Day LXVII – A Journal from the Holy Land
Hugs When I was a teenager, my Mother of blessed memory and I used to watch Dr. Leo Buscaglia on the Public Broadcasting Network https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhmUeAkP8X8. Mom taught me so much about love. Love for a stranger, love for animals, love for friends, love for children and love for a spouse. I attribute most of my positive […]
Day LXIII – A Journal from the Holy Land
Context When I applied to the University of Pennsylvania in 1987, I was turned down. My second choice at the time, Carnegie Mellon, accepted me and I graduated in three years. It turns out they did me a favor. The 30th President of Harvard Claudine Gay and the ninth President of the University of Pennsylvania Elizabeth […]
Day LVII – A Journal from the Holy Land
Awoken Once Again At 6:30 AM on Saturday, October 7th we were awakened by air raid sirens as missiles began to reign upon the Holy Land. At 5:45 AM on Friday, December 1st we were awakened by our rocket app. And so it began. Once again. A rocket app is installed on all of our cell phones […]
Day LIII – A Journal from the Holy Land
Hotel Hamas Apparently, Hotel Hamas gets a five-star review on Trip Advisor. I’ve stayed at the Motel 6, and I’ve stayed at the Ritz Carlton. Never have I seen such reviews! Hamas sent out a letter yesterday (Monday) purportedly written by Danielle Aloni. Danielle and her five-year-old daughter Emilia were taken hostage by Hamas on […]
Day L – A Journal from the Holy Land
Welcome Home 50 Days. The Sabbath has ended and we cannot get enough information about those coming home: Adina Moshe, 72, a grandmother from Kibbutz Nir Oz. Aviv Asher, 2; Raz Asher, 5; and their mother Doron Asher; Margalit Moses, 78; Amelia Aloni, 6 along with her mother Danielle Aloni. Ohad Munder, 9 whose video […]
Day XLVI – A Journal from the Holy Land
Loss The greatest pain a parent can experience is the loss of a child. When we lost our son in 2021, our world crashed. It impacts everything. The sanctity of your marriage, your friendships, your faith in G-d, your performance at work and it becomes a crash course in emotional whiplash. At times, some question […]
Day XLIV – A Journal from the Holy Land
The Loss of a “Tzaddik” (Righteous Man) When Barack Obama ran for President his campaign slogan was “Change We Can Believe In.” It was an effective slogan. If we had one in Israel today I would call it, “Change We Cannot Believe.” The truth is I predicted this. It’s something I have not shared with […]
XLII – Six Weeks – A Journal from the Holy Land
Lessons: When I had young children in school I taught them to never raise a fist first. Never. It was forbidden in my home. It was forbidden in school. It was forbidden everywhere. I also taught them that if someone strikes you first, you hit back with a vengeance. You may not agree with my […]
Day XL – A Journal from the Holy Land
The Wonder of 40 Forty days is a long time. It is also an important number. When Noah was on the Ark, the flood lasted 40 days (Genesis 7:12). In Christianity, Lent is observed for 40 days until the celebration of Easter. Before G-d gave Moses the Ten Commandments, Moses was called to Mt. Sinai […]
Day XXXII – One Month – A Journal from the Holy Land
Friends: As my closest friends often remind me, I am “far from perfect.” In my journal released yesterday I mistakenly identified Ismail Haniyeh, one of the world’s most despicable terrorists as the head of the Israeli Political Bureau. That was a typo. Given the hours I am keeping, my brain is not functioning properly. Most […]
