Category: tzur hadassah

  • In awe of nature, fire, and humans – another day in Tzur Hadassah.

    In awe of nature, fire, and humans – another day in Tzur Hadassah.

    On Friday, while driving back up the hill from an Ikea run, I found out my kids had been picked up from home by a friend because a forest fire went rogue coming too close to our residential area. By the time I saw the giant smoke cloud rising on the horizon, a text had…

  • lizrael update: just things.

    lizrael update: just things.

    This may be my longest stretch of not writing here. For the sake of breaking that streak, just some quickies. Give me a month to collect some thoughts and come back. Town life If I’ve changed over the last ten years, it’s not at the same pace or degree as my ‘village’ from what seems…

  • Local Holocaust remembrance in 2015 and beyond

    Local Holocaust remembrance in 2015 and beyond

    Since becoming a mom, everything has gotten harder to swallow. I don’t read the news as much. Especially local evening news from New York. I can’t stomach certain facts of life. And I’ve distanced myself from my cultural ties with Holocaust education and remembrance. Which is getting easier to do – less voices, more distance…

  • Fifty-Two Frames: Greetings From…

    Week 5: Greetings From… Country Town Greetings from Tzur Hadassah, Israel. We’re a country town going through some major changes. Learn more about it.

  • Tzur Hadassah update: small town, big plans, lots of drama

    This ain’t your mama’s yishuv…

  • So that controversial Tzur Hadassah mikvah grand opening happened.

    So many mixed feelings. We moved here knowing there was no working mikva, and it may or may not get fixed one day. I’d say the same of most of the people who will end up using the now open-to-public-but-still-waiting-on-a-few-details Tzur Hadassah mikva. And it’s a pretty diverse but reasonable bunch – I’m guessing mostly…

  • A peek at Tzur Hadassah’s first and only mikvah [PHOTOS]

    It’s been nearly a decade, I believe, but here it is – started with allotted government funds, ended with a generous donation – the long-despised, the long-awaited, Tzur Hadassah mikvah. The ‘grand opening’ ceremony was earlier this evening. I was totally surprised to find a facility on par with American/Australian counterparts: The reception: The bridal…

  • Fifty-Two Frames: Books

    Recently, our town added a completely cute new feature to our bus stops: book shelves!   I started to read random books to my kids while killing time after gan. What a lovely example. Week 21: Books “A new book smells great. An old book smells even better. An old book smells like ancient Egypt.”…

  • Fifty-Two Frames: Greetings from…

    Week 4: Greetings from… Greetings from… Tzur Hadassah!  We’re a small (but growing!), diverse, open town in the Judean Hills, Israel. The population includes 96% humans, 3% canines, and… 1% horses.

  • If rocks could speak

    The Lorax said nothing. Just gave me a glance… just gave me a very sad, sad backward glance… as he lifted himself by the seat of his pants.  – The Lorax by Dr. Seuss They tore down one of my favorite Tzur Hadassah forests and the only thing left standing doesn’t give a…

  • Small town feeding a small army, or: calling all Israeli mothers of Tzur Hadassah

    Welcome to some good ole fashion small town love. Tzur Hadassah’s natural surroundings are a bit of a training ground for Tzahal ground troops. Every so often we’ll spot them midnight marching down our dead end street through the nature preserve, on their way to spend the night doing – whatever it is; the end…

  • Snow in Tzur Hadassah: Who said this isn’t Switzerland? [PHOTOS]

    There’s this inside joke here… sometime a couple years ago they started hanging hopeful signs around garbage points in Tzur Hadassah: If no one made it dirty, this could be like Switzerland.  After four days of heavy snow, warm clothes, sledding, and beautiful views… Well, I’d have to say we came pretty freakin close for…