I walked around Yad Vashem amidst the crowds and tours, somewhat detached from what I was seeing, at first. It felt tragically surreal, and I was nauseous. But I assume I was as stone-faced as those around me, trying to grasp what we were experiencing. Until I saw the wooden bunk beds, and across from … Continue reading Visiting Yad Vashem
I’m still trying to find adequate words to express the magnitude of what I experienced yesterday. We went underneath the Kotel, the site of our Beis HaMikdash, and took a newly created tour of the ancient tunnels. We saw spaces and structures that were only discovered within the past few years. My body and mind … Continue reading Beis HaMikdash Tunnel Tour: Fusion of Finite and Eternal
Yesterday we went on a Chanukah hike and picnic in the woods behind our house. At this spot, we were high enough to see the moshav and kibbutz nearby. Putting my bare feet in the dirt and grass, sitting on the ground, feeling the warm sun on my face, and watching my kids run free … Continue reading The Eyes of G-d Are Always Upon It
It’s alive and vibrant here. I can hear chanting and prayer echoing through the Wadi behind our house — along with Eurasian jays and howling tanim. The food is fresh and tastes unbelievable — the juiciest dates, massive mangoes, salty olives, heavenly halava, crispy falafel, warm hummus, freshly roasted cashews, homemade passion-fruit liquor… The natural … Continue reading Second Night, Appreciating Light
Dreidels in galus, outside of Eretz Yisrael, have a Nun, Gimel, Hey, Shin. It’s an acronym for Nes, Gadol, Haya, Sham. A great miracle happened THERE. But now that my family and I made Aliyah, we are living where the actual miracle occurred nearly two millennia ago, in the year 3622 (139 B.C.E.). For many … Continue reading A great miracle happened HERE!
I cried this morning after walking our son to school. It has been exciting building a new life in the Holy Land, and it’s all starting to come together. And for the first time in my four decades here on Earth—as I walked from his school back home, amidst the buzzing cars and blooming bougainvilleas—I … Continue reading Passing the Torch, One Step at a Time
I knew it shouldn't be just about money. In my family of accountants, making money was the focus. Not creativity, souls, spirituality, or tzedakah. All the things that now inspire me on a daily basis weren't even mentioned when I was a kid. So I went to the extreme, and, subconsciously, I completely avoided bringing … Continue reading Planning, effort and prayer to bring parnassah
I recently started using my Hebrew name. My great-grandparents, Moshe and Kayla (Morris and Katy) Tanenbaum, for whom I’m named, came from religious families in Ukraine and tried to preserve their Jewish life even in the U.S. Katy’s father, Fishel Rubin, was a rabbi and sent his daughter far away from the Jewish pogroms of … Continue reading Reclaiming My Legacy and My Hebrew Name: Morasha Kehilla
I was born into my Jewish family in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, around the time modern Americans were celebrating 200 years since Christian pioneers formally took control of the land they conquered from previous inhabitants. Though my religious great-grandparents fled our enemies in Europe and emigrated to the U.S. in the early 1900s, … Continue reading Morasha Kehilla: Why I started using my Hebrew name (full version)
I recently picked out some fresh Israeli olives from a makolet here in the north. In the Torah, the olive is a symbol of holiness, beauty, rejuvenation and peace. The olive is also one of the seven sacred species (shivat minim) of Eretz Yisrael. It’s been 10 weeks since my family and I crossed the … Continue reading Israeli Olives
Mindy Rubenstein 