The time of our joy

The time of our joy

  2020 may have been the first year since the advent of modern Israel, perhaps since the days of Nehemiah, that Israeli Jews were not allowed to celebrate Sukkot as their hearts desired. “We cannot all be under the sukkah together this year,” blogged The Times of...
The Jerusalem Fire of ’21

The Jerusalem Fire of ’21

Early Sunday afternoon, the light streaming through the window beside my desk changed from a common, pale blue to an eerie golden glow. Coincidentally, or so I thought, my wife had received a snapshot on social media of a huge, stunning and oddly isolated cloud taken...
Ulpan and Tough Love

Ulpan and Tough Love

  In Israel, it’s a good idea to get out of the house as least as often as we hold national elections. An opportunity to do so arose for my wife Marcia recently between outbreaks of COVID variants, and she went shopping with a friend. I won’t pretend to...
Above the Iron Dome

Above the Iron Dome

  A friend, call him Reuben, rang us up from Ashdod a few days ago. Ordinarily, receiving a phone call from 30 miles away would seem unexceptional, but Ashdod was under attack at the time. Hundreds of Hamas missiles had fallen in and around his hometown when...
Sirens sound on Jerusalem Day, 2021

Sirens sound on Jerusalem Day, 2021

  In the past, before and after missile attacks, Israeli civil defense sirens would first send out distinctive variable warning tones, meaning “take cover,” and follow them with a steady, single tone to indicate “all-clear.” But all-clear tones have not been used...
“I will whistle for them”

“I will whistle for them”

  There is faith and there is unshakeable faith. Renowned Bible teacher Derek Prince once said of scripture, “Every word of it is true.” The creation story, the flood, the prophet Elijah’s ascension to heaven in a flaming chariot and Zechariah’s apocalyptic...