Category: Writing from home

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I and II

I October 18, 2023 “Oh, a little gingy boy”, she says softly and I automatically smile and begin to say thank you, sure she is about to tell me how cute gingy boys are, how her

Shev Shatzman February 6, 2024

Simchat Torah is every Jewish person’s favorite holiday, you can’t convince me otherwise. Feasts that would put the Beauty and the Beast’s feast to shame, uncoordinated dances in synagogues and living up to true joy. It’s

Anonymous, age 17 February 6, 2024

My Experience

Writing from Yanuh-Jut, Druze village in Israel We always say Israel is a small country and you can usually make a connection between people…someone who knows someone, but Druze and Jew? Last week there was a

Naomi Landau Hudak February 6, 2024

I Have a Moaka

These days I’m walking around with a constant mo-a-ka. My Hebrew-speaking friends know that a moaka is “a feeling of heavy burden, emotional stress or a physical sensation of stress and discomfort.” I want it to

Gayle Danis Rinot February 6, 2024

The Scent of Home

When a woman I didn’t know in my neighborhood WhatsApp group asked for volunteers to launder blankets for soldiers, I immediately responded. In addition to the PR efforts I’m doing for Israel (but, frankly, who isn’t?),

Gayle Danis Rinot February 6, 2024

I Am OK but I Am Not OK

We had our first siren this morning. We live 80 miles from Gaza, but the “boom” from our fortified room in the basement was unmistakable. They don’t tell us where the missiles fall for security reasons,

Gayle Danis Rinot February 6, 2024

Writing from home

On Adi Marciano Crying Into the Shirt With Noa’s Picture*

Photo: Sarah Pritzker Srigim, Israel17 November, 2023 No need to utter a sound.Is the groanOf each fibreAs a single dropSoaksThe fabric of a shirtNot enough? Nor dislodge a whimperBecause I can hear your tearsLike an echo

Hila Bar February 6, 2024

Writing from home

Rain in October

On the unseasonal rains we had during the first week of the war Talk to me about rain in OctoberSpeak of the clouds swinging byAnd the rains that tumble to the charred, broken earthAs they topple

Hila Bar February 6, 2024

The Simchas Torah That Wasn’t

By Nechama SamuelsTelz Stone/Kiryat Yearim, Israel Yesterday should have been Simchas TorahInstead it felt more like Yom KippurPeople walking around with hollow facesNot eating Yesterday we should have bolted out of bedInto our new clothesRun to

Nechama Samuels February 6, 2024

Writing from home

War Diaries: Days 12 and 17

By Daphna HorowitzRaanana, Israel24 October, 2023 Day 12 – Holding joy and pain at the same timeEvery morning I wake up and for a split second, before I’m completely awake, while my mind is still a

Daphna Horowitz February 6, 2024