Years ago I heard a random radio-program about families and relationships, where one of the stories told was of a family in the US where the mother was unable to care for her children, who were subsequently taken away from her. In the years that followed, the only contact she had with her children was [...]
A family with three mid-sized children were parked next to me in the parking-lot of the “First Station” recreational area in Jerusalem. The family members looked very tired but also obviously satisfied and excited by the large shopping-bag filled with national flags that stood on the hood of their car as they got ready to [...]
Stockholm Pride Week is one of the highlights of the Swedish capital's cultural calendar. Everybody participates, from government and cultural institutions to commercial enterprises, religious groups and individuals. Rainbow-flags decorate everything, offices, restaurants, shop-windows and private homes in a show of solidarity and an all-encompassing sense of fun. The Pride Week program is a multi-page [...]
I'm sitting here in the idyllic Swedish summer-landscape and enjoying the quiet and the beauty. Meanwhile, there is a cruel war raging at home between Israel and Gaza. Hundreds of children in Gaza have been killed, amongst a huge amount of civilian victims. More than 60 Israeli soldiers too, two of whom I have a [...]
In an unknown location, probably somewhere in the West-bank, three Israeli youngsters are held hostage as I write these lines. They were kidnapped while trying to hitch a ride home to their families from school last Thursday. Eyal Yifrach is 19, Gil-ad Shaar and Naftali Frankel are 16. I have a 19 year old son. [...]
"Redst du Yiddish?" That is Yiddish for, "do you speak Yiddish?" I don't, actually. I know some useful words and funny sentences. But I can't make conversation in Yiddish, which was the common language of much of European Jewry until WWII. Yiddish emerged about 1000 years ago as the everyday language of German Jews and [...]
I distinctly remember when JFK was killed. I remember seeing it on TV and magazine-covers and the grown-ups talking and that everybody was very upset and sad. Except it’s a false memory. I was only two at the time and we did not own a TV until years later. Those memories must have been formed [...]
While the story of how the Danish Jews were rescued to Sweden from deportation by the Nazi’s, exactly 70 years ago, is a happy story, it also makes one a little sad. This is the story: Denmark was the only country occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II that actively resisted the regime's attempts [...]
Last night I went to hear Israeli singer/songwriter Danny Robas singing Beatles. He is a good singer, and a brilliant guitarist. In between songs, he told stories. For example, did you know that Eric Clapton ran off with George Harrison’s wife? Robas talked about Lennon vs. McCartney, about Liverpool and becoming orphans. Mostly, he sang [...]
Driving through the sleepy town of Beit Shean last week, we were stopped by police. At that moment I had three young adults, one of whom I’ve once given birth to, in the back of the car, so I therefore cursed vigorously, but very quietly. I was obliged to swear, universally that’s the appropriate response [...]
