Reflections on Sukkot
October 2011 I found myself daydreaming last night while washing the dishes from dinner. My sink looks out onto our porch where our Feast of Tabernacle booth, our Sukka, stands, slightly darkening the kitchen. The
Reflections on The Pesach (Passover) Service
March 2010 In just two weeks, Jews from all over the world will be sitting down to the Pesach Seder, the festive meal that opens the Passover holiday. It is a culmination of weeks of
Reflections on Reverence
I love when my kids get to the age that they’re old enough to start learning some basic prayers and to recite the blessings before eating. It’s an awesome privilege. But it’s a challenge. After
Reflections on Shavuot
I told myself I would start my diet after the Shavuot holiday, but it’s taken a week to finish the last few leftover pieces of cheesy lasagna and rich noodle pudding. And just last night,
Reflections on Getting Married
From the time Jewish children are young, it is instilled in them, through their parents, their teachers, their spiritual leaders, that one of the highest forms of service to G-d is getting married and having
Reflections on Prayer
School started a few weeks ago in Israel. On the first day, we don’t yet have the children’s schedules, so when I packed the boys’ knapsacks, I just put in a fully stocked pencil case,
Reflections on Head Coverings
September 2009 The other night Kuti and I came home to find my daughter Ahuva in the den, spools of colorful crocheting thread spilled next to her on the couch. Earlier that evening, before we
Reflections on Becoming Bar Mitzvah
Coming of age. Rites of passage. Somehow, to me 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
Reflections on War
So now we have a cease-fire. Yet even as I watched Olmert and Barak on T.V., announcing our one-sided truce, the media split the screen and showed Ashkelon and Beer Sheva getting hit with rockets!
Reflections on Tu B’Shvat
I was driving into my community of Karnei Shomron last week and literally had to pull over at the glorious sight of bright red tulip blossoms cheerfully clustered around our main traffic circle. I knew
Reflections on Yom HaShoah
April 2009 Today is Yom HaShoah- Holocaust Memorial Day. It started last night at sundown when a siren blew. The siren blew again this morning at 11 A.M. All over the country, radio stations broadcast
Reflections on Songs in Israel
May 2009 On my way to work today, I heard the song that Israel sang in this year’s Eurovision contest, which took place this past week. It’s called “There Must Be Another Way” and it
