Life in Israel

Beware the Zombies!

March 20, 2018 Nicole Nathan Bem

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Israelis live and love to travel

February 27, 2018 Nicole Nathan Bem

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Loving Our Neighbours

January 25, 2018 Nicole Nathan Bem

I was recently struck by a headline “Bicycle Responder Who Saved 2,500 people Recognized by Community.” 2,500 people? Did this good news story make it outside of Israel? Meir Farkash, an EMT volunteer (emergency medical technician), has been to 2,500 calls in the past four years – all on his personal bicycle! Of these calls,… Continue reading Loving Our Neighbours

Resetting the start button

December 28, 2017 Nicole Nathan Bem

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

Dreams Come True

November 26, 2017 Nicole Nathan Bem

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

Israel the Extrovert

October 23, 2017 Nicole Nathan Bem

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

Starting Up Nation

September 19, 2017 Nicole Nathan Bem

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

August 23, 2017 Nicole Nathan Bem

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

A Love Story

July 31, 2017 Nicole Nathan Bem

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

Countdown

July 18, 2017 Nicole Nathan Bem

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