A Calm Jerusalem

Last weekend, we hosted Kai’s friend from school, who came from Russia to study in Israel without her family. She isn’t Jewish, and had no prior connection to Israel, but the school offered her a significant scholarship, and she wanted an opportunity to leave Russia. It was her first weekend staying with a “host family” …

Israel at War

Thank you to everyone who has reached out to check on us. We are safe at home, and Kai is with us. No sirens have been sounded here in Zichron, and at the moment, there have been no official instructions for the city to open our municipal bomb shelters for use. The public has been …

Living with Uncertainty

I can hear fighter jets soaring above our town throughout the day and night. Here in Zichron, that is as close as the war has come. Many of our friends are hosting families from the south, especially friends or family who live in a home without a mamad (safe room). One mother told me that …

Pressure on Fear

I felt scared last night. The escalating violence in Jerusalem last week was upsetting, but seemed entirely separate from my existence here in Zichron. My friends who live there told me they were wary about going to certain parts of Jerusalem, and that they anticipated a “rough few days ahead”. When the rockets started falling, …

Under the Iron Dome

On the day the rockets started attacking Israel last Tuesday, I wasn’t aware that anything was amiss. I don’t regularly read the news in the morning, and nothing popped up on my phone news feed. My kids went to school, and I walked to my Hebrew ulpan class. When I arrived, the other students were …