by Kim Troup | Feb 2, 2012 | Reflections from Israel
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...
by Kim Troup | Feb 2, 2012 | Reflections from Israel
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...
by Kim Troup | Feb 2, 2012 | Reflections from Israel
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...
by Kim Troup | Feb 2, 2012 | Reflections from Israel
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....
by Kim Troup | Feb 2, 2012 | Reflections from Israel
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...