Category: 400 thoughts
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A small community Yom HaZicaron.
A small community Yom HaZicaron tekes is unlike the others I’ve been to in Israel. There is something about it. Maybe it sounds strange, but it’s almost like the smallness makes it more intense. At the kotel or Rabin square, you know why you are there… Or you feel the obvious magnitude of the occasion.…
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The state of Israel in 5758.
This is the time of year when the State of Israel has a chance to really look deep into the heart of herself and understand what condition she’s in. It’s the post-Pessach triangle of introspection: yesterday was Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) and next week are Yom HaZicaron (Memorial Day) and Yom Haatzmaut (Independence Day).…
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Have a wonderful holiday of hidden miracles.
Here’s what I love about it being Purim in Israel and being a part of an Israeli community: Coming home after a seuda with new friends (including 342674 kids) and then finding Mishloach Manot at your doorstep – I guess you could say it’s a hidden miracle that we come to Israel single and adventurous…
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A true face of Jerusalem: the hospital waiting room.
Today I spent quite a bit of time in a Jerusalem hospital waiting room; no emergency, I just needed an x-ray. In the past few months, I’ve actually frequented Jerusalem hospital waiting rooms and have been fascinated by the faces I see and the languages I hear. I think the true face of any city…
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Blood and books: an inevitable mix?
Merkaz HaRav, the yeshiva chosen by the Arab gunman for last night’s massacre, is a flagship yeshiva that stands at the heart of the Religious Zionist movement and should not be confused with the extreme anti-Israel strain of yeshiva population. One Merkaz HaRav student shot the gunman twice in the head with a pistol he…
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A different kind of commute.
Driving home through the shtachim (territories) from Jerusalem tonight was an eerie experience. Usually I like to look out at the hills, or notice the lights, or, in daylight, watch the Arab residents traveling along the highway, in ‘their’ cabs, with ‘their’ license plates. I like to imagine sometimes the only reason we don’t mingle…
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Lessons of Israel: Life is good until it's not.
I was walking with a friend down Emek Refaim today when I happened to look up and notice the plaque that hangs outside Cafe Hillel, remembering those killed in the bombing there on September 9th 2003. That bombing in particular hit me hard for several reasons, and that date hasn’t gone by since without me…
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Separation anxiety and the wandering me.
My professor had us draw a chart describing an experience of separation we’ve gone in childhood, teenage years, as an adult and also one that we expect in the next five or so years. Oddly, the easiest phase to fill out was the last; it came to me immediately and it’s a wonder that little…
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For an alternative means of defense.
It’s some sort of rite of passage that olim go through; the idea of “becoming more Israeli.” In this case, I don’t mean wearing flowy skirts or forgetting grammatically-correct English. I mean the process of becoming overly defensive and jumping to attack at any flare of doubt or wrongness – the process of becoming more…
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On high school reunions, halacha, nostalgia and everything in between.
Between running into my high school principle, the recent Flatbush fiasco and my friend attending her ten-year reunion couple nights ago, I’ve had high school on the brain in the last few weeks. High school is something I have successfully managed to block from the forefront of my mind. Part of it was my own…
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What Jewish TV taught me tonight.
Tonight was the first taping of Tuesday Night Live, “the first Israel-based Jewish TV show broadcast around the globe.” I suppose I was curious about what all that meant (being aware that it is run by Ohr Olam and produced by Arutz Sheva). When we arrived and I got a pamphlet, it became clearer what…
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Morning Jerusalem.
This morning was the first time in a long time that my heart sang for Jerusalem. It was 5:45 am and we were in a cab on the way to the bus station. The sky was dark and the air was crisp. The streets were almost empty. And my heart was stirring a song for…