Shabbat Shalom Substack ❤️

This week someone decided to impersonate me on social media and reach out to my audience asking for money.

I don't get rattled easily. But this?

My heart was pounding. Not for me - for you.

For the people who trust me, who have been with me for years, who come here to learn and feel safe.

The thought of someone using my name and face to take from you made my blood boil.

Mama bear was activated.

I shut it down immediately thanks to one person, a woman in this community who saw something off, thought "Inbal would never do that. Or say that.", and took the time to find me and tell me.

We ended up in a lengthy back and forth. You know who you are. Thank you doesn't cover it.

And somewhere between the panic and the anger, something beautiful happened:

I realized how deeply you actually know me.

Because here's the thing about the online space, it connects us across oceans and time zones, but it doesn't let you vet people the way real life does.

You can't look someone in the eyes.

You can't read the room.

And with AI getting sharper by the day, I genuinely fear we are entering an era where people won't know what's real, who is real, what to trust.

Which is why I'm so grateful I started when I did.

Before all of this. So that when something doesn't feel like me you feel it too.

She felt it immediately.

That is not a following. That is a community.

My husband Carlos works every single day, around the clock, to make sure that the spaces I've built are safe for you.

Every platform, every comment section, every corner of this world we've created together.

He does it quietly and he does it relentlessly.

So as Shabbat comes in, I'm sitting with gratitude.

For real connection in a world that's making it harder to tell what's real.

You are my people. And I protect my people.

Shabbat Shalom 💙

Inbal