The Blessing of a Broken Heart

Rating:
Summary: Hauntingly beautiful
Review: (*sigh*) What can a mere person say about the pain that is spilled out on the pages of this book? How about "Thank you, Sherri Mandell, for helping me understand even just a little bit what a parent goes through when they lose a child." ?

This book heals more than hurts the reader. As a friend of a family who lost their child before his time, I grasped for a way to understand - to be the friend they needed in their time of sorrow. Reading this book has allowed me to be unafraid of their pain and to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them. It helped me to realize how their healing will come in stages and how I can support them through the coming months.

Thank you, Sherri, for sharing your unbearable pain and unimaginable blessings.

Rating:
Summary: Comfort and hope from tragedy
Review: Koby Mandell, 13, and his friend Yosef Ishran, 14, skipped school on May 8, 2001, and instead hiked into the rocky countryside near their homes in Tekoa, southeast of Jerusalem. Inside a large cave in the valley, the two were bludgeoned to death with stones the size of bowling balls. The double murder in the cave was one of the most horrific of the Intifada; the terrorists have not yet been apprehended.

"A cave is a place of constriction, of darkness, of fear," Koby's mother Sherri Mandell writes in the recently released The Blessing of a Broken Heart (Toby Press, July 2003). "Moses and Shimon Bar Yochai and Eliyahu all dwelled in caves, and encountered God from the clefts in the rock... My thirteen-year-old Koby entered the cave - but he did not emerge. I thought my family and I would be lost in a cave of grief, forever wandering in a labyrinth so dark you can't even see your own hand, but have to trust that when you step, the ground will still be under you."

In the darkness of her grief, Sherri Mandell "didn't know how to cope with the pain and the evil." She began questioning her role as Koby's mother, asking herself if there had been some way she could have prevented her son's death. And, she began questioning her faith.

"How could God decide to kill the boys in such a cruel way?" Mandell cries out. "How can we live with such a gruesome death?"

"He is not gone," one woman comforts her, visiting Mandell during the seven days of shiva (traditional mourning period). "He will live inside of you now."

Instead of dying with her son, the author makes a conscious decision to live. As much as she knew Koby, her firstborn, while alive, Mandell grows even closer to him following his death. She learns of his many talents, and his faults as well. And instead of abandoning her faith, she finds consolation and guidance in Jewish traditions.

"What do we do with the pain?" Sherri's husband, Seth, asks a rabbi who lost a child in a bus accident. The rabbi answers: "You must use it to grow."

Sherri Mandell not only grows, but learns to deal with her pain, her horrific loss. This is more than just a detailed description of the stages of grieving; it is a true monument to the soul's ability to recover, live and love.

"Many of us live with broken hearts," Mandell writes. "But when you touch broken hearts together, a new heart emerges, one that is more open and compassionate, able to touch others, a heart that seeks God."

Readers of this book will be appreciative of Sherri Mandell's strength to recover from her tragedy and her ability to relate the deeply painful, yet strangely beautiful tale in such a way that readers cannot help but be comforted and changed for the better.

Rating:
Summary: Sharing our Grief
Review: My son died a few months ago and I have begun reading many books on grief. But Sherri Mandell's book "Blessings of a Broken Heart" is the best one I have read. It is easy to read yet very deep. Each chapter is short and essay-like and can be read independently. Sherri is very open about what her grief feels like, openly talking about subjects others may avoid. It seems as I read that she and I are sitting across the table from each other sharing our grief. At the same time, she gives a glimpse into the lives of those that are brave enough to return to Israel to live in these perilous times. And she also gives a glimpse into the Jewish way of mourning. This book is a journey through the first year of grief and you feel like you are walking it with her. I recommend this book to ANYONE that is grieving or has a loved-one that may be grieving. I have not read another book on grieving since - hers was the last one I needed.

Rating:
Summary: Sharing our Grief
Review: My son died a few months ago and I have begun reading many books on grief. But Sherri Mandell's book "Blessings of a Broken Heart" is the best one I have read. It is easy to read yet very deep. Each chapter is short and essay-like and can be read independently. Sherri is very open about what her grief feels like, openly talking about subjects others may avoid. It seems as I read that she and I are sitting across the table from each other sharing our grief. At the same time, she gives a glimpse into the lives of those that are brave enough to return to Israel to live in these perilous times. And she also gives a glimpse into the Jewish way of mourning. This book is a journey through the first year of grief and you feel like you are walking it with her. I recommend this book to ANYONE that is grieving or has a loved-one that may be grieving. I have not read another book on grieving since - hers was the last one I needed.

Rating:
Summary: Moving Poetry
Review: Sherri Mandell writes about the loss of her son in words of poetry. As she shares her deepest feelings, we cry and grow with her. She has an incredible and personable way of writing. The Blessing of a Broken Heart will touch everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Getting through grief
Review: Since I lost my oldest child six months ago, I felt I was too fragile and raw to read this book. While in Israel, however, I felt inspired and perhaps stronger, to delve into it. The feelings are so familiar and it is reassuring to know that the doubt and anger are not just mine. The only way to grieve is to communicate and share. This book provided me with some comfort that my reactions are normal and that I too will survive.

Rating:
Summary: A must read book for everyone!
Review: Some of my friends who have read this book say it is depressing. They say they cried as they read it. Yet I read it, and didn't find it depressing. The difference? I also lost my oldest son, but to a different beast. Sherri has taken the pain of losing a child, and wrapped it up for all to see. It is hard for some to read because they want to see us "get over" the loss. I hope that all who read it will see for a second what every waking moment of our lives are like. The writing is so eloquent. While taking you into the depths of pain, Sherri is able to shine light with her strength. She has offered us hope and inspiration, but carries the message that Koby is with her forever. Sherri has touched my heart!

Rating:
Summary: Thank you for writing this book
Review: The book is painful to read, yet life affirming. Not having lost a child, it is almost a pain to extreme to relate to. Yet, pain is pain and so is the strength of finding that loss is a source of compassion and the life shared an enduring gift.

Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking and Uplifting
Review: There are no words to describe what Mandell endured - losing her eldest son in a brutal terror attack two years ago - and yet she's managed to describe her experiences in a beautiful and haunting way. Her writing is lucid, self aware, and full of feeling, but never melodramatic; she clearly does not want pity. It seems that her aim is simply to share her world - its pain and everything that pain has brought into her life. There is no way to walk away from this book uninspired or unappreciative of every morsel of life and love available. A truly spiritual experience with great sensitivity and, inconceivably, heart rendering humor. The title says it best: This book is about the deepest level of the human experience.