Festival of Lights: Day Four

I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth (Genesis 49:6). We had a feast last evening… friendship, stories, laughter, food, drink, prayer, and fellowship! On the fourth day of Hanukkah, we celebrated indeed.

Festival of Lights Evening Three

“… in His light, we see light.” (Psalm 36:9). I spent the late afternoon making latkes or potato pancakes. They are a Hanukkah tradition and worth the calorie splurge once a year. Here is a great step-by-step process. Later, our Israeli neighbors upstairs came down, and we enjoyed the time together with latkes and sour cream…

Hanukkah Evening Two

Arise, shine for your light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. Gross darkness shall cover the peoples of the earth, but my glory is risen upon you. (Isaiah 60:1) Yesterday was such a sweet day with my husband. We drove to Ein Kerem, which is a beautiful town nestled…

Hanukkah Evening One

We gathered with some friends in our neighborhood to light the first candle of Hanukkah. As we walked to their apartment, we noticed the colors of the sky. It was that twilight time of early night when everything becomes gray, but last evening it seemed grayish purple. And we could feel the evening falling as…

Hanukkah Around the Globe

I love the season of light! It is full of miracles and hope, and it sets the perfect entrance for turning the calendar to a new year. Tonight is the first night we light candles… and so on for eight evenings. Our dear friends from the states will join us Monday afternoon and be here…

Hanukkah in Jerusalem

The Jewish festival that usual falls in December is around the corner. Hanukkah or the Festival of Light is a small holiday but a beautiful one… full of flickering candles, miracles, presents, dreidles (game for children), potato pancakes, jelly-filled doughnuts, and wonder. The streets of Jerusalem are lit with Hanukiahs or nine-branched candlesticks for the celebration…

Leaning on the Stars

  Leaning on the Stars Writers are strange creatures. Who can explain the impulse to write or tell when it will come–or worse–when it will go? We are leaving for the airport in about 20 minutes, and this poem came to my mind. It would be so easy to skip this trip, to enjoy the first of the holidays…

haiku: soaring

Last week we had a meeting in the Anatole Hilton. My soul feasted on the view from the 29th floor. The sky, clouds, buildings, maze of highways, and landscape took my breath away. Perspective makes all the difference.  Everything looked completely different and new from that vantage point. The view mesmerized me. But it was the birds that…