August 2010     Yesterday, my daughter Avigayil came by with my 21-month-old grandson Amit, for a visit. He was being especially cooperative in letting her “run him through his paces”, happily showing off his latest learned tricks. As soon as she started singing “The Wheels on the Bus”, he called out ‘beep beep beep’, […]

April 2011   Just last night, Jews from all over the world sat down to the Pesach Seder, the festive meal that opens the Passover holiday. It is a culmination of weeks of preparation and anticipation. Everyone—young and old, religiously observant and secular—sits down at their holiday table, whether at a communal Seder at a […]

January 2011   My neighbor and friend, Ofer, died suddenly and unexpectedly last week from flu complications. He was a good man and had touched many lives. The funeral Friday morning started outside our community synagogue, an institution which plays a very important role in the Amir family. The eulogies were beautiful and when they […]

September 2011 There’s been an emptiness in my life recently and I tried figuring out why. At first, I thought it was because my household recently emptied out dramatically. My daughter and son-in-law moved back to their own house after living with me for two weeks with their two-year-old and their brand new baby… my […]

August 2009   I went more than three weeks ago, but it’s still so fresh in my mind and it was such a glorious day, that I wanted to share it with you. On Thursday, July 23rd, I joined thousands of men and women of all ages flooding the campus of the Herzog College of […]

August 2011   I remember that day as if it were yesterday, and almost feel again those pains in my stomach and in my heart… the day we left America to move to Israel. At that point we had been living for a few weeks at my mother’s house, because the cargo lift with all […]

You walk in the door from a long day at work, university, or even a bike ride around the  neighborhood. And you’re hungry. Your stomach is actually rumbling. The table is spread with a basket of fresh pita bread, some steamed vegetables, a huge platter of burgers and kabobs and a chilled pitcher of iced […]

All prayer is an opportunity to converse with G-d, to reach out to Him and make contact. The Jewish prayer service in synagogue involves a loud and lively give and take between the Cantor and the Congregation, and it is not unusual for everyone to break into song. Sometimes things get downright energetic and there’s […]

    Maybe if I put it down on paper and can see it in black and white, it will become more real to me. On Tuesday, November 4th, at 4:35 P.M., my daughter Avigayil gave birth to a baby boy…my grandson. I am a grandmother! It was a very emotional day. My mother had […]

I was in the den, involved in a good book when I saw my daughter Ahuva walking into the kitchen and pouring a drink. When I heard the clanging of coins being rustled around in our loose change container, I knew that someone was at the door, asking for charity. Our kids know that, first […]