The summer before Danny and I got married in America, we had an engagement party in Israel. My parents came, of course, as did my brother. When Josh and his friend arrived at my parents’ hotel, they were given a note that my father had written. It said, “If we are not in the room, we are at the pool. I am in disguise. I’m 6-foot-4 with a long blond ponytail, and I answer to...
I remember: My first kiss. His name. What he looked like. Where he was from. Which room we were in. The occasion. What grade I was in. How great it felt. I don’t remember: The date. The city. The address. What I was wearing. What he was wearing. Who else was there. What the room looked like. Whose house it was. I remember: Classmates who teased me. Boys in my neighborhood who...
The text from my brother was brief. “I’m going to be at Disney World with Hannah and a few of her friends from April 1-5. You’re going there too, right?” I was delighted by his unexpected news. Two months earlier, I had booked a three-day vacation in Disney World for my son and me, with plans to be there from April 4-6. It would fall during our first visit to see my father in...
“God is good”, you hear people say when things go their way, as though this mythological entity of questionable existence has allegedly made the decision to intervene and bestow moments of goodness in the lives of a blessed, chosen few. I don’t believe that God exists, but if I did, I would probably agree with my late mother, who – robbed by ALS of her ability to speak or eat...
I believe in magic. Not those trippy, sleight-of-hand illusions that tap into your inner child and leave your eyes feeling scrambled with wonder. I believe in the magic that happens when you get together with an assortment of individuals from your past, and a collective joy emerges that is so much greater than anything you imagined it could be – especially when the emotions...
On February 29th, my mother passed away following a brief battle with ovarian cancer. This is the eulogy I wrote, which was read during the memorial service by my parents’ rabbi. ******** There is something surreal in preparing for a journey whose sole purpose revolves around saying goodbye to one’s parent. My father and Josh called, and Dad prefaced our discussion by...
When you’re traveling… And the drive to the airport takes almost two hours instead of one… And the airline (American Airlines) you’re traveling with for a 40-minute flight as a result of code-sharing charges you $100 for a bag that is supposed to be free… And the same agent (erroneously) claims she can only check your three bags as far as London...
The road we traveled to bring our son into the world was long and painful. There were several pregnancies during which fetal anomalies were discovered, and one that ended with the birth of our first son in the 26th week of pregnancy – a preemie born very small with birth defects who managed to survive for just over six months. During those nine years of failed pregnancies...
דרכינו להביא את הבן שלנו לעולם הייתה ארוכה וכואבת. היו כמה הריוניות שנתגלו בהם מומים, ואחד שהסתיים עם לידת הבן הראשון שלנו בשבוע 26, תינוק שנולד קטן מאוד עם מומים, שבכל זאת הצליח לחיות קצת יותר מחצי שנה. בתשעה שנים האלו של הריונות נכשלים, בדיקות אינסופיות, תקווה וייאוש, ניסיתי להבין מאיפה זה נחת עלינו. הרופאים לא ידעו להסביר לנו, והגנטיקאית שהצטרפה למעגל שלי לא מצליחה עד היום...
בימים אחרים, הייתי כותבת את הטור שלי באנגלית ומעבירה אותו לתרגום. את הטור הזה, כתבתי ישר בעברית. התבקשתי על ידי העורכים שלי ב”אדם עולם“, המגזין של הקהילה האנתרופוסופית בישראל, להתייחס לנושא של הכשרות שקשורות לאנתרופוסופיה: הכשרות חינוך, רופאים, מחנכים וכדומה. פשוט, נכון? זהו, שלא כל כך. ועוד החלטתי שהפעם, אני מתכוונת לכתוב את הכל בעברית – פעולה מאתגרת ומתסכלת. אבל...