I remember the first day that I sent Matan to daycare. He was three months old, and I couldn’t believe that I had to ask someone else how much he had had to drink, when he had napped, and if he had smiled. How could I not be monitoring those things myself all day long?… Read More Growing Up, Bnei Akiva Style

Today, Josh and I had a lot of errands to run, and then I dropped him at work. Since I was in the neighborhood….I couldn’t pass up the chance to drop into my favorite clothing store. While I was on maternity leave over a year ago, Zeli and I discovered Mekimi and went there a… Read More Give that Lady a Raise!

(Matan and his Ark. Notice the black eye on his left eye…an accident with a mean light post.) Matan loves, and I mean LOVES, building things. A few weeks ago, before Sukkot, they had a competition in his school to see who could build the most creative Sukkah. He spent hours building two sukkot –… Read More The Rising Architect

(Matan and his Ark. Notice the black eye on his left eye…an accident with a mean light post.) Matan loves, and I mean LOVES, building things. A few weeks ago, before Sukkot, they had a competition in his school to see who could build the most creative Sukkah. He spent hours building two sukkot –… Read More The Rising Architect

Stella and Romi on Purim I am often amazed when I look around at the coincidences in my life. Whether you want to call it Hashem working, or coincidence, or the cosmic way of the world…it’s really quite amazing for me to look at my life in Israel and the people who have joined me… Read More Friends At My Door

I always laugh at my dad when he takes a vacation at home. When you’ve got time off from work, most people go somewhere with that time. My dad, instead, often uses his time off to relax, read and enjoy life around his house. I realized last week that I’ve been laughing at him –… Read More A Great Stay-Cation for Sukkot

Jeff completed his 71 kilometer hike last week and received his red beret in a very moving ceremony at Ammunition Hill. His parents had come in from the States for it, and it was lovely to have dinner with them and to see them all together. It was quite cute to see all of these… Read More Jeff’s Ceremony

I love the way that our lives in Israel are soaked in Jewish ritual. You simply couldn’t live where we are without knowing which holiday is coming up and without being connected to the Jewish calendar. In Judaism, you are supposed to approach a mitzvah with enthusiasm, and do it as soon as you can.… Read More The Rhythms of Life (Literally!)

A long lost friend of mine from my camp days recently asked me to explain what life in Neve Daniel is like. Hmmmm…Describe your life in one email – not an easy task for anyone. So, it got me to start thinking about how I would describe life here, and how I would capture why… Read More Describe Your Life…

My kids never fail to crack me up. Friday night, during dinner, Josh was having a great imaginary ballgame with Amichai (almost 5) and Eliav (3). They were really getting into it. Josh was telling them to “go long” and they were running to catch the “ball” as it flew through the house. They were… Read More Playing Ball