of a child in need and in pain? They need it. People who share the Jewish faith? Absolutely. Anyone who has had a door, any door, slam in her face? She'll find help here. Appreciators of good writing and human understanding? Yes, for sure.

I recommend this book highly for all of them. And who among us hasn't been in one of those groups? Heard a door slam? We all can learn The Lesson of the Waiting Room. "You can even find grace in the wilderness."

by Trilla Pando
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Revelation! October 11, 2010

By Nancy

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

The book "Hope Will Find You" is a gripping story of a mother's challenge to seek her own voice and inner self in the face of her daughter's special needs and disabilities. Naomi Levy writes about the various moments in her own life in a very direct, honest and even humorous way. The bigger lesson in this wonderful book is that life can begin at any point. Seizing the moment NOW is the skill which helps us understand the title of the book, "Hope Will Find You".

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read! November 2, 2010

By Toba August

Format:Hardcover

Hope Will Find You has something for everyone. You will laugh, cry and be moved in profound ways. A gifted writer, Rabbi Levy is able to transform her stories into enjoyable and inspiring lessons for life. Not only did I learn life lessons, but many insightful teachings from the Jewish tradition. You will want to read this book and buy copies for many friends!