December 26, in memory of my late husband, who loved poetry and was the first to introduce me, an ordinary Soviet school girl to the names of Severyanin, Mandelshtam, Balmont, Galich, and many others, I hosted a poetry evening at my house. We were fortunate to have a reading evening with Yehoshua November, who represents quite an…
Tag: Israel
Parshat ha Shavuah Verses – Ki Tavo /כִּי-תָבוֹא
We are commanded to bring the first fruits of our labor “unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there” and speak to our Gd: י וְעַתָּה, הִנֵּה הֵבֵאתִי אֶת-רֵאשִׁית פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה, אֲשֶׁר-נָתַתָּה לִּי, יְהוָה; וְהִנַּחְתּוֹ, לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתָ, לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ. 10 And now, behold, I have…
Parshat ha Shavuah Verses Shoftim / שֹׁפְטִים
People think about different things when their minds drift away from the task at hand. Being super busy now at work, I somehow still always manage to find my way to Israel in my mind. And today I am missing it so much it hurts. Maybe one of the reasons is that here, in the…
A Random Step
This Sunday I am embarking on a new adventure. I am starting a week-long class at Mechon Hadar. Again, not without trepidation. This is not exactly the place where the level of observance and Yirat Shamaim is according to my view of the world. And yet, I’ve decided to try it. For a very practical reason – there…
Parshat ha Shavuah Verses – Bo
“Go!”, He said. “Don’t ask for reasons, do as I say” Your people will leave this cursed place And you will be the leader. Now and forever. כב וַיֵּט מֹשֶׁה אֶת-יָדוֹ, עַל-הַשָּׁמָיִם; וַיְהִי חֹשֶׁךְ-אֲפֵלָה בְּכָל-אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים. 22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the…
Hummus in Our Lives
By now, it is hard to imagine our lives without hummus. This staple of the Middle Eastern cuisine has a permanent place on any Shabbat table in North America. Certainly, in Israel you can find it everywhere, one place serving it better than the next. I was a huge fan of hummus with ground meat…
Shakespeare in my Heart
Today, when the world, the weather, and my soul are squeezed with pain and cold, I am reminded of my favorite Shakespeare sonnet. I would say it myself, but why? He wrote it so much better I could ever do. I would only add the word “blood” in every line of his, though: Tir’d with…
Chanukah Foods
By now, the fifth light of Chanukah, everyone has written about Chanukah foods. I decided to add my two cents, though. I decided to make a different kind of latkes – the lighter version of just potato, onion, flour mix. Mine feature carrots and zucchini along with potatoes and no flour at all. Here’s what you need….
Just One Verse
A friend of mine just made Aliyah. Originally from Donetsk, she had to run to Kiev from the horrors of the war not wanted by anyone. There, she waited for permission to enter Eretz Yisrael. As an artist, a jewellery maker, a make-everything-myself lady, she settled in the best place for creative souls – the city…
Back to Katamon. In my Dreams.
Looking at homes. Dreaming of living there. Looking back. Or forward? All I need is my own place. In Katamon. Tu bi Av. A love day? A dream day? A Nachamu? No consolation for me. Not now. Not ever?
Noshing Across the Nation 