We are all a bit broken in Israel. After 16 months of war, we are tired, worried, anxious. Last night, Idan Amedi repaired a tiny bit of that broken spirit, uniting us through his beautiful words and his incredible presence. Amedi has come back to himself, and to all of us, after being gravely wounded… Read More A Superman for our Times
There is a practice during the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to ask forgiveness. While getting ourselves spiritually ready for the new year and facing Hashem’s decrees for the year on Yom Kippur, we are also supposed to set things right with the people in our lives. It’s a beautiful idea, but… Read More Forgive Me, Dear Children
On October 6, 2023 70 students from my son’s high school set out together to Sderot. Every year on Simchat Torah they go to another location to sing and dance with the residents and to bring happiness to the area. For the last few years, they’ve been in various communities in Jerusalem, but they decided… Read More Gratitude for Graduation
I woke up this morning feeling better than my poor jet-lagged body has felt since I landed Friday. And, realizing that the jetlag and prohibitive heat have made exercise tricky, I decided to veer off my normal schedule and take a morning walk. By chance, one of my friends was available and we walked together… Read More A Prayer for Laughter
I’m a writer. I love to write about the small and lovely things that happen to us in our daily lives in Israel. Sometimes I also write about our struggles as a nation and our personal struggles as parents of six present and future soldiers. But lately it’s just been so hard to write. To… Read More Terror, Tomatoes & Tomorrows
100 days. If you asked most Israelis how long we’ve been at war, they might say that it feels like a lifetime. Or they might say that it’s been one day, since we are all stuck forever on October 7, 2023. Or they might say the technical amount of days that it’s actually been –… Read More 100 Days
To be Israeli is To have your 17-year-old ask you if he can please miss school today To attend the funeral of a 20-year-old soldier he’s never met. To be Israeli is To think that’s perfectly normal and to tell him that he absolutely can Take your car to drive to the national military cemetery… Read More To Be Israeli Is
I’ve vacillated between needing to pay homage to the stories of survivors, the murdered and the kidnapped, and needing to preserve my own sanity and my own soul. There is so much to worry about and so much angst to be had in our little country that it’s literally hard to breath sometimes. Well, more… Read More The Grief of a People
The country has been covering itself in Israeli flags since the horrific events of October 7. Our youth in our community have made it their personal duty to place flags anywhere and everywhere, offering the community a feeling of unity and of strength. I decided to document some of these flags and the process of… Read More Covered in Flags
Another guest post from Josh Sussman: Checking back in with another update from a week of war; granted this week was not quite as dramatic as last week, but the sense is that this is the (relative) calm before the storm. Last Shabbat was calm and quiet. We reverted back to our small Corona minyan… Read More Simchat Torah War – Two Weeks In
