One of the wonderful benefits that comes along with making aliyah and moving to Israel is free ulpan, where we learn to speak Hebrew with other new immigrants. Last Chanukah we had a party for the entire school with a few hundred students. The organizers asked one person from each country to say where they…
One the eve of the 75th anniversary of the miraculous revival of the State of Israel after almost 2,000 years, I wanted to reflect on a challenging topic. I wrote this in the form of a parable for one simple reason -sometimes truth is difficult to swallow but when we step back and remove the…
They really need to initiate the slaughter rule in Israel’s Little League. My 14 year-old joined the Jerusalem Cadets, a new team in the Israeli Little League, and last night I experienced a game for the first time. Winless going into the match, and with a total of 2 runs scored to date, my expectations…
Can an age old Talmudic debate shine light on current religious trends in Israel? In a famous debate in the Babylonian Talmud (Tractate Shabbat 21a) the House of Shammai insists that the proper procedure for kindling the Chanukah menorah is to start with eight candles on the first night and to decrease one flame per…
On a recent hike to an ancient spring in the Jerusalem hillside with some friends from Chicago, I stopped for a moment and encouraged the kids to behold the physical beauty of what they were seeing. Lush pine forests crawling up the rolling hills without a single bald spot in the dense timber. Quaint, red-roofed…
Have you ever shown up three hours late to your family Thanksgiving dinner with a little box of candy? Your aunt has been slaving away in the kitchen for days. The food has been devoured and cleared. Your uncle is removing his apron, the dishes are done and dessert is being served. Nobody wants to…
Everything has a soul. Even places have a soul. And the soul of the Land of Israel is, of course, Jerusalem. And that’s why it has been said that in 1948, when the new State of Israel was miraculously declared as the embers of the ovens of Auschwitz were still smoldering, but with Jerusalem missing…
Tonight is Lag B’Omer. Until last year, the association with this particular day on the Jewish calendar was an unbridled, joyful celebration focusing on the revelation of the deep, mystical secrets of the Kabbalah. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who revealed the Zohar and its mysteries and secrets, passed away on this day almost 2000 years…
It’s a little ironic. One of the hardest things in the world to do is also perhaps the most rewarding. But I guess it always works that way. Nothing is more gratifying than living according to your deepest convictions and most authentic yearnings. But it’s also so incredibly hard. It just seems a lot easier…
It’s hard to put into words exactly how I feel on my first Israel Memorial Day and Independence Day since moving back to our land. The last 24 hours have been truly emotional and very moving. This morning, in an attempt to connect somehow to the power of Memorial Day, Ali and I ventured to…
Early this morning, in our makeshift synagogue that we set up in a local kindergarten, something very moving happened that I want to share with you. The morning service started out in typical fashion with some minor additions for the Passover Festival. Typical, that is, until we reached theTorah reading section. A young man, who…
One of the things that I love most about living in Jerusalem is how small it is. Not small in the geographical sense or in terms of population (it is almost exactly the same size and population as San Francisco). But it’s small in the “it’s a small world” sense. It’s not uncommon at all…
Exploring the Old City, its narrow alleys and ancient ruins, fills one with so many questions. Who walked these cold cobblestoned streets? Who conquered these stone fortresses? It overwhelms me to think about how much history permeates these giant walls. As a 23 year old aspiring journalist, my curiosity couldn’t be contained. From the moment…
We are all passionate about something. Sometimes we may not know what it is. But, if we can carve out some quiet time to contemplate and reflect, we can usually discover that spark inside us. And, when we do, life becomes so much more fun. In my previous life, I was a journalist. It started…
Everybody loves a good story, especially when you are the protagonist of the tale. What I am about to undertake is to tell you YOUR story, or better, OUR story. Israel:Take 3 is a forum where we can get to know each other and learn how we are all actors in the same drama; and…