Observations about life in Israel from a Canadian immigrant's perspective.
Newspaper headline reads: "The honor of helping." A natural disaster hit Nepal on Saturday. An earthquake that registered 7.8 crushed the country. The quake killed over 5,200 people, injured 10,000 and created a state of homelessness and hunger for tens of thousands of survivors. Countries around the world offered help and aid. The US, India… Continue reading How Israel loves mankind
I crank up our little gas oven to kasher it. I soak the knobs in soapy water, clean out the fridge and wash down the counters. Now ready for the final phase of kashering, I pour boiling water across all of the counters and tabletops. Carefully wiping up the steaming water with a clean towel,… Continue reading Spiritual cleansing
It has been another challenging week here in Israel. Life in Israel is similar to being on a roller coaster. There are ups and downs, curves and moments of terror, then incredible highs before a steep plummet. The day before election, this country was perched at the top of a deep abyss. We voted and… Continue reading It's a roller coaster ride
"It's us or them," says Netanyahu. Election fever is at a pitch here in Israel. Enormous photos of candidates’ faces stare us down from billboards at every intersection. The highway is lined with their messages, some threatening doom and gloom, others insulting competing candidates. For me, the polls predict a grim, terrifying future. Since Israel… Continue reading Jews wandering the desert
(video promoting the parade in 2011) For such a teensy country, Israel has many faces and personalities. This week, en route to a desert hike in the Negev, we found ourselves in Sde Boker, a tiny desert community on the edge of a dramatic canyon. Turns out my daughter is in the army with a… Continue reading A Purim Journey
One big family. When my daughter Aviva’s new Ethiopian soldiers arrive on base, they are beaming, white teeth gleaming behind open ready smiles, happy to please and succeed. Aviva shows them how to stand at attention and how to work under time constraints. Echad, shtaim, shalosh (one, two, three). She shouts this mantra several hundred times… Continue reading Wearing army boots
Their lives are too hard. They are so sweet and know so little. They’re like my children. Learning how to tell time. These are the words of my 19-year-old daughter, Aviva, who is talking about the Ethiopian soldiers she supervises. All are all new immigrants to Israel. Aviva started working as a mefakadet (sergeant) in… Continue reading Our mosaic, Eretz Israel
It is Wednesday afternoon and we are at the tekes siyum (graduation ceremony) of our son Ariel’s 32 soldiers. This exciting moment marks the end of their six months’ basic training. Proud parents, grandparents, siblings and cousins come out. Some hold up large signs, others wear matching T-shirts printed with their soldier’s picture on them. Everyone… Continue reading An Officer (and a Gentleman)
They hate us. Again. Israel and the Jews are equally despised and blamed for world calamity, tragedy, economic downturn and political unrest. I am so accustomed to Israel bashing, Jew hating and anti-semitic lies, I am no longer surprised when we get blamed. When something terrible happens and we first hear about it on the… Continue reading Israel's Good News
“Chik chak.” That’s what he said when he left the Misrad Hap'nim, the Ministry of the Interior. Black Israeli humor at its finest; there is no chik chak in government offices. Here we were sitting, standing, fidgeting, playing with smart phones, hemming and hawing, checking our watches…all waiting to receive our new identity cards, the… Continue reading Chik Chak
Life in Israel 