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Israel was that man that my parents were trying to set me up with for years that I’ve been avoiding planning a date with.Israel is that friend that I always wanted to meet but we always seemed to...
by Marc Rosenstein(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary)Now available from URJ Books & MusicOrder Now!And the Lord said to Abram... "Up, walk about the land, through...
I'm not sure when I first tasted arak. Wikipedia tells me it's the traditional alcoholic beverage across Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Iraq. It turns out that arak is typically made...
At the last count of the World Jewish Congress in 1997, there were 25 Jews living in Haiti. There is no native Jewish population to speak of in what is currently the poorest country in the Western...
Is 10 days enough time to fall in love with Israel? Absolutely. Is 10 days enough time to make a sincere and meaningful connection to the land and people? It turns out that it is.
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September 2013/Tishrei 5774
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As I write this I am doing the last minute things before I leave for Israel – packing, cooking a chicken for Shabbat and for my husband to eat while I am gone, learning how to use my new digital...
This past November, I traveled to Israel as part of a NFTY delegation team in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Women of the Wall. Today, nearly three months later, I still don’t know how to...
I walked to Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda Street toward the end of Shabbat, thinking that I was going to wait on a park bench until Shabbat ended and the stores opened, in order to try to buy a Spiderman...
Shabbat is an island in time. It is a chance to pause, reflect, and differentiate between the holy and the mundane. And although it exists in every city, in every country, every week, something...
Years ago, before I had children, I sat in a meeting with a colleague who casually mentioned that her young son was not feeling well but was in good hands with his nanny, whom she completely...
Monday felt like the longest day of my life. Maybe it was, actually. Monday was two days for the price of one, thanks to 18 hours of travel time. It was also the first time I’ve ever had rockets...
Jews of a certain age might share similar early impressions of Israel. In Chicago, where I grew up, the young congregants at Lawn Manor Hebrew Congregation were inculcated with a firm commitment to...
I don’t remember the first time I skimmed my skull with a bobby pin and pushed a circle of knitted white cloth and strands of hair into its metal clasp. Wearing a kippah felt like a natural...
Before 1933, life for the Jews in Europe was filled with rich Jewish culture. Jews often lived in shtetls (small Jewish villages) or chose to assimilate into secular society. For the most part,...
On the plane back from my year in Israel as part of my first year of rabbinical school, I had the privilege of sitting next to a man who had participated in a Christian mission trip in Israel. It...
Need extra convincing that URJ Kesher is for you? Here are five compelling reasons to choose a Reform trip to Israel.
I’ve never given geology much attention in my travel writing, but during a recent visit to Israel, I gained a new appreciation for the origins and versatility of limestone.
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Anyone who has ever planned a trip knows that a great deal of time and effort is involved. This emergency solidarity mission took us across this country over the five days and provided...
My baby, Alana, is 25 years old. When she was almost 5, our family visited Israel. This was the children’s first visit. Friends advised us to leave our three young children at home. "They will be...
When the siren sounded, the Rolling Stones' tortured 1969 track "Gimme Shelter" popped into my head, oddly enough.
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As I hiked along the trail, I was amazed by the silence. There is something quietly powerful about walking in the steps of others. Who were these people? Where are they now? Are they happy? These...
Greetings from the Holy Land! A land flowing with…environmental engineering and solar energy?
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For me, sports and Judaism have always been connected. I know, I know: Judaism and sports, you say!? But as it turns out, they go together well.
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Whenever I tell people that I grew up in Omaha, NE, the first thing they want to know is whether I’ve met Warren Buffett. I answer yes: I spent an hour with him in 2006, and I owe it all to my...
If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times. It’s the journey, not the destination. Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans. But what does that mean? How do we bring...
After the ceremony, Israeli after Israeli came to me to say, "So this is what Progressive Judaism looks like? How do I learn more?"
As a fall semester student in NFTY-EIE High School in Israel, I participated in a Rosh Chodesh service last month at the Kotel (Western Wall). Although no service at the Kotel is ordinary, by...
Of all things I love about Israel, I think there is one umbrella that captures most of them: The opportunity to live out, on a daily basis, a life of idealism. I know that’s possible anywhere – but...
I've tagged along on my husband Steve's business trips to England and France, and visited my daughter the semester she studied art in Sienna, but how was it that until last month I had never set...
It was a straightforward question, spoken in a tone that was casual but knowing: “Did it change you?” he asked us.
As I entered the third grade in secular school, I simultaneously enrolled in Hebrew school at Congregation Shalom, a Reform Jewish synagogue in Milwaukee, WI. At age 9, Hebrew school seemed like a...
