A Parent in Israel

Ten Years of This Normal Life

September 11, 2012

The original logo for This Normal Life It was ten years ago that I started writing This Normal Life, my personal blog. And for ten years, I have posted a minimum of one essay per week. Actually, in the first year, I published more like 2-3 a week, but as the blog became more established […]

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Israeli Summer Camp at One of the Hottest Places on Earth

July 25, 2012

Our 14-year-old son is heading off to summer camp this week. This will be his fifth year at “Kayitz b’Kibbutz,” a Bnei Akiva style overnight camp set at Kibbutz Shluchot in the Jordan Valley, just south of Beit Shean. The camp caters to both native born Israelis and visitors from overseas (the main language spoken […]

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You’re in the Army Now

July 18, 2012

If you had told me when I was growing up in the U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s that I’d have children in the army, I’d have said, “no way – get out of here!” Those were the years of Vietnam and the army didn’t exactly figure into our suburban lifestyle. And yet, here I […]

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Retiring to Protea Hills

July 11, 2012

It’s too bad I haven’t hit retirement age yet. Because when I do (and it won’t be for a good many more years), I know where I want to live: Protea Hills, a brand new retirement “village” in the final stages of construction high up on a mountain at Moshav Shoresh, about 20 minutes from […]

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Stranded in the Judean Desert

March 15, 2012

Admiring the view…before the sun went down I got the SMS around 3:00 PM on Friday. “Abba, I’m OK. But we’re kind of stuck on top of a mountain.” It was our 14-year-old son Aviv who was out with five students from his school, plus one of his teachers, on a “preparation hike.” The idea […]

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Snow-tubing!

March 1, 2012

Snow-tubing in Canada…is Israel next? We were all ready for snow in Jerusalem a couple of weeks back, but there was none in the end. Now snow is back in the weather for Friday, and I’ve already seen a few flurries today. But, after a week in Toronto, where we just were for a family […]

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FOMO at the Dead Sea

November 22, 2011

FOMO or not, the kids had a great time at the Dead Sea When I was ten, my parents planned a trip for the family to Disneyland. But a few days before we were set to leave, my father got sick – it was a cold or a flu, nothing serious, but still, the trip […]

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The Medical System is Broken After All

November 14, 2011

I have often bragged about how great the medical system here is in Israel. There’s no problem with people not being able to get insurance and care is on a very high level. For regular doctor visits, I’ve never had to wait more than a day or two for an appointment, and there are drop […]

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A Personal Validation of Zionism

September 28, 2011

In front of the Western Wall When I backpacking around Europe and Asia, some 25 years ago, I felt a mix of disdain and sadness for the many tourists I’d encounter ensconced in their oversized, air conditioned tour buses, being ferried around from site to site, taking in the highlights through tinted windows which they’d […]

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The “Mechinistim”

September 13, 2011

All packed up for mechina School officially started a week ago, and along with it the beginning of the “mechina” year. As our daughter is one of the new mechinistim, I thought this might be a good time to talk about what is a mechina, in large part also because our friends and family overseas […]

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