It started snowing on Wednesday evening and kept snowing.  On Thursday, Judea was covered in snow, in Gush Etzion and in Hebron.  I was supposed to meet a tour group in Hebron that day but it was cancelled — there was no way to get anywhere near that area. Where I live, in Karnei Shomron, […]

President Francois Hollande landed in Israel yesterday for what would be the longest visit of this French president in a foreign country.  The visit could not happen at a more opportune time.  Just last week, negotiations between the western nations and Iran broke down when France refused to approve the concessions that the other western […]

The Hebrew month of Kislev is called the Month of Glory and Heroism. Long before the 25th day of the month, when Chanukah, the Festival of Lights begins, the theme of heroism permeates our days. On one Chanukah, our local community center arranged for a very special evening remembering the Operation at Entebbe in 1976, […]

The first sweet rainfall came down a few weeks ago. It was no more than a drizzle. The sun was still shining bright and even my laundry, hanging out to dry, barely got damp. But my two grandsons, visiting for the day, raced to the closet, grabbed boots, coats and umbrellas and stood outside on […]

A terrible tragedy occurred on Friday.  Sraya Ofer, a 61 year old retired colonel in the Israeli Army was axed to death by Arab terrorists in his home in the Jordan Valley.  His wife Monique managed to crawl towards the highway and call for help, but it was too late for her husband.  Monique was […]

  To me, part of the thrill of living in Israel is the language. Until I moved here, Hebrew was the language of my prayer book, the language in which the Torah Portion of the Week was read aloud in synagogue, the language of the Bible. Granted, when I went to Bible classes, as a […]

It’s hard to believe that it’s been only three days since the High Holy Days passed…  Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and ten days later, Yom Kippur, the Day of Repentance, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.  In just two days the Feast of Tabernacles begins and we make a mood switch from […]

The news in Israel is focusing on two subjects right now: Syria and Yom Kippur.  Yom Kippur, otherwise known as the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year when Jews all over the world spend the day in fasting and prayer.  This year, though, marked the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur […]

The final verses of the Torah are truly moving and have always spoken to me in a very personal way. Moses dies and is buried by G-d somewhere in the Land of Moab where no one knows his grave site. This was very important, so that no one would turn his grave site into a shrine. Moses was a great man, but a man who was G-d’s messenger. He was not
G-d and it was important that no one would ever worship him as such.

I hosted a crowd at my home for the Rosh Hashanah holidays.  Add that to me, my husband, kids and grandkids, and we were quite a house full.  Lots of people to house, feed, and keep happy. The basement was set up with guest beds and a crib.  My daughter offered to move out of […]