Observations about life in Israel from a Canadian immigrant's perspective.
In Israel, life could become clamorous with negative headlines and doomsday politics. We read the news, dismiss most of it as inaccurate and hope one day the world will wake up and understand the truth. Our personal antidote to this dissonance is to walk the trails of the country we love. We take out a… Continue reading Resetting the start button
Israel is a multi-cultural Mosaic. These days, you hear many languages on Ahuza, Ra’anana’s main street. And we can spot the countries of origin right away, without even hearing the language spoken. For instance, French men tend to wear tight pants and chic leather loafers while les femmes grocery shop as if parading along a… Continue reading Dreams Come True
A few weeks ago I read an article about the new ‘Cadenza’project in Jerusalem and realized how perfect Israel is for such an endeavor. A concrete encased electric piano is placed on a busy thoroughfare of Ben Yehuda Street. Here, people rush on and off the light rail, head to the office and at night,… Continue reading Israel the Extrovert
Start Up Nation. Is that what we’re called? When it comes to ingenious inventions in medicine and high tech, yes. When it comes to basic services, we are, well, just starting up and have a long way to go. I’ve written about the post office services (Doar) many times. Some of my most frustrating moments… Continue reading Starting Up Nation
How beautiful are your tents, Jacob, your dwelling places, Israel! Numbers 24:5 In the Torah, as the Jews encamped in the desert, the prophet Bilaam looked at them from a mountaintop and bestowed this praise. This very line from the Torah is also said in combination with a verse from the Psalms to form the… Continue reading How beautiful are your tents
One day, seventeen years ago, a young couple fell in love and married. At first, they lived busy city lives in crowded central Israel. They dreamed of having a family where there was open space and vistas and envisioned living in in the Binyamin region. In Biblical times, Binyamin is where the prophets Samuel, Jeremiah,… Continue reading A Love Story
Over the past month, our family has been part of a ‘countdown’; we are counting the days our son Ariel has left until he’s a civilian. After serving over four and a half years, he’s getting out of the army – today. Following his army adventures over these long years, I too can say this… Continue reading Countdown
This year, I've been volunteering at a gardening club in an old age home called Beit Protea Village. This is not a standard club where people gather to talk about their begonias. This is a serious permaculture club. Under the guidance of the volunteer coach Ellen, who comes every Thursday morning, we've been learning about… Continue reading Chop and Drop
Her bedroom is empty. The bed is stripped, the shelves bare, the dresses that were once slumped on a chair are replaced by a single zipped bag hanging on a hook. It's her wedding dress: retired and out of service. My daughter just had her one-month wedding anniversary. Some four weeks ago, this very room… Continue reading New home in our Jewish land
Dresses are slumped over a chair, hangers dangling. I sit with my coffee looking at these clothes. And then it hits me. My daughter is moving out, leaving home. And she’s not coming back. Today, these clothes will be moved to a new home that my daughter will share with her new husband two days… Continue reading Bride to Be
Life in Israel 