All I could think about was the journey that had brought me to this moment

Lori Palatnik

Founding Director of Momentum, formerly the Jewish Woman’s Renaissance Project (JWRP)

Jerusalem

Israel and Judaism played minor roles in my life as I grew up in Toronto, Canada, attending public schools with few Jews. In 1984 I was a radio copywriter in southwest Ontario, and early in my post-college career, I won a national award for an X-mas commercial I’d written.

Before making a post-award career move to a bigger market, I decided to quit my job and go backpacking through Europe. Through yad Hashem, I ended up in Israel (I had no plans to visit), and that sparked a journey to Judaism that changed the course of my life.

Now fast forward to 2018.