When was the last time you stopped and reflected on what life was all about? For many of us, there are not enough hours in the day to accomplish what’s on our plates, let alone find the time to sit down and contemplate our greater purpose.
But the truth is, unlike our ancestors, we should be the generation with all the time in the world. We no longer have to go to the well to draw water, hunt for meat, pluck feathers from chickens, or sew our own clothes. Everything we need is in the palm of our hand. And, yet, we’re still so busy.
Perhaps we are filling in our time with more and more in order to avoid the most important things in life. What is life all about? Am I living up to my potential? If we stopped to reflect and ask ourselves those big and daunting questions, we’d be shaken to our very core – and then what would we do? But if we don’t ask those questions, we may actually miss out on fulfilling our purpose in this world.
What is Momentum's new app?
That’s why Momentum, the organization I co-founded, has created Yomm. Yomm is a dynamic new app where Jewish women who feel disconnected in mind, body, and spirit can explore the answers to those questions in an inspiring way, within a supportive global community.
The app encourages women to explore those all-important questions in the company of other, like-minded women.
Yomm, meaning “day” in Hebrew, offers Jewish women worldwide, a chance to “check in” on a daily basis. It provides women with interactive journeys that touch on the communal, spiritual, and social, thereby encouraging them – particularly mothers – to break out of their comfort zone, to discover their best selves.
After all, it may take a village to raise not only our children but ourselves too.
The app – a $1.5 million project, made possible by the Mayberg Foundation, the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, Debra and David Magerman, and Momentum Canada – provides journeys or tracks centered around the following: personal discovery and learning; connecting with a global community of Jewish sisterhood; exploring Jewish wisdom and traditions; and cultivating a sense of gratitude and meaning throughout one’s day.
Users can filter their journey by topic, with the platform’s current options including: gratitude; well-being; prayer; Israel; spiritual growth; and taking action.
Through the app, we’re encouraging Jewish women to be mindful, present, and connected. Moreover, with Hanukkah around the corner, Yomm can even be an opportunity to explore how other Jewish women celebrate this festival.
IF YOU’RE looking for a recipe, for example, there may be a woman in Poland who has a traditional Hanukkah recipe passed down from her grandmother. It may seem like these women are worlds apart, but some still live in countries that your grandmother or great-grandmother came from. This is YOUR heritage – and if your bubbe didn’t get on that boat – that would be you.
On Yomm, the paths to self-growth and learning are numerous, because we recognize each woman has her own unique idea of what community means to her. Yomm provides each with the power to be herself while being part of a people. In Hebrew, this is called “achdut v’lo achiydut,” unity without uniformity.
As such, users can experience these journeys alone, with other women they know, or even with women they’ve never met who live in a country they’ve never visited.
Yomm takes inspiration from Momentum’s flagship, 8-day Israel trips, in which more than 20,000 women from 35 countries have been brought to Israel to experience it on a communal, spiritual, and historical level. During those trips, something magical happens: women who were strangers before they got on the plane, become sisters.
From hushed, huddled conversations in hotel lobbies after a long day touring, to dancing arm-and-arm with women who live an ocean away, to sharing deep, personal stories about their families back home: These women become part of a community with Momentum.
Yomm makes it possible for Jewish women to share experiences through technology, thus enabling them to become more connected than ever before.
Ironically, the COVID-19 pandemic was a major inspiration behind Yomm. During that scary and tumultuous time, we went from reaching 3,000 women each year, to connect with 3,000 women a day online. Online programs included tutorials on how to conduct a Passover seder and webinars by pediatricians about how to keep kids safe during the pandemic. These programs fulfilled a deep yearning to connect for many women.
As we approach the new year, there is no better time to start. With Yomm, finding the best version of yourself, and perhaps helping others to do the same, is only one click away.
The writer is the founding director of Momentum.