The AIDS Test

February 17, 2005

Dr. Michael arrived at half past ten in the morning on a rainy winter day wearing a gray overcoat, a long-since fashionable paisley pullover sweater vest, and a big black case. He sat down across from me at my kitchen table and rifled through a wad of official looking papers. Dr. Michael is a traveling […]

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Rock and Roll Junior High School

February 3, 2005

Who ever said that getting into junior high had to be such a production? But that’s exactly what it was – a full theatrical production – at the Jerusalem Girls’ School for Torah and the Arts. Let’s step back a moment… My wife Jody and I recently accompanied our eleven-year-old sixth grader Merav to two […]

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Kitchen Sink or Swim

January 27, 2005

When Jody’s 91-year old grandma died suddenly last week, there was no question that Jody would fly to San Diego to be with the family for the week. What was less clear was how I would fare holding down the household by myself. While I can’t give a first-hand report on what happened in California […]

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The Bible Quiz

January 21, 2005

Eleven-year-old Merav’s counselor from Scouts called a week ago on a Sunday night. “We’re having a bible quiz on Tuesday,” she explained to Merav. “I know it’s not a lot of notice. But would you be interested in representing us?” Merav didn’t hesitate. And for the next hour, the two of them were cramming on […]

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The Tupperware Bra

January 12, 2005

Have you ever wondered what a Tupperware Party is all about? I know I have…I mean, I’ve heard the term for years. But when I think about it, I always conjure up an absurd image of 1950s-era housewives in fancy party dresses drinking, laughing and flirting while fondling dumpy plastic containers with that funny name…Tupperware. […]

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Formal Attire

January 6, 2005

The invitation to Shaya and Benny’s wedding read: “Formal attire.” Formal attire? What the heck is formal attire? In Israel we are masters of casual comfort. We dress down everywhere we go, including weddings, no…in particular at weddings. You want to keep it loose so you can dance and not feel restricted by a tie […]

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PDJ

December 23, 2004

We recently took off for a short vacation in Eilat, Israel’s southernmost city, with a group called Shabbat B’Teva. Literally meaning “Sabbath in Nature,” the group wraps hiking and tiyulim around a Shabbat atmosphere. The idea of getting out of the nasty cold of Jerusalem (for those of you who’ve never visited, it actually snows […]

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Out of Context

December 20, 2004

We were recently invited to a bar mitzvah “weekend” at the resort hotel of Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, a few kilometers from where we live at the southernmost edge of Jerusalem. The bar mitzvah weekend is an alternative to the usual custom in our community where the bar mitzvah boy (or bat mitzvah girl) is called […]

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Donut Quiche

December 8, 2004

I know they’re bad for me. But I can’t resist. I’m talking about donuts, of course. Whatever shape, size or variety, I go do-m’shuga-nut over them. And at this time of year, as Hanukah season descends upon us, Israel is overflowing with that uniquely Jewish version, the sufgania. Sufganiot (that’s the plural) are a very […]

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In De-Nile

November 25, 2004

One of the hardest things about living in Israel for Western immigrants is not having access to the vast consumer marketplace we grew up with in North America. I know, that sounds pretty trivial and maybe even a little petty. After all, we are living in another country. We freely chose to put 5,000 miles […]

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