Inspired by Israel #ZionRocks

We’re not speaking the same language. When Westerners say “ceasefire,” they imagine the cessation of violence as the beginning of peace and goodwill. In Arabic, the word “hudna” is translated to English as “ceasefire,” but the meaning is very different. Hudna is a temporary pause in fighting, to rest, rearm, and regroup so that fighting can continue later more successfully. A hudna can last…

How long does it take you to get dressed in the morning? When you are fast asleep, and the air raid siren goes off, you have to detach from your dream, gain your bearings, and hit the ground running to get to safety as fast as possible. How long does that take? In this war, we sometimes have the “privilege” of advanced warning. About 10 minutes. That’s for the horrifyingly enormous missiles…

Just because we aren’t on the floor crying and screaming, don’t imagine this is easy for us. It isn’t After writing about Purim as a guide for Jewish survival, I realized there are things harder to explain — what survival feels like in real time. There are things I don’t want to write about. Like being exhausted after sleepless nights of air-raid sirens sending us racing to the shelter.…

Jewish texts are profound. Nothing is random. And yet, I am still surprised by how relevant the ancient texts are, as if they were written for modern-day events. It shouldn’t be a surprise. Ancient texts that remain intact over hundreds and thousands of years are those that remain relevant—those that people in every generation decided mattered enough to pass on to the next. And that makes it…

“Don’t worry Ma. See, my arm is fine!” He knew his arm wasn’t fine. She knew it too. They both knew there was no way he was staying home. Not after the videos he had seen, not after the emergency message he received, the message all policemen in the area received, the message they thought they would never hear: a call to respond to an invasion. It didn’t matter that he had a broken shoulder…

Jews are unique. Even our New Year greeting is different — a harsh reflection of our experiences as a nation apart. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called the High Holy Days. They are more holy days than holidays: a time for introspection rather than celebration. Jewish tradition teaches that every year God reviews the lives of all humanity and decides what will happen in each life in the year…

Many of us are screaming in our heads at how long it is taking to finish the job in Gaza (I know I am). The frustration is intense — which makes it all the more important to remember that, slowly and methodically, NILI is at work. NILI is the Israeli task force charged with ensuring that every single October 7th monster who invaded, raped, tortured, burned, kidnapped, and held hostages is wiped…

I think this important presentation was very poorly done – an unusual and disappointing result for Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is recognized by those who love him and those who hate him as a master at public speaking and use of media platforms. The 47-minute documentary of the October 7th horrors taken from Hamas go-pros and Israeli CCTV and car cameras was not released to the general public…

On October 7th, the invaders came, intent on destroying Jewish life.Killing wasn’t enough. They wanted to torture and humiliate. To steal our joy and our future. They thought that if they brought the Holocaust to Israel, they could break us.And they did bring the Holocaust to Israel – with fire, slaughter, and even plans to gas Jews. But instead of breaking us, they made the Jews more…

What could feel more home-like? A perfect tableau: a freshly baked pie, charming knick-knacks, and the peaceful greenery outside the kitchen window… an incomprehensible contrast to what my mind knows happened here. Kibbutz Re’eim. Peaceful. Lovely. 97% heaven. An older couple invited us in for coffee. They told us about their children and grandchildren. About a teenager from their kibbutz who…

Ditza Or makes many secular people uncomfortable.Her clothing marks her as a religious Jew, which, for some, is unsettling in itself. But it isn’t her appearance that disturbs—it’s her words. Ditza’s son, Avinatan, is being held hostage in Gaza. To most of the world, he is known as Noa Argamani’s boyfriend—the handsome man who, though bigger than his captors, chose to walk into captivity beside…