I absolutely loved reading “Loving Hands,” about a girl on her twelfth birthday. She receives a significant gift from her grandmother – a hamesh hand necklace. The way this article was written, with such sensory and descriptive details, made me feel as though I was actually there watching the girl open her birthday present and listening to her grandmother as she explained it.

Being part of a Jewish family myself, I know what a hamesh hand looks like. There is no tradition in my family of passing it down generation to generation, however both my grandmother and mother wear one on their golden bracelets. Before reading this article, I didn’t know that the hamesh hand is meant to stop any evil that may try to harm you.

Not only did I enjoy reading this article, and the way it was written, but I became more knowledgeable and more in touch with my religion. Like Ilona M., I aspire to one day have my own hamesh hand.