Az Nashir: Echoes of Eicha-
Reflections on the Unfolding of Redemption

My grandmother's blue Le Creuset pot is sitting in the drawer under the stovetop, along with the rest of my pots. I never use it. I don't touch it. Sometimes I think about moving it my office and putting it up on a bookshelf, just so that I can look at it. For some reason, I can't put it away. Its enamel is peeling, the iron is rusted over, and it is likely unsafe to cook in. It's too small, the perfect size for a serving of six for soup, not enough for many more I cook for t

I've been thinking a lot about what happens when Jews are rejected from Western society. There are countries like Australia, where Jews are hiding their Judaism in order to receive medical care because they fear sabotage or intentional injury. On American college campuses, students and professors can be doxxed simply for identifying as Zionists. There are cities in the Western world where wearing a kippah, a headscarf, a Magen David necklace, or tzitzit has become a calculati

I know far too much about ballistic missiles for someone who studied social work. I have accidentally become conversant in at least 7 subjects that I wish I knew nothing about. I miss the days when I had no opinion about uranium enrichment. Or how long it takes a missile to get to Israel from Yemen or Iran. I wish I could erase my entire COVID epidemiology vocabulary from my brain. My military strategy knowledge could have been better used for recipes. I think we all have deg

Iran is rocketing around the Middle East, and I'm standing in the supermarket, thumping on a watermelon to see if it's ripe. Iran is firing missiles at Kuwait, and Israelis are driving to work, listening to news and a cappella music on the radio. Iran is firing missiles at Saudi Arabia, and parents are packing towels and sunscreen and dragging their kids to the municipal pool to escape the July heat. They have homefront command alert sounds on a high volume just in case. Iran

I have been observing humanity. I have feedback. 1. Why can't people hold complexity anymore? Black-and-white thinking about any and all topics. This person did things I didn't like sometimes, even though they were good other times, and "I'm glad they are dead." Like, what is that? 2. Why are we giving attention and energy to influencers, "attention seekers" who don't deserve it? Someone does something you don't like. Someone does something evil. Don't platform them. Period.

Former hostages Sasha Troufanov and Sapir Cohen are finally married!!! The first thing I noticed when I watched the video of Sapir walking down the aisle was that Sasha walked on his own two feet, down to meet her. When I met him in December, and I interviewed him on stage at a conference about his story of capture, trauma, and recovery, Sasha was still injured from his time in Gaza. He walked with crutches. Now, he walked down the aisle unaided into the arms of his wife-to-b

Former hostage Alon Ohel performed with Five for Fighting's John Ondrasik on the USS Nimitz as part of a celebration of America's 250 years of Independence. There is a lot I could say about the image of a former Israeli hostage playing piano on one of the greatest military ships in the world. But to me, this moment transcends politics, popular culture, and even nationality. Alon, a gifted musician, was taken hostage in Gaza. There was an enormous effort made to bring him home

Today is our "aliyah-versary"- we have lived in Israel for 8 years now. This morning, my husband, Scott, and I went shopping for Shabbat. Family and friends will be joining us over Shabbat, and I am currently elbows deep in cooking for our guests. Here in our city you can get anything you could possibly need, and when you walk into the shopping center- the smell of Shabbat already welcomes you. The air is scented with freshly baked challah and caramelized onions. I followed m

I don't write stories about Israel because I think I'm going to change someone's mind. I know that most of the antisemites who come across my posts get a thrill out of telling me how wrong I am, how evil I am, how I am the poster child of hasbara- as if that's the vilest thing one could be. I'm mostly amused by the outrage at stories about my simple life. My existence and the way I experience the world must be a lie. According to antisemitic commenters, my life as I describe

The IDF got the Hamas terrorist who tortured Rom Bratslavski. Rom says, "This is the most emotional day of my life." He said, "I received a real phone call that shook my life and changed it from one end to the other. I am in tears and in a level of emotion that is hard for me to describe.” In his stories on Instagram, Rom posted a picture of the face of his captor, known as,"The Maryter Commander" and wrote, "Go to Hell." Rom said, that this was the man who said, "Tie Abu Sal