Meena Meitsar

Into the Abyss

Many people have spent the last six months wondering if they would get Covid. I was not one of them. I never thought I would get it. I was wrong. For the last few weeks, our family has been watching Israel’s Covid nightmare spiral out of control. From a Covid perspective, the country seems toContinue reading “Into the Abyss”

Israel’s Approach to Opening Schools: Daring Solution or Tragic Mistake?

____________ I ended my last blog post with the expression “only in Israel.” This is a sentiment that newcomers to Israel, from participants on teen tours to retirees, have often. Sometimes it refers to the surprising sweetness of tomatoes, mangoes, and other locally grown produce. Sometimes it refers to the kismet-on-steriods way that fate intervenesContinue reading “Israel’s Approach to Opening Schools: Daring Solution or Tragic Mistake?”

Out and About

Upon release from Bidud captivity, our first destination was clearly going to be Raanana, where my sister lives. Now this trip normally would be easy–we would just get in the car and go. Except we don’t quite yet have a car. During Bidud, we’d done great work at finding a family-appropriate car. My husband, underContinue reading “Out and About”

Reflections on Reentry

Day 13 of Bidud (quarantine). To those of you who are hotly following my rocky (re)immersion back into Israeli life, I’d like to pick up a few things from comments on yesterday’s post. First of all, one friend emailed me to say that my allusion to my writing teacher had inspired her to take aContinue reading “Reflections on Reentry”

The Valley of Suck

Jet lag recedes. Our exit from the purgatory of bidud (quarantine) approaches (we are now on day 12 of 14). While I can’t wait to go outside, visit friends, and buy a cup of coffee for myself, I feel myself descending (again) into what my writing teacher called “the Valley of Suck”. Just as theContinue reading “The Valley of Suck”

Bidud (Quarantine) Blues

Day 9 of bidud. First day of Elul. I feel totally worn out from 9 days of solo parenting (K comes next week) five kids all the time, with no exits from the house because of our two week mandatory quarantine.In addition to handling the endless stream of kid requests, cooking, cleaning and laundry, andContinue reading “Bidud (Quarantine) Blues”

From Berkeley to Jerusalem

With bittersweet emotions, we pulled away from Berkeley on Wednesday afternoon at around 3:45 pm. Raanan, Daniel and Aaron Schweig had biked over to witness our departure, and Frayda and Rabbi Cohen sped back from their vacation to wave goodbye to our caravan of two minivans. Not surprisingly, SFO was largely deserted, no lines anywhere,Continue reading “From Berkeley to Jerusalem”