Lizrael Update

Category: 400 thoughts

  • The yearly struggle (No, we’re not over the Holocaust yet).

    The yearly struggle (No, we’re not over the Holocaust yet).

    I’ve been struggling a little more the last few months. Struggling with something dark and damp and desperate, twisting itself among my veins, reaching across my heart and nipping at my soul. My growing morbidity. I’ve been morbid since I can remember. As a kid, I had freakish nightmares despite a safe and happy daylife.…

  • Running from.

    Sometimes, when I run… …I’m running from the stories that haunt me. I’m running from the stress of being a parent, of propelling a small child’s world, of having so much to lose. I’m running from the cold air nipping at my skin, teething on my bare arms. I’m running from the hourly news reports…

  • Satire spotted on the internets?!

    Maybe that Old Spice Guy served a purpose after all. Hello members of the U.N., Take a look at yourselves, now back to me, now back at yourselves, now back to me. Sadly, you’re not me. But if your cities got bombarded by 220 rockets in just 3 days, maybe you could feel like me.…

  • To Ayelet Yakira Galena, z’l

    Ayelet – Who are you, that I’m sitting here crying openly in public while reading the tragic news your parents just posted? I never met you, I never spoke to you, I never held you, but through you parents’ amazing capacity for sharing and including all of us – thousands of people across the world,…

  • Joshua’s messing with us.

    “And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies.” I remember learning it in 4th grade and it seriously always stuck with me. It was a ‘holy shit, dude’ moment back then, and it remained so for many years. Until one day, walking somewhere in Israel,…

  • Letting go.

    Into my seventh year of aliyah – living in Israel – I finally, finally, finally have been able to start what every oleh needs to do the second they get here. I’ve started letting go. Letting go of my pride. Letting go of my mistakes. Letting go of my fear. Maybe it’s my bilingual kid.…

  • Five years.

    I was 23… I was getting married. I was starting life. It’s been an amazing five years. Israel has been good to me. I have a son now. He’ll be drafted into the army in 15 years. Today Gilad Shalit is 25… He’s probably coming home… He’s hopefully starting life.

  • Looking for a New Year’s resolution?

    Are you already so totally awesome, you haven’t been able to come up with a way to be an even better person this year? If you’re seeking out a new year’s resolution during these עשרת ימי תשובה and are at a complete loss, Ariella Barker  is here to offer a new idea. Served up in…

  • Aaaand, I’m officially *that* person.

    I’m cutting up veggies for a salad. Huz picks up a bunch of lame lettuce leaves I’ve put to the side and throws them in the bin. “What are you doing?! I was going to put that in the compost bin I’m making!” He looks at me with wtf?! face. “Oh, I’m making a compost bin. I’m…

  • The decade.

    In the last decade… I woke up one morning and flipped channels until I found… I stared in horror at the TV… I helped fellow students as the Residential Assistant… I cried… I prayed for security… I went to class… I majored in Terrorism & War… I became a political activist… I watched the second…

  • A thought on respect.

    Can you imagine if September 11 was a shopping day? A day for sales? A 4-day weekend? Why can’t the general American Memorial Day get even 1% of the respect we give to the September 11 memorial? Yes, the latter is a specific event. Yes, it was only ten years ago, freshly tattooed to our…

  • Me and Irene.

    Our trip to New York City is down to its last 24 hours. It was too short, and I’m not just saying that because it’s always too short. It was actually on the short side. But, alas. We spent the weekend with Irene, same as the millions of other peeps across the East Coast. I…