This morning at 6:05 am I completed the first of my “lasts” for this week — my last Talmudic Personalities class with Leah Rosenthal. Since I returned to the US I have gotten up faithfully at 4:40 am on Sunday and Thursday for Talmudic Personalities and on Monday and Wednesday for Talmudic Heroines with Gila …
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On Yom HaAtzma’ut, Looking Back
Some days it’s harder not to be in Israel right now. Last week, as Yom HaZikaron (Israel’s Memorial Day) segued into Yom HaAtzma’ut (Israel’s Independence Day), I felt some strong pangs. Even from my apartment I would have been able to feel the solemnity of Yom HaZikaron and the joyous celebration of Yom HaAtzma’ut differently …
Zissen Pesach — Sweet Passover
I have written many blog posts in my mind since I’ve been home in Vermont. I think I’ve had a hard time starting to write again, knowing that I won’t be writing any more of this blog in Israel this time around. When I was in Israel I often felt that I had left half …
Quandaries
Dear friends, I wrote the following post more than week ago — how much longer it seems! The problems I was wrestling with resolved themselves, and I decided, sadly, to return to the US. I have been home in Vermont since Wednesday night. I am voluntarily self-quarantining for two weeks just in case I picked …
Bringing new meaning to the word “Sabbatical”
There’s been a lovely prayer going around on the internet in which the author suggests that we view our time of quarantine as a kind of Shabbat. Lynn Ungar, a Unitarian Universalist minister, suggests gently, What if you thought of itas the Jews consider the Sabbath—the most sacred of times?Cease from travel.Cease from buying and …
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Early spring tiyyul Part 1: The Bridge
In early February, a few days after I had returned from a brief trip to snowy Kalamazoo, Michigan for my sister-in-law’s memorial service, I traveled with a group of Pardesnikim on a two day tiyyul to north central Israel. Although the stated intention of our trip was to trace the history of the kibbutz movement, …
Update in real time — Purim, COVID-19, and more
Dear friends, I’m afraid my blogging lags well behind my actual experiences. And alas, my present experience is sitting at home with a bad upper respiratory infection. No, don’t panic — I’m quite sure it is my usual winter sinus mess, and NOT the new corona virus. But it caused me to miss a Shabbat …
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T”U BiShvat with Sara Laya
For those of you who are not familiar with it, T”U BiShvat is the fifteenth of the month of Sh’vat. (I’d spell it out for you in Hebrew, but I’ve discovered that when I post things all the Hebrew gets reversed!) The letters Tet Vav in Hebrew spell T”U, and are equal to the number …
Winter/Spring — floods and flowers
Winter is Jerusalem is much like winter in parts of California. It rains — this particular winter, a great deal. When it rains, it often also blows strong gusts. The temperatures descend into the 50s, the 40s. Twice we’ve gotten some small hail or large sleet. Some days, it seems best to stay indoors. The …
Dinner with the Family
Deborah’s last night and day were spent (very happily, I hear) with Avishai and his family. I went along with Hagai, Yochi, Yoni the younger, and Golan for a family dinner for Deborah’s last night. Late the following night, she flew home to New York. The family dinner was delightful. Here are a few photos. …
Nine months in Israel 