thoughts from the 400 bus and beyond.
Yesterday two men from a neighbouring town and vastly different demographic approached me to ask for directions in my town. One did not look me in the eye as he spoke to me, but looked at the ground, eyes nearly closed. I know why. I felt lower than low. Human contact is core to our […]
11 Jewish congregants were slaughtered by an anti-Semite with an assault rifle. It’s a timeless tale. A baby was being accepted into the covenant. A timeless tale. The blood of the akaida, delivered by an enemy, the Angel of Hatred, of Spite, of Terror, of Death. And yet… “They should have been armed.” “Around the […]
I hadn’t said the Shema in earnest or even in unearnest in over a decade. Like riding a bicycle or worshipping a childhood god, the words are not forgotten once you start to move your mouth. The מ’s are plentiful; an exercise for the lips. The ך’s, too, are plentiful; an age-old exercise in patience […]
When people ask me why I came here, my answer is that no matter what I believe religiously I’ll always accept the fact that by being born into what I was born I have no choice but to cast my lot with the rest of my people. So even now, as there is this man […]
It’s night three of my daughter’s cough and it’s gotten much better. I’m sitting uncomfortably on the Hello Kitty stool next to the crib, with my forefinger making lines in her palm, my phone on ‘play’ in the other hand, and in my left ear, an earbud is loosely holding on. The prime minister is […]
Independence is affording the time to celebrate your existence. Independence is getting your own Snapchat filter. Independence is being proud of someone you never met named Netta. Independence is the freedom to openly mourn your dead on your terms. Independence is enjoying making choices on a global scale. Independence is watching your kids grow up […]
All around, kids pick up bits and ask their parents… “What is בן האבוד בלבנון?” “What is מבצע אנטבה?” “What does רומנטי mean?” “Why is that kind of flower everywhere?” “Did that שיר really happen?” “Why do they put the flag down?” On a walk through Har Herzl (Israel’s national cemetery) this morning, hearing about […]
I recently, ahem, was part of a core team running one of the biggest events in startup-Jerusalem each year, in its 4th year. It’s a production put on with a lot of demands, a lot of resources, a lot of professionals, but the core team from within the company are not necessarily production careerists (though […]
This isn’t how I thought it would end. I didn’t think the end would begin with a deep soreness, tiny stabs of pain, highlighted by stinging tears; the added torture of me trying to hold all this in and stay strong for you, to avoid the chance you’d feel unwhole, to acknowledge your instinctual longing, […]