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Separate-Sex Sidewalks and Civil Rights

October 24, 2011 by 14 Comments
separate sidewalks in Meah Shearim, Jerusalem

This year, like last year, the neighborhood of Meah Shearim posted signs indicating that during the Sukkot celebrations, men and women would be directed to separate sidewalks. Civil rights or anti-haredi activists, depending on your perspective, petitioned the court, which ruled that the sidewalks belong to both sexes equally. The ruling was not enforced. After the holiday, a group of civil rights activists entered the neighborhood and were greeted with food and rocks thrown from the balconies. But is it right for outsiders to interfere? Reader Henya writes on the Mother in Israel Facebook page: And if people belonging to a certain community prefer separate streets or buses it is … [Read more...]

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State of the House: Erev Sukkot 2010

September 22, 2010 by 23 Comments
Decorations await hanging

This is what's happening chez Mom in Israel: Household laundry is finished. Floor is washed, even though we won't be eating inside. Soldier son #1 is being picked at train station with two dufflebags of laundry. He has to go to Zichron for the day on Tuesday, followed by an obligatory barbecue, and comes back home until next Sunday. Soldier son #2 called yesterday to say he's not coming home this weekend. My husband asked whether he would be on the base, and he wouldn't say. A few weeks ago,when he finished his advance training, he told us that we shouldn't ask any questions about what he's doing because he can't tell us. "But what if there's something you can tell us? Can't we ask … [Read more...]

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Guest Post: Easy and Inspiring Sukkah Decorations

September 20, 2010 by 20 Comments
Children paint walls of their Sukkah

Wondering how you are going to decorate your sukkah*? Your worries are over! Please welcome Mara Strom of Kosher on a Budget for today's guest post on Sukkah crafts. And be sure to check out her site. I love Sukkot. Really, truly love it! I love watching my husband and sons build our sukkah, and hosting friends and family in our humble little home-away-from-home. But every year, the decorating of our sukkah stumps me. I spent an hour today cutting and stapling hundreds of strips of construction paper for our sukkah's paper chain. Such an easy craft to involve the kids in, right? Unfortunately, it ended up being Mommy’s craft, since my sons were too distracted to help and … [Read more...]

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Adventures in Nachal Sephunim

October 7, 2009 by 13 Comments
rock formations nachal tzefunim

Yesterday we went on a hike to Nachal Sefunim, in the Carmel near Haifa . Sefunim, with a samech, means hidden like Tzafun in the Passover Seder, or panelled. Till we got out and on our way, and ate, we were ready to start walking at 15:00 (that's 3:00 PM for you Americans). We figured an hour there, an hour back, and we would have plenty of time before dark, which was around 17:20. I thought darkness would set in a little later. You can already see where this is going. After walking along the rows of ripe bananas and their dramatic flower buds, we came to a sign indicating two trails. Our guidebook said to follow the red trail along the creek bed to the main attraction, a … [Read more...]

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In Which I Fall Head Over Heels. . .

October 22, 2008 by 11 Comments

into the rocks of a mountain in the Shomron, that is. On the first day of Chol Hamoed (the intermediate days of the Sukkot holiday), we went with friends on an organized hike through Nachal Shiloh. We hesitated about the security, the length (four hours!) and the possibility of rain, but decided to go ahead. Being invited to our friends' sukkah for a barbecue afterward didn't hurt. The hike began in the settlement of Peduel with 136 people, divided into two groups. From Peduel we hiked down to a nachal (creek, dry in this case-- I'm not sure of its name), then up to the ancient city of Tzredah, and back down to Nachal Shiloh and the road, where a car awaited to take drivers back to … [Read more...]

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The Number One Reason for Making Aliyah

September 25, 2006 by 7 Comments

Having just finished two days of marathon eating and praying on Rosh Hashana, I am so grateful that we don't have to do this very often. So in honor of the new year, and to give chizuk (encouragement) to our struggling olim chadashim (new immigrants), here's a comparison of the holidays in Israel and in chutz laaretz (diaspora): Rosh Hashanah. Two days everywhere---two days of keeping small kids quiet during the shofar-blowing and keeping them busy while everyone else is davening. We were spared one day of shofar this year because of the first day being Shabbat. I enjoy the mitzva of Shofar. But really, it's clear that the Torah only intended it to be for one day. UPDATE: Rafi G … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Aliyah, Holidays, Israeli Living, Judaism, Pesach Tagged With: , , , , , , ,