A Strange Limbo

It is difficult to reconcile the calm, quiet atmosphere outside with the reality of the war in Israel. Last Wednesday, I returned to work at Aloney Yitzchak Youth Village, and had the opportunity to connect with some of our newest immigrant students. These are 15 year old kids who arrived in Israel without their parents …

Returning to Routine

No one seems to know what day it is at the moment. I checked my calendar to confirm that it is in fact October now. Getting back to a “normal schedule” is a challenge after an entire month of holidays. Here in Israel, the kids attended school for a total of 11 days in September. …

A Slower-paced Sukkot

The Jewish calendar has actually helped me cope with all of the changes this year. When we found out that we would be in lockdown last spring during Passover, there was frustration and sadness at all of the opportunities we were missing: Travel, visiting with family, experiencing an Israeli seder, and more. Once the reality …

Sukkot in Israel

Hello everyone! It’s Kayla the guest blogger again! I told everyone that I would be writing my next blog post about Sukkot in Israel, so here we go! Sukkot in Israel. I spent a whole month, maybe three weeks, leading up to the holiday saying how I really wanted to go to Jerusalem for sukkot, …

A Sizzling Sukkot

I’m hiding out in our air conditioned house while Danny is out with the kids at a museum. We had a heatwave that began right before the start of Sukkot, and it is only now starting to dissipate. It is more humid outside than it has been for several weeks. Danny said that it makes …