יוֹם כִּפּוּר - זִכְרוֹנוֹת יַלְדוּת
The Synagogue – בֵּית הַכְּנֶסֶת
When I grew up, my next-door neighbor was the Central Synagogue of Mount Carmel (בֵּית הַכְּנֶסֶת הַמֶּרְכָּזִי בְּהַר הַכַּרְמֶל).  It gave a special atmosphere of holiness and respect, especially during Shabat and the Holidays. Although I grew up in a secular home, my mother used to bless [...]

Shalom Kita Alef!
שָׁלוֹם כִּתָּה אָלֶף!
September 1st was the first day of school. Almost 1.5 million students in Israel concluded their two-month summer vacation, loaded their backpacks and headed to elementary, middle, and high school. 135,000 students experienced their first day of school, wearing little badges with the words: שָׁלוֹם כִּתָּה א’ (shalom kita alef, [...]

When I was a child, we used to live in a house (Bayit, בית) that my grandparents built on top of Mount Carmel (har hakarmel, הַר הַכַּרְמֶל) in Haifa. They built the house in the 1930s, when the area was pretty wild and people were encouraged to build there.
My mother was born there and lived [...]