Before Purim, my ten year old told me that they had a project to do at school. The school put together care packages to deliver to soldiers on their bases before Purim, and his class was in charge of writing notes to accompany the packages. Eliav wrote his note to his soldier with his full… Read More Eliav’s Soldier
On Friday while I was taking a walk around the yishuv, I laughed as I saw the busloads of tourists pouring onto the road towards our water tower. They were headed, as they always are, to our lookout, Mitzpor HaElef. Little did the producers of the movie “Field of Dreams” realize how true their expression would… Read More 1000 Meters of Wonder
My two oldest boys go to school 45 minutes south of our house in a program that I’ve written about a few times called Sussya. It’s a magical place that places a great deal of emphasis on molding the boys into upstanding, thoughtful, generous people. At the same time, they teach the kids all about… Read More Lessons Learned at the Lone Tree
When we first moved to Gush Etzion, one of my friends in Jerusalem declared, “What are you going to do out there in the boondocks? There is nothing to do there.” In the 12 years that we’ve lived here, we’ve been amazed at how wrong she was. Gush Etzion is growing by the day… Read More The Wonders of a Wood Workshop
Today is our Aliyaversary. We got onto the plane 12 years ago today with two little boys, a baby on the way and our whole lives ahead. I still can’t believe we did it or how rich and vibrant our lives would be as a result. But as I reflect on 12 years, there are… Read More Mazal Tov! It’s the Sussmans’ Only Bat Mitzvah!
This first appeared on Israellycool here. You know that you’re living a strange existence, or perhaps a particularly special one, when you end up seeing your need for gas as a blessing. During the summer months I’m particularly pressed for time. The kids’ camps offer only a sliver of time to run to the office,… Read More The Blessings of Being Low on Gas
A few days ago as I was driving through Tzomet HaGush I saw something that made me smile. Now, the Tzomet and our surrounding area have seen their share of terror and there isn’t too much to smile about in the area. But what I saw was a group of youth and young adults from… Read More Making Lemonade of Hope and Strength in the Gush
Almost a decade and a half ago, our friend and neighbor, Yonatan Segal, started a race through the Gush Etzion Matnas in memory of his father. It has turned into quite a large happening and has, in different years, included a bike race, a swim race, a swim/run race, a 5k, 10k, 21k and a… Read More A Family Fun Race and an Appreciation of Life
This article was first published on the Times of Israel blog on Friday at http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/derech-haavot-standing-strong-one-footstep-at-a-time/. Three days ago, Tomer Ditur set out from his home in Rosh Tzurim, in Gush Etzion, to go for a run. He ran along Derech Ha’avot, the Path of the Patriarchs, where so many of us in the Gush run and… Read More A Beautiful Day for a Walk with our Fathers
Posted today on the Times of Israel website. I’m putting it here for those who might not see it and for my records. My son takes horseback riding lessons in Elazar, the town in Gush Etzion right next to ours in Neve Daniel. And the horseback riding area is right at the front of the… Read More Bnei Akiva Saved My Son’s Life
