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Rachel Wahba  // Rachel Wahba is an Egyptian Iraqi Jew born in India who grew up stateless in Japan. She is a psychotherapist in the Bay Area and co-founder of Olivia Travel.

26 Jun Posted by in Rachel Wahba | Comments Off on My Mizrahi mom and why Pride matters

My Mizrahi mom and why Pride matters

My Mizrahi mom and why Pride matters

Liberation matters. LGBTQ Pride, a march forward for individuals, families and communities from shame, fear, and despair, matters. Even in Jerusalem. The effort is about identity and inclusion, about living this one life as freely as possible. There is nothing holy about closets filled with shame. Coming out Queer, especially in 1976, even in San Francisco, […]

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10 Apr Posted by in Rachel Wahba | Comments Off on Child Sexual Abuse is No Joke Ms. Streisand

Child Sexual Abuse is No Joke Ms. Streisand

Child Sexual Abuse is No Joke Ms. Streisand

Those of us who were seduced and abused as children know that even as we thrive we are scarred for life...read more

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17 Sep Posted by in Rachel Wahba | Comments Off on Rethinking Baghdad – In a Better Place

Rethinking Baghdad – In a Better Place

Rethinking Baghdad – In a Better Place

Me: “I wish we lived in Baghdad’s Jewish Quarter.” Mom: “What? The Jewish Quarter?” Raising her left eyebrow, “Are you crazy?” I was longing for her nightmare. Romanticizing the Jewish Quarter of Baghdad was the height of stupidity. “Booma” (unwise owl), she chided lovingly. Here we were, in California, in her San Francisco kitchen, with […]

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13 Mar Posted by in Rachel Wahba | Comments Off on I Read the News Today

I Read the News Today

I Read the News Today

A wave of consciousness was spreading over the world. Choice and freedom was replacing repression. Hamas, ISIS, and Hezbollah acknowledged Israel’s right to exist. I breathed deeply as I read the news, there was more: The mullahs of Iran decided to drop Islamist ideology from their platform, apologizing for the pain and suffering they caused their people. […]

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08 Oct Posted by in Rachel Wahba | 1 comment

I Give Up – It’s Just Not Personal

I Give Up – It’s Just Not Personal

Feelings come easily for me; I get mired in them. Especially hurt feelings. Loss laced with Fear. Hard stuff. I am wired to feel whether I want to or not. I have not mastered the skill of dissociation. Working consciousness into my feelings keep them from turning into quicksand. Wrestling with where to go with […]

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26 May Posted by in Rachel Wahba | 1 comment

Granny’s Abortion

Granny’s Abortion

“They saved my life, they were Muslim, a young doctor and his wife, when I gave myself an abortion and almost died,” Granny remembers. “Efraim (her husband) was so angry I think he would have let me die!” Granny’s story was different from most of the Jews of Baghdad. She wasn’t born there. She grew […]

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18 Nov Posted by in Rachel Wahba | 1 comment

Yoga and Anti-Semitism

Yoga and Anti-Semitism

“Ah, I used to think about anti-Semitism!” Dr. Ross exclaimed with a burst of energy as he read my response in his new patient questionnaire. “What do you think about?” was the big question. I was there to see him for my migraine headaches. My response, “Anti-Semitism,” resonated. “Thinking about Anti-Semitism used to give me […]

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12 Sep Posted by in Rachel Wahba | 1 comment

Under the Chuppa – the Persian ‘Revolt’ in LA

Under the Chuppa – the Persian ‘Revolt’ in LA

The day after DOMA was overturned, Los Angeles Rabbi David Wolpe, announced that he will be performing same-sex marriages in his synagogue, Temple Sinai. The Rabbi upset enough of the thousand strong Persian congregants of his high-profile Conservative Synagogue, to warrant a front-page article in the New York Times citing a “revolt” in the congregation. […]

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10 Jul Posted by in Rachel Wahba | 6 comments

The First Lesbian Divorce Case

The First Lesbian Divorce Case

DOMA, the “Defense of Marriage Act,” should have been a bad joke instead of a law the Supreme Court finally declared unconstitutional this week (June 26,2013). But it wasn’t a joke, and neither was my marriage of 31 years to a woman whom I legally married one week before Prop. 8 got viciously overturned four […]

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25 Jun Posted by in Rachel Wahba | 1 comment

The Rock Star Room? No thanks…

The Rock Star Room? No thanks…

As  a proud owner of Olivia, I enjoy “VIP” status when I travel to places Olivia charters. Once a year I indulge a lovely habit of going with a friend for a restful time—off season in a half empty hotel on some magnificent tropical beach without Olivia. I am always ambivalent to go without the […]

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