What is it like to witness the largest drone attack in history? No, not to witness – to be the target of the largest drone attack in history? All week we heard the news about Iran’s pending attack. The media headlines came without much on-the-ground, practical instructions for what to do to prepare for such an attack.… Continue reading Matzilenu mi’yadam: He saves us from their hands
Every land is owned by those who acquired it. When a land is conquered, no one questions to whom the land belongs to. What was the last time someone seriously proposed that California belongs to Mexico? If California belongs to Mexico, then we must factor in the fact that the Spanish who established the country… Continue reading The Iron Bandaid
Imagine this for a moment: A woman finds her married life frustrating. Her husband is good to her, if a little too jealous for her taste. He doesn’t like when his wife flirts with other men and spends a bit too much time chatting with them – not that any husband would be okay with… Continue reading Jews Are in an Abusive Relationship
While we watched with bated breath, Israel's leadership decided to capitulate over the Temple Mount's security, relinquishing a golden opportunity to reassert authority and take control of a situation that has quickly spiraled out of control. For the first time in too long, Jews had been able to openly pray at the Temple Mount (Har… Continue reading Redemption
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. (Psalm 137:1) Despite what I've written on this blog so far, my experiences in Israel were not limited to terrorism. There is so much more to Israel than its worst times, though naturally we must contend with those as well. What I found… Continue reading Memories
I found a draft of a blog post I was beginning to write a couple of years ago, a few months after moving to Israel officially: "Since coming to Israel, I've received some mixed criticism and confusion from my non-Jewish friends who don't quite understand why I would come to such a dangerous and so… Continue reading Israel
Like a child running to hide behind her mother's skirt, I ran back to America. And like that child, I found that it did no good. It didn't erase the big, frightening world out there. In my case, Aliyah did not fail me. I failed myself. I gave up when we were on the brink… Continue reading Failure?
"So do Jews hate Jesus?" a coworker asked me the other week. The question itself wasn't particularly disturbing; I knew it was asked out of genuine curiosity and naivety. But the truly unsettling part was the remembrance that I was in exile. A stranger in a strange land. I had gone from living in Israel… Continue reading Exile
Let me sketch a picture for you. Women (and men) scream that it is a woman’s right to abort her baby – her body, her choice. These same people often weep at the near extinction of many species of animals – whether by natural or unnatural causes – and weep about the destruction of forest… Continue reading Hypocrisy
When Rosh Hashanah came around, I knew we were headed into a year of revelation. Of what, I wasn’t sure. But I knew… And sure enough, on Erev Rosh Hashanah, it began. You can say it began a long time ago; it’s true, it did. But this was the beginning of 778 terror attacks from… Continue reading Fire
The Singing Soul 