Kibbutz girl in the city
Long ago and far way, before I got married and had kids, I worked in Manhattan for five years, almost three of which I spent living downtown in what is now chic NoHo. I’d say (and I often do) that such...
View ArticleThank you, Dr. Hussein
I’m still belching out mild nausea, but compared to how I felt last night, I am grateful to be able to sit up and type. Last night, my husband and I went to a nearby Middle Eastern restaurant for a...
View ArticleWhat happens to the boys with flowers in their hair?
I have a theory about Israeli men. The reason they’re so secure in their masculinity is not due to months of paratrooper training or mandatory military exercises out in the desert. It’s because, from a...
View ArticleExperts say Israel is safer than most
So I was thinking about the zombie apocalypse the other day after reading the story about the Florida man who was shot while attempting to eat another man’s face. I was tweeting about it with comedian...
View ArticlePoetry in motion: Kfar Manda
I could write a poem about Kfar Manda The woman bending down in the fields The small child, too One hand tugging a skirt, the other tasting strawberries Sprinklers clicking, spraying, swaying I could...
View ArticleWhere I come from, I’m a Jew
At the risk of sounding stupid or uninformed, I’d like to admit that before I made aliya I wasn’t familiar with the term “religious pluralism.” In reality, I likely heard it or read it, but never paid...
View ArticleMe? Hot immigrant mama?
They say an oleh is truly settled here when he starts buying Israeli deodorant instead of importing American roll-on via generous relatives, or when he finally settles for chunk light tuna instead of...
View ArticleGetting at the heart of a heady conflict
In another lifetime, I was a budding talking head. I arrived in Washington, DC, as an undergrad with the intention of studying political communications. But one boring “History of Journalism” class...
View ArticleCoed naked blogging
When I was in Junior High, a trend hit suburban New Jersey: Coed Naked. Coed Naked Lacrosse. Coed Naked Basketball. Coed Naked Cheerleading. Coed Naked Madrigals. All the kids I knew who were lumped...
View ArticleIs blogging ‘bad for the Jews?’
“Before you can write anything, you have to notice something.” – John Irving Every day since I became a blogger, the line between what I notice and what I write blurs exponentially. This is a stark...
View ArticleI wanna be like Sarah Silverman
I admit it. When I grow up, I want to be Sarah Silverman. Are you shocked? Appalled? Ready to stop reading my blog? Stop sending your kids to my house? Hold your horses. I’m not about to parade in a...
View ArticleThe power of reverse decisions
As I was driving into the kibbutz today around “high noon,” I noticed the lifeguard from our community pool making his way up on foot from the end of the road that leads in and out of Hannaton. My car...
View ArticleTell me you love me before I die, not after
When someone dies, we often use that opportunity to express how we truly feel about them. And how we truly feel about them is often… beautiful. “You were a light in my life.” “I’m so grateful we were...
View ArticleWhat’s scarier — vomit or Iran?
I used to be deathly afraid of vomit. My fear is traced back to a puke-ariffic incident that took place when I was about seven years old. During a family vacation to the New Jersey shore, my mother...
View ArticleIsraeli preppers speak my language
Shhh. I’m a closet survivalist. Which is to say, you can only really tell I’m a survivalist by looking in my closet, otherwise known as “the mamad.” It’s true that like most Israelis, I use my mamad as...
View ArticleDay of reconciliation
I know in the sea of alternative prayer and service options that exist these days, there must be an opportunity for me to formally ask the Earth for her forgiveness this Yom Kippur. I am sure there is...
View ArticleA most unexpected gift of aliya
Last night, as I sat quietly, a participant in a kibbutz conversation on youth education, I was reminded of how much I’ve changed since making aliya almost two years ago. More specifically, how my...
View ArticleWhy Halloween rocks in Israel
I had a better blog post planned. It was about Hurricane Sandy. And fear and acceptance. About climate change and transition. It was going to be a doozy. But I got smacked with a doozy of my own —...
View ArticleHome is where you live, where you love
“Are you ready to come home?” my mother says coyly. She wants to sound like she’s joking, but we both know she’s not. “All of our friends and family are asking about you,” she says, as we Skype about...
View ArticleExpat dreams
You know it’s time for a visit to the mainland when you dream about Trader Joe’s. Especially if the dream is particularly detailed. Like so detailed you can read the names on the labels; you can taste...
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