When my youngest son was born, I wrote a blog from the hospital that started something like this. “And just like that it’s over. And, yet, it’s just beginning.” I was thinking about those words this morning as we brought our oldest son to Givat HaTachmoshet (Ammunition Hill) to join the Israel Defense Forces. And… Read More Walking Away to His Future
Yesterday, I wrote a blog post about my reaction to my 18 year old son and the way he has selected to spend Yom Hazikaron. Today, in the late afternoon, he decided to share his own thoughts on the subject. I thought they were so beautiful, so full of the hope and the pain of… Read More Honoring the Fallen: In My Son’s Words
This week, I brought a cake to my office to celebrate my ten-year work anniversary. Those of us who have been here from the beginning (or close to it) enjoyed reminiscing and discussing how quickly the time has gone. Others, however, remarked that they were amazed to think about being in the same job for… Read More A Work-aversary to Celebrate
“Look guys!” I said to the kids standing near me in our house, “It’s the house you didn’t grow up in!” I pointed to the picture of Eliav, our 12-year-old, standing in front of our old house in Potomac. To him, to his little brothers, and even to one of his older brothers, it’s just… Read More Nostalgia, Thy Name is Potomac
It could have been the making of a great reality TV show – pit a family of 8 against poison ivy, barbed wire fences and broken trails and see if they can get out in one piece. But it wasn’t a reality TV show last week – it was just our reality. We spent three… Read More The Blue Trail
Thursday night, we attended the funeral of a soldier, a student, a son and brother. A child of Israel. But unlike most funerals, this one took 37 years to happen. It brought together thousands upon thousands of Israelis to pay their final respects, and to fulfill a promise that Israel makes to each of us;… Read More Embraced by the Land Once Again
There are “only in Israel” moments and then there are “you’ve got to be freakin’ kidding me only in Israel” moments. Yesterday was one of the later. My 18 year old is amazingly energetic and creative when it comes to his activities and his transportation. With snow on the way last week in Israel, he… Read More Not Your Typical Ski Day
Life in Israel frequently cracks me up. It’s such a small country and you end up having interactions that weave people and places together in unexpected ways. We don’t have centralized heating in the house; rather, we have small air conditioning/heating units in each of the bedrooms. Two of these units (which are connected with… Read More A Victory with Victor
My two oldest sons have been living out the story of the modern Jewish experience this summer. Matan, who just graduated from high school in Sussya, headed to the Ukraine, Poland and the Czech Republic on a trip about our shared past, our memories and our pain. He traveled with a group of 50 students… Read More Past, Present and Future
When people talk about the Start-Up Nation, they are typically referring to the popular 2009 book by Dan Senor and Saul Singer that examines how one little nation has managed to be at the forefront of so much economic and technological progress. It’s a book about the professional community and about how Israel’s make-up, including… Read More A New Start-Up Nation
