Unthinkable Dreams

Foreword

(wrote a foreword)

Malka Drucker

Foreword

(wrote a foreword)

Nadya Gross

“At the heart of this story is Jean Ballon, a woman of extraordinary contradictions—willing to astound and confound with her unbridled independence and salty language, while beneath the surface lie her passionate humanity and deep reverence. . . . It is little surprise that her departure from life would be the source of this deep and revealing tale of conflict, compassion, forgiveness, and love.”

David Saperstein

“In reading Unthinkable Dreams, I fell in love with this family! I observed their devotion to their ailing mother, their grief after her death . . . and their subsequent sibling squabbles. Ballon delivers a touching and unvarnished story of a family physically and emotionally divided. It was inspiring to witness the journey of faith and love that ultimately reunited them.”

Maggie Callanan

“Ballon tells a passionate tale of his mother’s life and death. It is a personally unique and universally human story of a family wrestling with the complexity of love and loss. Interweaving personal narrative, ritual practices of Jewish tradition, and the reality of life immediately after the 9/11 tragedy, this book is profoundly relevant for all of us dealing with death and grief today.”

Simcha Raphael

“Ballon offers many insights into how families handle the death of a parent. . . . Many Jewish families who have dealt with death will recognize themselves in the particular dynamic of Unthinkable Dreams, but non-Jews, too, will relate to its deeper themes of grief, family tensions, the urge to reconcile, and the power of religious ritual.”

Mark Edward Brennan

“In Unthinkable Dreams, Yeshaya Ballon offers a touching, soul-searched memoir that is remarkable for the author’s honesty, deep self-analysis, and pinpoint clarity of expression. For anyone who has endured the loss of a loved one or will at some time in the future, Ballon’s book will be an instructive and inspiring resource.”

Stephen Lewis Fuchs

“In the Torah, our holy Scriptures, our ancestors gave us stories of messy family entanglements because the work we do to forgive, make peace, and receive our legacies forms the foundation for the spiritual work of liberation. Unthinkable Dreams sends us to that work. It details a wise and generous process of coming into the fullness of love and wisdom through introspection, reconciliation, and the lifting up of truth. Ballon’s story sparkles with clarity, humor, and insight. It sends each of us to the joyful work of receiving our complicated and precious legacies in the spirit of adventure.”

Shefa Gold

“In Unthinkable Dreams, Yesh Ballon tells the story of the death of his remarkably spirited mother, Jean, in the context of both the national tragedy of the 9/11 attacks and of his own spiritual journey as he searches for a Judaism that speaks to the heart as well as to the head. A moving and original exploration of the mourning process, inter-familial relations, and Jewish ritual practice.”

Steven Shankman

“Storytelling, especially of the deeply authentic, personal-accounting kind, is one of the most powerful ways to illuminate seemingly obvious but not yet understood truths. In Unthinkable Dreams, Yesh Ballon offers up his own personal family story to illuminate how healing can happen—when we can move from separation to connection—when we embrace compassion.”

Yosaif August

“Yesh Ballon’s book about his beloved mother touches the heart. He teaches us to dig deep into the stories, lessons, and connections we have with our loved ones. As we peel back layer after layer, we find more lessons buried in everyday encounters recalled. The struggles honestly described in Unthinkable Dreams beautifully exemplify the growth that comes from reflection, confrontation with parts of ourselves we want to reject, and empathy and acceptance. This is a book of healing. It models compassion, forgiveness, and love. It is a treasure.”

Nathaniel Ezray

“Unthinkable Dreams is the memoir of how one family loved and lost its mother. It tells of how they tended to her in her last days, how they bickered and squabbled with each other under the stress, and how they came to reconcile with each other and with themselves after her death. It is very well written. On almost every page there is a crisp metaphor or a sharply worded truth that makes us sit up and notice. It leaves us with an honest report of how devastating grief can be, and how lonely and isolating it is for a person to walk the road that leads from love to loss.”

Jack Riemer

“In Unthinkable Dreams, Yesh Ballon gives us a personal and thought-provoking eulogy to his mother Jean. In the unfolding of his reflection, we come to learn the arc of his journey, from separation to connection through the window of compassion. We encounter a journey from loss to adjustment and learn lessons about the power of family as well as the art of flexibility and personal growth.”

Richard F. Address