July 2010   Today is Tisha B’Av, a fast day which falls on the ninth day of the month of Av in the Hebrew calendar. It started last night after our final evening meal, which was relatively quiet and somber, reflecting the mood of the 25 hour period we were about to enter. Our Shabbat […]

July 2009   School is out and my house reflects the fact that there are now more kids at home full time. So does my kitchen. I came home yesterday to find watermelon rinds and empty sacks of flour splayed on the counter tops and both kitchen sinks overflowing with dishes. Literally. But I comfort […]

I’m still on a high from last night. When I got home, it was really late, but I was so charged by what I had experienced, that I needed to unwind. I spent some time talking with my daughter before going upstairs, and read a few pages of my book before turning out the light. […]

Coming of age. Rites of passage. This brings to mind images of a boy in a loincloth, holding a sword in one hand and a sack of grain in the other, going off into the woods to kill his first bear. Or someone breaking out a bottle of bubbling champagne and drinking to a young […]

February 2012 He’s our car mechanic.  His garage is conveniently located in the Industrial Area right outside Karnei Shomron.  But Shalom is also my neighbor, his house on the block parallel to mine.  Shalom is an interesting personality.  When you go to drop off your car, you may get an earful of male chauvinism, with […]

The month of Adar always keeps me on an emotional roller coaster. Usually coinciding with the month of March, it is a natural time of happiness. The jolly, festive holiday of Purim falls in the middle of Adar, and for weeks beforehand, schools, kinder- gartens, synagogues, and entire neighborhoods enlist to join in the celebratory […]

December 2009   We had parent teacher conferences on Sunday for my 14 year old son Avraham. Avraham’s our first boy after four daughters, so choosing a high school for him had been a new experience. Dormitory schools are pretty standard, especially for boys, and I tried not to be insulted that my independent son […]

January 2008    The weekly Torah portion that is read in the synagogue every Shabbat morning is actually a section of the Five Books of Moses that becomes part of a Jew’s entire week. Even Elitzur, still in nursery school, has a Rabbi come in every week to give his group of 4 year olds […]

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 […]