This is a guest post from my husband, Josh Sussman. We have been blown away by people from all over the world reaching out to us over the last 6 days. Your thoughts, prayers and support are felt and are incredibly important. With two boys in active combat duty, we also share with them (when… Read More Simchat Torah War – 6 Days In
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
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
