We recently attended the Sylvan Adams Nefesh B’Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize reception. It was a truly spectacular evening honoring eight olim who have made remarkable contributions to Israeli society and the world. Their contributions are awe-inspiring, and it’s well worth the time to look at the website and to read about each of these trailblazing… Read More Are You Deeply Israeli?
For months, I’ve been thinking about writing a piece about the traditional blessing of gratitude that we say in Judaism after surviving a life-threatening situation. And then, during our daf yomi siyum recently, marking the completion of Masechet Menachot, someone spoke about her recent near-death experience and how they thanked Hashem afterwards for saving her… Read More Birkat HaGomel in Times of War
It’s very unusual for me to be without words, but I have found myself in this state for a number of months. I’ve been battling with debilitating physical vertigo at the same time that our beautiful, tiny country has been battling with the existential vertigo of war. I’ve turned to myself over and over again… Read More Still Standing: Finding My Voice Among the Flags
Prior to making Aliyah, one of the concerns I had was that I would always feel like “the other.” It was a fair concern. And one that has proven true. I am, and will always be, the immigrant to my native children. I will never catch up with their Hebrew skills, their cultural references, their… Read More Finding Light in the Ordinary
Yesterday, we were at Har Herzl for the two-year azkara (memorial) for Shiloh Rauchberger, who fell on the 7th while fighting off dozens of terrorists on his base and saving so many people that day. The memorial brought me back to his funeral, to that terrible first week of the war. Then, as we arrived… Read More Two Years Later
I have cried so many more tears than I have put words to paper in the past two years. Where is my voice? The letters have been replaced by wet, silent tears; the words replaced by sobs. Sometimes, particularly when I am at shul silently crying, I wonder how we are all standing; how we… Read More Finding the Space for Words in the Year Ahead
Last week, Josh and I headed out at 5:30am to Tzomet Golani to participate in the Tekes Kumpta. This is a ceremony that takes place at the end of an army unit’s training, when they receive their beret and are ready for active duty. Two years ago on this exact date, we gathered in the… Read More Unity in Uniform
Perhaps I’m tired because we were woken, again, this morning by missiles sent to kill us in our homes. Or perhaps it’s because I didn’t sleep well, thinking about Master Sergeant (Res) Avraham Azulay who was murdered in Gaza yesterday; who was murdered by three terrorists who tried to kidnap him. Or perhaps I had… Read More Perhaps
We’ve now reached the one-week mark of the latest phase of the ongoing war with Iran. It feels like a lifetime. One week ago, I was sitting at my favorite nail salon, getting cute little turtles and waves drawn onto my nails for my upcoming family reunion in San Diego. And then everything changed. I… Read More Gratitude Amid the Sirens
There was a beautiful, festive bar mitzvah at shul this past Shabbat. As I sat down in my usual seat, I found myself unexpectedly crying. I shouldn’t really say unexpectedly…. I cry all the time. I cry for my children’s war experiences, for the widows and orphans, for reserve soldiers, for the hostages, for the… Read More Imperfect Blessings
