My Hebrew is excellent. My mother is Israeli.

You can email me at overthebluerainbow at gmail dot com or call me at 02 586 5093. I'd love to hear them. Mindy

Gemma, that story with the man who is here to pray for Isrel was touching, and your story with the woman droll. I find it so amazing to discover that people whom we'd think are totally unconnected have theri things here and there which they do. ie, our security guard in Touro Ave J, whose (maternal, I think) grandmother was Ethipian and who almost certainly is not halachically Jewish, wears around his neck several golden necklaces with Jewish themes on them that his grandmohther gave him when he was six that he has not removed since. Additionally, he fasts every Shabbos and Yom Tov!

Thank you for the insight and it is undoubtedly true that Israel in one of the best places to really open up your eyes and learn tolaerance, acceptance, and Ahavas Yisrael.

I totally hear what you're saying. Israel is amazing in that way. I often wonder what significance Israel has in terms of the broad Jewish historical perspective, and when I have the chance woud love to take a class examing the issue through Jewish sources and history comprehensively, but for now although I feel I know little about the implications of our presence here, I do know that we are part of something so much bigger than ourselvesm and that we are incredibly, incredibly, fortunate to be here and to have our own land.

Thanks for the roundup. Looking foward to reading them and also to adding tzipiyah to my regular reading list. :) Mindy

Um. Hi, Zemer. It's Mindy. I commented about- well, two weeks ago, and I wanted to reply to your reply. Huge apologies for waiting so long, but now I come back and see it's gone. Is it due to the new site?