You were with me in those days of nervous energy, hope, fear and change as we packed the house, sold the cars, left the jobs, kissed the family goodbye and boarded the plane to our new life. You were with me. A part of me. You were with me when we arrived, exhausted, frazzled and… Read More As We Send You Off…
I love my Facebook memories. They often bring back such great moments and funny things that the kids have said and done. Yesterday, however, was a different kind of memory. Four years ago, right before starting the army, my oldest son went skydiving with three friends. I was nervous, of course, and checked in with… Read More Moments in Time
Recently, my oldest son finished his army service. I remember the piece that I wrote over seven years ago, the day that we got his Tzav Rishon, his first call to the army. I wrote, at that time, about the Zionist dream and the Zionist obligation; how we made aliyah to be part of the story… Read More From Soldier to Civilian
It’s obvious that Israel is in a time of transition – that we are experiencing growing pains, deep divides and complicated issues. And while I’m well aware of the news reports and current events, I’ve decided to focus my energy on another side of Israel. Two weeks ago, my second son earned his army… Read More My Israel Through the Prism of a Beret
We’ve got problems in our teeny country. Upon this, we can probably all agree. I read the news and feel like I’m drowning in strife, infighting, hatred and despair. We are attacking each other internally and being attacked, seemingly all the time, by those who want to annihilate us. This builds a feeling of hopelessness,… Read More A Glimmer of Hope
Our second son starts the army today. And you would think that things get easier, that we adjust, that we know what to expect after doing this once. But it doesn’t get easier. And I’m not sure it will with the subsequent kids either. Perhaps it’s because it’s been an incredibly painful process and so… Read More The Second Time Around
Today, as I was driving my son and his friends back to their army base I thought to myself: What would 20-year-old you say if she could see you now? Heck, what would 30-year-old you say? And I had to just shake my head in admiration of where life has taken me. And say a… Read More Back to Base, Today
My Aliyah, and my Aliyah baby, have our tzav rishon today. I’m not sure we’re ready, but we’re going to have to be. 17 years ago, my Aliyah arrived, cradled in a safe nucleus of fluid, of love. It was protected, nurtured, safe. And, over the years, it has learned to walk, to speak Hebrew,… Read More My Aliyah Has Its Tzav Rishon Today
I can’t see my son for another month, maybe more. Today, I did the next best thing. I saw yours. Well, perhaps not your son, or daughter, exactly but someone’s. Corona is impacting all of us in one way or another. For some, it’s a death sentence; for others, it’s months of lingering symptoms. For… Read More A Warm Corner in our Hearts
I created a new file today for the file cabinet. It says “Army Stuff” on it. And as I filed it away, with the first of my first son’s army papers in it, I just couldn’t believe that we had come to this stage. Tonight, I stood in the Neve Daniel hall with hundreds of… Read More Carrying the Torch of our Futures
