Our friend, John Levin, passed away on Sunday after almost 2 decades dealing with early onset dementia. I was honored to say a few words about the John we were privileged to know before the disease took him away from all of us. These are my words from the funeral. John and Susan were our… Read More The John We Knew and Loved
What a strange beast time is. For the past two decades, September 1 has been the official demarcation of the end of summer and the beginning of the school year. Over 2.5 million children started school today in Israel, enabling parents to give a sigh of relief for the end of August, the end of… Read More Recalibrating the Headcount
There are certain things that trigger me, that bring me back to those dark, fearful days at the beginning of the war. Two years ago, I bought Chanukiot for my soldiers from a fellow warrior. I remember looking at these gorgeous resin-created Chanukiot during all eight days of the holiday in 2023 and seeing their… Read More Gratitude in the Shadows of Memory
The world is overflowing with parenting advice. You can learn from many experts about the best way to labor, how to bring baby home, how to get them to sleep, how to burp them and on and on. It’s endless. But here is one piece of advice you may not have previously heard – write… Read More A Masterpiece of Giggles
My Aliyah baby left the house today for life’s next stage. After graduating high school, it’s time for him to spread his wings a bit and enjoy learning further afield. He thinks, as the third child, that the change is no big deal to us. That we’ve done this already with two others and we… Read More And He’s Off
My house is an accordion. After so many years of having little feet, and little shoes, and big noises around, we have a very quiet house during the week. And ‘during the week’ is the key phrase here. With two sons in the army and three in sleep-in high schools, that leaves me, Josh and… Read More My House, the Accordion
Corkies. My first memory of cousin Nancy involves Corky shoes. I was hanging out at Nana Shirley and Papa Jerry’s house and I was in their pool. A bunch of people walked in, and I have absolutely no memory of anything about that day except for how cool my older cousin Nancy was, and how… Read More Love You Cousin Nancy
One of my friends has been creating poetry modelled after famous poets. We’ve been having a bit of a poetry face-off on Facebook, writing these poems and having fun. I’ll share a few later. The poetry writing sparked an idea to write about one thing from my childhood, and this is what appeared. I hope… Read More The Dictionary in the Center of the House
Guest post from Josh Sussman in memory of someone who was really influential in his life and just passed away. I write today in tears…a bit of background. In the Fall of my senior year in college I picked up the book ‘The Haj’ by Leon Uris and it forever changed my life. I’ve had… Read More Life Angels
I love the dreidel. Every year the dreidel gives me a sense of deep satisfaction. Why exactly does a little plastic item like a dreidel inspire such an intense reaction? The dreidels I played with as a kid, and that you see outside of Israel, have four letters on them that represent the words, “A… Read More Oh, Dreidel We Will Play
