Happy Rumpelnacht!
This Shabbat, my daughter taught me something I never knew before. The night after Passover when we rush to put away all the Passover dishes and get out the Chametz dishes isn’t only a special night for Moroccan Jews who celebrate Mimouna. We Ashkenazi Jews have a traditional name for this pressured and hectic night […]
Read MoreAn Unlikely Chol HaMoed Attraction
Exactly two weeks ago, Iran fired 350 rockets containing 60 tons of explosives at Israel. And instead of the thousands of casualties we’d feared and Iran had hoped for, thanks to Hashem’s miraculous protection (and Hashem’s expertly-trained emissaries, the Air Force and allies of the state of Israel) instead of the planned catastrophe the Iranians […]
Read MoreMy 14-Year-Old Hero by Sivan Rahav Meir
My hero’s name is Matanya Tzur Aryeh. He is not a biblical hero, despite his name. He is a 14-year-old boy from the village of Kfar Maimon in the Gaza Envelope, whose residents until recently were living in Jerusalem hotels following their rescue from the Simchat Torah massacre. I met Matanya Tzur when I was […]
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The Arab Selling KLP Ice Cream
My 11-year-old Yaakov has been complaining since Purim about not being able to eat Kitniyot on Pesach like his Sephardi friends do. His friends are feasting on bamba, caramel corn, and rice, while Yaakov is left, as he puts it, ‘With the 3 words that because of them I hate being Ashkenazi, ‘Gefilte, fish, and […]
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