ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First, I’d like to thank Lauri at Black Opal Books for your willingness to continue publishing my work. Thank you to Faith for all the time and work you put into Jerusalem Stone. I hope you’re enjoying the crash course on Jewish culture. Thank you to Jack and Arwen, you are always a pleasure to work with.

Thank you to the entire crew of the Pennwriters North Hills Critique Group for your support, ideas, critiques, and monthly camaraderie. You all make the second Thursday of the month my favorite day.

I am extremely grateful to Nonna Neft, Ruth Oshlag, and Suzanne Mattaboni for your insight, support and most of all, your belief in this story. Thank you to my beta readers, Cantor Rena Shapiro, Emily Sofayov, and Elaine Bergstrom.

To Elaine Bergstrom I don’t even know how to begin to thank you for creating a book a cover that expresses the heart and soul of Jerusalem Stone so beautifully. Witnessing your talent and ability to translate my words into an image has been a wonderful experience. Thank you.

I would be remiss if I did not thank the organization that inspired this story. In 2016, my husband I travelled to Thailand and had the opportunity to visit the Chabad Houses in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Koh Sumui, and Phuket. Chabad Houses around the world provide a home away from home for all Jews. Inside the welcoming doors of Chabad of Thailand are kosher restaurants, holiday and Shabbat Services, and many other forms of assistance. For my husband and I, the most moving part of our trip was seeing the young Jewish faces entering the building and enjoying a Shabbat dinner with hundreds of Jews from all over the world. To support the important work Chabad does in Thailand, ten percent of all profits from this book will be donated to Chabad of Thailand. More information on this great organization can be found at http://www.jewishthailand.com/.

Finally, thank you to my husband, Pinchas, for his wavering support of my writing habit. You remain and will always be my favorite noodnik.