Observations about life in Israel from a Canadian immigrant's perspective.
The lower Galilee floats in a sea of cloud As I open the front door, a cloud drifts inside, flutters and dissolves. Curious, I step out into wafting, billowing clouds. Fog veils the oaks and flutters, revealing mossy, bare branches – nature’s playful version of peek-a-boo. Light playfully pierces the fog, opening it like a… Continue reading In The Clouds
Chanukah is traditionally a time for family and friends to gather at parties, eat latkes, sing songs and play dreidel. On a deeper level, it can be a time of introspection on the miraculous lights. However esoteric it is, I cannot help but meditate on donuts (sufganiyot in Israel). How can an oily, fried food… Continue reading A Meditation on Donuts
I take a break to sit outside on this brilliant November afternoon. Feeling the warm sun tickle my face, I look way up to a cloudless, deep blue sky. Birds perch in treetops and sing. It all feels so tranquil - idyllic for a former Canadian who knows about November sleet and snow all too… Continue reading What's Next?
It feels like we have all just completed an ultramarathon – 23 days of holidays. It all begins on the first of Tishrei with Rosh Hashana, then rolls into Yom Kippur and speeds up like an avalanche coming down a mountain gathering force. We barely eat after the fast before we take out our hammers… Continue reading After The Chagim Syndrome
As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. Genesis 8:22 Although we have been living in Israel for 15 years, our relationship to The Land continues to grow deeper and more profound. We recently moved from our home in central Israel and… Continue reading Working the Land
As life takes us on its unending bumpy ride, there are highs and lows, stresses then release, beauty and futility. And just like the relentless pounding of the August sun, in Israel, everything here has intensity. We celebrated the Pidyon HaBen of our grandson, Neta Shalom. Just two weeks ago, when he was one month… Continue reading May Hashem be gracious to you
In the early morning of July 16 (13 Tammuz), my daughter Aviva gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. I was extremely privileged to be there during the birth, assisting and supporting my daughter as she slowly and painfully progressed with her labor. She spent the last hour in a pool set up in the… Continue reading Planting Peace
Yesterday, I sent my younger daughter to a grocery store in Tzfat to buy a few provisions. Butter has been on my shopping list since March so I asked her, nonchalantly, to check for it...just in case. She came back with butter. Woo hoo! Real butter - I was so excited, I took a photo… Continue reading Butter Makes it Better
We recently spent a beautiful Passover in Tsfat with family. But, like every year, the holiday ended too soon. With all the preparation cleaning, buying special Pesach ingredients and changing over all of the dishes, one would expect the holiday should last at least a month. But no. Every year, it's over exactly when I… Continue reading A Modern Silk Road
It could have been any bus station on a sunny morning. A fresh spring day. A Thursday. Guys came in jeans with duffel bags slung over their shoulders. Families arrived: mothers, fathers, little brothers and sisters, girlfriends and grandparents. They joked and chatted and took pictures and ate. Ethiopian families, Anglos and Sephardim all stood… Continue reading Trading in a role for a mission
Life in Israel 