November 2009 This past Shabbat I sat in synagogue, listening to the Blessing of the New Month, Kislev, which will begin tomorrow. “May it be Your will, our G-d and the G-d of our forefathers, that You inaugurate this month upon us for goodness and for blessing. May You give us long life—a life … Read more
February 2010 I lay in bed in the morning, trying to decide, through transparent eyelids, whether daylight has truly dawned or whether I have a few more minutes to burrow back under the covers. But then the alarm clock rings and all sense of illusion is gone and I sit up, groggily groping for my … Read more
April 2010 These past two days have been a roller coaster of emotions. Monday was Israel’s Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror. Every school, every city, every small community, had a ceremony commemorating the country’s heroes — those who fell in the battlefields of our endlessly long list of wars, and those … Read more
May 2010 In my home, as in many Jewish homes around the world, Friday afternoon, as Shabbat approaches, tends to be hectic. I call a five-minute warning upstairs to my girls who are putting the final touches on their Shabbat finery and remind my boys to turn off the computer and start setting the Shabbat … Read more
February 2011 Too many of us know, from personal experience, what it’s like when someone close to us is diagnosed with a serious illness. You feel like you have to do something… everything and anything possible in order to help. You go to the best doctors in that field; you ask for a second opinion, … Read more
March 2011 I can’t get those faces of the Fogel family out of my mind. Udi and Ruth, the mother and father, little Yoav and Elad the sons, and Hadas the baby girl. Friday night, two knife-wielding terrorist monsters infiltrated the Samaria community of Itamar, just outside of Shechem, and slaughtered these five members of … Read more
May 2011 Last week I attended the ceremony commemorating Israel’s Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror at my son’s school. Every school, every city, every small community, has a ceremony commemorating the country’s heroes– those who fell in the battlefields of our endlessly long list of wars, and those who fell … Read more
June 2011 Today is June 14, but it is also the 12th day of the Hebrew month of Sivan, a month which boasts the Jewish holiday of Shavuot- Pentecost- the holiday celebrating the Giving of our Torah. It’s a very special holiday and a very special month… a time in which we are meant … Read more
Today is the 9th of Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. On this day, we mourn the destruction of both the first and second temples, 2597 and 1941 years ago, respectively. However, this date on the Hebrew calendar has become associated with so many national tragedies throughout our history, beginning with the fateful … Read more