Community Journal

Read more about the experiences of our community members.

TRUTH or: The days you hate yourself - 3/5/24

The days you hate yourself. Yes. There are those days.
 
You are guilty. You are marked.
 
Sam worked with a Jewish woman who escaped Warsaw in 1939 just before it fell to the Nazis. These were her words. She said that in the 1930s you couldn’t escape these thoughts however insane th…

The kids are tired - 3/4/24

The children are tired
 
The parents are tired
 
Is everyone tired?
 
Sam’s weekly zoom meetings teaching English to young teens in our sister region of Israel (Hadera-eiron) is a lot of fun. 
 
Part of the fun is the unpredictableness of it all. Where will the conversation go…

You be the judge or: When Darkness Declares You As Its Enemy - 3/3/24

Dear readers,
 
After days and seeming weeks of paralysis in early October Sam and I grew more certain of our role in this horrific extended moment of Hamas terror and its consequences. 
 
We came to realize what is perhaps obvious. There’s nothing we can do about the world situatio…

The only thing I trust is my need to question - 3/2/24

Three elderly hostages are dead. The first I heard of this sad news item cited the palestinian News Ministry. It flashed across my phone as I was talking to one of my kids.
 
Chaim Gershon Peri, 79, Yoram Itak Metzger, 80, and Amiram Israel Cooper, 85 are three of supposedly 7 hostages re…

The Evil Psychological Tattoo - 3/1/24

Today I am attending a memorial service for a dear friend’s mom. Her mom died well into her nineties after what we call a good “long life.”
 
Death is a poignant moment and grief knows no boundaries. Whether it is after a life well lived or a life cut off too soon the ensuing grief …