Observations about life in Israel from a Canadian immigrant's perspective.
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
“I’m at the central bus station,” my daughter replied. “I’ll be there in about 10 minutes. Can’t wait to see the show.” I hung up the phone and ordered a coffee, sitting comfortably in the lobby of the Beit Shmuel theater beside the King David Hotel. I was relieved that we had arrived early, found… Continue reading Never Have I Ever
“Meditation is a silent heart, a peaceful mind which can make life more lovable, more livable.” Anonymous My mind has been racing for most of my life. Influenced by stresses around me, I soar and dive, thoughts spinning inside my personal roller coaster. And with smartphone WhatsApp beeps, text bings and a pulsating newsfeed, my… Continue reading Silent Heart and Peaceful Mind
Israel is a paradox. A tiny land on a large planet with incredible contrasts: from stark desert to snow-capped Mount Hermon; from secular Tel Aviv to observant B’nai Brak; from shepherding to software developing; and from tragedy to joy. We just had a mini-vacation in Crete where I also found interesting polarities. Israel is… Continue reading A Living Paradox
Life in Israel is intense. It can bounce from harmony to terror; from serenity to fear and from wholeness to shattered – within seconds. Recently a pregnant woman waiting at a bus stop was shot by terrorists. She and her husband were seriously wounded and her baby who had to be prematurely delivered died a… Continue reading Everything is Possible – הכל אפשרי
When we get together over Shabbat dinner, we often ask everyone at the table to share a meaningful moment. Last Friday, the topic was gratitude: specifically, an event from the week for which we were thankful. Everyone had a beautiful story to share, be it an encounter at school or at work. When it came… Continue reading Peace Summit on Bus 486
We are spending three weeks in the Sacred Valley of Peru. Cradled by soaring, snow-capped peaks and sustained by a verdant, fertile valley where fields of corn sway in the breeze. The people here are soft, gentle and friendly. Everyone greets each other with a smile and a warm Buenos Dias. Many dress in their… Continue reading Kibbutz in the Andes
Having grown up in land-locked Toronto where the nearest ocean is a 10-hour drive away, I am in constant bliss to now be living near the sea. In Israel, I can drive to the beach in 15 minutes so when life overwhelms, I pack a towel and a book and head to the soft white… Continue reading Shabbat Bliss
Hamlet: What hour now? Horatio: I think it lacks of twelve. Where are we? London’s Globe Theatre? The Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington? The Stratford Festival in Niagara Falls, Canada or, maybe Central Park, summer home of the popular Shakespeare in the Park. Yet, bells jangle. A cacophony of pealing bells. If you look to… Continue reading There are more things in Heaven and Earth
Life in Israel 