August can be a really hard month as a parent in Israel. The country loves its children. And the country has a very high percentage of families who rely on two incomes. And yet, for some reason that I have yet to understand after 19 years, there are very few camp choices for kids in… Read More The Sussmans Take August
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
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
When my youngest son was born, I wrote a blog from the hospital that started something like this. “And just like that it’s over. And, yet, it’s just beginning.” I was thinking about those words this morning as we brought our oldest son to Givat HaTachmoshet (Ammunition Hill) to join the Israel Defense Forces. And… Read More Walking Away to His Future
It was only two short weeks ago (three? four?) that life still seemed relatively normal. On a daily basis, I could hear myself saying: “You’re hiking where? For how many days?” “Are you coming home this weekend? “Please be careful on your way back from Eilat. No, really.” “Yes, you can have the car. Where… Read More One Mom’s Life Staying Put
Yes, Israel is a small country. And yes, it feels like half of it goes up North in August (and the other half leaves for European hiking and beach locations). But it still surprises me every time that my kids run into their friends while we are on vacation. We just returned from a 4… Read More Where Everybody Knows Your Name
Life in Israel frequently cracks me up. It’s such a small country and you end up having interactions that weave people and places together in unexpected ways. We don’t have centralized heating in the house; rather, we have small air conditioning/heating units in each of the bedrooms. Two of these units (which are connected with… Read More A Victory with Victor
The week that we made Aliyah, we ordered a bunk bed that was quickly delivered. What we forgot, however, was a guard rail so that little Yehuda could transition out of his crib without falling out of the bed. It was Friday, and we went over to our new neighbors to ask if they might,… Read More Goodbye Caterpillar, We Loved You
It’s official. We are now Israeli. And we’ve got the biscuit (ביסקויט) cheesecake to prove it. One of the many interesting things that we’ve learned about Israeli life and culture is that the country is very small. It’s not just geographically tiny, but culturally close-knit and insular. And we aren’t always on script. The first… Read More The Makings of a True Israeli
As my children grow, it’s definitely a funny experience to be an American raising Israeli kids. My children speak English in the house, and they know about many American things. We are often caught off-guard, however, with the little nuances in their thought processes, with the expressions they use and with the endearing accents that… Read More SABABA!
