I stayed up past midnight to watch the Knesset vote to disband itself.  And the entire time I could not believe what I was seeing.  I could not understand how it was that leaders of this country would go to elections, for the second time in less than a year, with the enormous expense to the taxpayer, and not find a way to avoid it.  What became inordinately clear is that too many politicians care more about their seats than they do about their country.

Der Sommer ist da! Die Schule wird für die Gymnasiasten Mitte Juni und für die Grundschüler Ende Juni zu Ende sein. Das Wetter hat sich bereits geändert und die Sommersonne scheint überall in Israel schon stark. Es gibt keinen Regen und keine Wolken mehr, nur viel Sommerhitze! Im Juni sind die Kinder während der Nachmittagsstunden auf den Spielplätzen und am Pool. Sobald die Schule beendet ist, sind sie den ganzen Tag draußen.

Every now and then, we get to witness something truly miraculous. Recently I was able to experience one such miracle, a miracle that you, and other donors of CFOIC Heartland, directly helped to bring about. It is a story that I can’t help but share.

Zionism runs strong in my family, as deeply connected to my identity as my family name and my devotion to Orthodox Judaism. Zionism was simple when I was growing up in the United States, because all it took to be a Zionist was to love Israel.

There are two different kinds of sirens in Israel.  An urgent rising and falling sound warns of an attack and is the signal to flee to the nearest bomb shelter or safe room.  A mournful steady sound is for remembrance. 

erst vor wenigen Wochen wurde in Israel jemand getötet, der versuchte, andere Juden vor der Ermordung durch einen arabischen Terroristen zu schützen. Sein Name war Rabbi Achiad Ettinger. Er hinterlässt seine Frau Tamar und 12 Kinder.

What has drawn me back to have extended visits to the Land of Israel for the last 18 years when I feel it was an “accident” that I went there in the first place? The Land calls to me. The sights, sounds, and smells are imprinted on my soul.  Why?  I have no physical explanation. In the natural, there is nothing that would call us to this tiny stretch of earth.  And yet, there is something very special about this place.  There is a reason that it is called the Holy Land.

When Kim and Sondra invited me to join them for one of the final evenings of the CFOIC Spring 2019 tour, I hesitated. The tour was staying at a kibbutz on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and it was a long drive up from Karnei Shomron. It would be a long night, and I was already tired. But what harm could come from a few hours of missed sleep? I’m sure I’ll gain something from it, I thought. So I went.

The terrorists came on Shabbat night. Wind whispered through the quiet streets of Rechalim. The rustle of trees and the occasional hum of a passing car on the nearby highway were the only sounds in the small Samarian community.

last week, at 5 in the morning, the people of Mishmoret, a small moshav located near Kfar Saba, were woken by a siren as a Gaza rocket was about to land in their community.  No one expected this.  There was no Iron Dome protecting this community.  Some of the residents of Mishmoret were not even sure what they were hearing and many did not have safe rooms in their homes.  They were not prepared.