The last time I saw him was at Har Herzl. We were there, at the military cemetery in Jerusalem, to pay our final respects to a member of an elite fighting unit who had fallen the day before. Shilo was there to pay his respects as well. It was July 2023, and we ran into… Read More Extinguished Light
I think it’s impossible for anyone who doesn’t live in Israel to understand what our days look like right now. And today has been a particularly schizophrenic one. The streets are completely empty – completely. At least in our area, the regional council doesn’t want people out. So we are all working from home and… Read More A Slice of Life Today
It’s obvious that Israel is in a time of transition – that we are experiencing growing pains, deep divides and complicated issues. And while I’m well aware of the news reports and current events, I’ve decided to focus my energy on another side of Israel. Two weeks ago, my second son earned his army… Read More My Israel Through the Prism of a Beret
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
Our second son starts the army today. And you would think that things get easier, that we adjust, that we know what to expect after doing this once. But it doesn’t get easier. And I’m not sure it will with the subsequent kids either. Perhaps it’s because it’s been an incredibly painful process and so… Read More The Second Time Around
On Fridays I usually don’t look at my phone much. So, when my soldier called about an hour before Shabbat, I was thrilled to talk to him about mundane things. He was staying on base for Shabbat, as planned the week before, and I had a normal conversation with him, asking about his week. Towards… Read More War, Again
Today, as I was driving my son and his friends back to their army base I thought to myself: What would 20-year-old you say if she could see you now? Heck, what would 30-year-old you say? And I had to just shake my head in admiration of where life has taken me. And say a… Read More Back to Base, Today
I love that, 17 years later, there are still things that surprise me about our Aliyah; things that still give me goose bumps. I run a lot of errands on Friday mornings, getting our delicious baked goods from Pat Ba’Melach (and chatting with friends and staff), checking the mail (often the only time all week!),… Read More Why the Newspaper Gives me Goose Bumps
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
After 17 years in Israel, we would have thought that we’ve experienced most types of hurdles. But we’ve never had a car stolen, or had a reason (Thank Gd) to engage with the police. This week, we got to add those accomplishments to our Aliyah portfolio when our car was stolen. Well, I don’t know… Read More The Blessings of a Stolen Car
