Elophint in the Room |
Thursday, March 28, 2024 |
Sunday morning. My wife and I have guests sitting with us at church: four-year-old Emma and seven-year-old Ava. Both are busy drawing. With a few magical strokes of her pencil, Ava transforms a blue prayer card into a canvas featuring a decidedly happy elephant. On the reverse side of the card, Ava prints her name and identifies the subject of her sketch: “Elofint.” How can you not smile? Young children are notorious for spelling words phonetically or looking a[...] |
What Hapened at the Kibbutz |
Thursday, March 21, 2024 |
As we step into the blackness of the torched home, my feet crunch over tiny bits of brokenness: broken furniture, broken roof tiles, broken glass. Wires and duct work dangle from the ceiling, while the melted blades of a ceiling fan droop like a sad version of Bugs Bunny. We are in Kibbutz Be'eri, one of twenty or so little communities attacked by the 3,000 Hamas terrorists who besieged Israel on October 7. Omri Kedem was here when the gunmen[...] |
Naama's Story |
Thursday, March 14, 2024 |
We are seated in comfortable chairs in a comfortable conference room. But I have rarely been less comfortable. Seated next to me at Jerusalem's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is Dr. Ayelet Levi-Shachar, a woman we have come to interview. She is the mother of a vivacious 19-year-old daughter (a triathlete, no less) named Naama. On October 6, Naama traveled from home to a Kibbutz in southern Israel, where she spent the night. Early Saturday morning that kibbutz was attacked[...] |
Jon Gauger |
Thursday Thought |
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