Observations about life in Israel from a Canadian immigrant's perspective.
The flower that smiles to-day To-morrow dies; All that we wish to stay Tempts and then flies. What is this world’s delight? Lightning that mocks the night, Brief even as bright. Percy Shelley Israel has been blessed by an abundance of rain this winter. There has been so much precipitation, the desert hugging the Dead… Continue reading We are ephemeral
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?
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
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
“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
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 