Moonlight Letters

Rock is something that Israel and Palestine has enough of. Wood, not much. Water, enough if used carefully, in part because desalination is changing the equation, and has potential to bring much-needed good to the whole region. According to this article, the political co...

Last time I was in Israel & Palestine with Judy, perhaps 14 years ago, I was accosted by a young man in our hotel in Jerusalem. (The Inbal, I think.). He took me to task for wearing a kippah in "his" home, meaning Israel. He found it offensive, just as seeing a woman walk...

[Photo] Crusader fortress. They built this amazing structure and for a couple hundred years it remained the capital of the final Crusader "kingdom" in this land, but basically they had to live their lives inside it. I did not expect to feel pity for Crusaders but I al...

In looking for the names of some of those circular Squares in Netanya (names that conjure up both biblical and modern personalities, all men so far), I discovered that Netanya is home to the Sanzer chasidim and the Laniado Hospital, a landmark our driver Nissim had pointe...

Across the street, the "Marrakesh Restaurant" sign glows red. In English. English is everywhere. This is not just in Netanya, it is in the airport and what we saw of commercial Tel Aviv as we passed by. Brand names are written in English and so are store names. Netanya i...

This. [Click the title of the post, above, if you don't see the photographs]

I'm in Netanya, Israel. On the 5th floor of a hotel across the street from the ocean. With a balcony. I love balconies. [photo] The ocean is always west. (Significant to those of us who, growing up in Chicago, guided ourselves by the lake, always east.). But this balc...