בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה There’s a Jewish prayer called Shehecheyanu, that we say when we reach a special moment for the first time. Shehecheyanu v’kiyemanu v’higiyanu lazman hazeh. Blessed are you our lord… Who has given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this moment. My mom Read More

There definitely is a blue wave coming (U.S. midterms coming in just 8 days) that seem certain to result in a significant Democratic majority in the House and perhaps a Democratic majority in the Senate.     All of the signs are there.   Incumbent President of the opposite party has historically low approval ratings and the out Read More

At 6:29 a.m (Israel time) October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an attack on Israel that resulted in the worst mass murder of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust. More than 1200 Israeli were killed and 251 kidnapped and taken back to Gaza as hostages. Among the dead and kidnapped were babies, young children, Read More

In the United States, almost 3/4 of the population does not get a real chance to have their vote count. In the elections for President (held every four years) the results are determined by vote of the “electoral college” which means in essence that it is winner take all electoral votes by state. Generally, the Read More

I am getting ready for my first Israeli election and as a service to my American friends (and other readers) I want to create a basic primer. (sort of an Israeli elections 101) Election day will be on Tuesday October 27 and I am anxiously preparing. That includes a) reading everything that I can find Read More

It’s been nine months since I made Aliyah to Israel.   הנני  Hineni   “I am here”. On arrival I had a long list of “steps” I needed to accomplish and tried to celebrate each one as an accomplishment.     Even the small ones like opening a bank account took longer than I imagined and some of the Read More

A critical US Senate race is happening in Michigan that is tearing up progressive Jewish voters who would otherwise be drawn to support the Democratic nominee Abdul El Sayed but are repelled by the antisemitic tone of his primary campaign. Let me be as clear as possible.    I would normally be totally supportive of a Read More

I realize that technically it is closer to 9 weeks until election day and also I have not yet published my 10 weeks until 2026 midterm Elections (Part Two). The reason is that I have severe writer’s block completing part two because it involves my nightmare scenarios about all the steps the Trumpsters will take Read More

It is coming. Midterm elections (November 3, 2026) are ten weeks away. I will discuss in a separate post my fears for how Trump will try to corrupt the election and prevent a peaceful seating of the newly elected congress. (Those fears are intense and reasonable). But first let’s talk about the good news. Everybody Read More

SIX Months in Israel – June 30 A little more than six months ago (December 30, 2025) I flew from LAX to TLV (that’s Los Angeles International Airport to Ben Gurion International Airport for those of you not familiar with airport lingo) and made Aliyah. Upon arrival in Israel (and after having completed a pile Read More