Rivka Solomon: Disease nearly keeps winner from Jewish Women Who Dared Awards

Well-written and accurate awareness articles keep coming -- this one from the January 11, 2018 edition of the Arizona Jewish Post:

https://azjewishpost.com/2018/disease-nearly-keeps-winner-from-jewish-women-who-dared-awards/

A few excerpts:

"On this day, in the spring of 2003, I pushed past the utter exhaustion, knowing that exertion would cause my condition to even worsen. But, I was determined. After all, I was being honored with a Women Who Dared award."

"The only thing the attendees knew about me was what they read in the event program: I was a Jewish woman dedicated to social change and social justice, . . . What the attendees didn’t know was this: I also had ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis), a devastating, chronic neuro-immune disease that disables 836,000 to 2.5 million Americans, 17-20 million worldwide."

"Should I tell them, I wondered? I’d written it into my speech. But would I have the guts to reveal my personal struggle in such a public setting?"

"But that evening, I embraced the sentiment behind my women’s work: I stepped through my trepidation to tell the audience members about my disability. . . .

Now, 15 years later, I don’t hesitate to share my story; I tell the world. In fact, I now use all the skills I learned from my women’s empowerment work to assist ME advocacy."

Edited to change thread title.

 

Good to see Rivka is still active.