Author Archives: Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

Whoever divided this and last week’s Torah portion must be the spiritual great, great grandparent of modern day suspense movies. Last week, we left the Children of Israel in the middle of a turmoil. After Bil’am’s failure to curse the … Continue reading →

A whole nation held her breath for 18 days, hopeful. “To be a realist in Israel, one must believe in miracles”, said Israel’s first primeminister David Ben Gurion, and this is how we grow up, this is what we teach: … Continue reading →

The midrash tells us that the first human spent his time giving names to the animals. In Hebrew, of course, and he had fun playing with the letters and roots to convey their core essence. Take for example the dog, … Continue reading →

Three kids were on route home a week ago and since then we’re holding our breath. There is nothing to say, but pray. May we hear good news soon. * * * * * * * This week I had … Continue reading →

Long ago and far away, people used to tie a knot in their handkerchief to make sure they didn’t forget something important. Today, while tying a “Kleenex” is pretty much impossible, there is a website called “KnottedHandkerchief” that sends reminder … Continue reading →

Water fights to celebrate Shavuot? Yes, that’s what was done in some North African communities; true, summer has arrived and it was fun to cool off, but why then, davka on Shavuot? More serious commentators and historians explain that it … Continue reading →

A few years ago when I was working on the annual ceremony for Yom Hazikaron, in my usual zeal and enthusiasm, I invited, begged and twisted every arm around me to attend. For the Israelis among us Yom Hazikaron, the … Continue reading →

As far as I can remember, I’ve had one association with the 14th of Iyar: It’s the day my father, Aharon Kohane z”l, passed away. He was only 48 years old and died from ALS, a horrible debilitating disease. As … Continue reading →