Haviva Ner-David's Blog, page 2

We cannot let this continue!

I was at a devastating mourning tent in the Arab town of Shefa-Amer (in Arabic, Shefaram in Hebrew). Johara Khnefess, the 28-year-old daughter of the deputy mayor and social activist Faraj Khnefess, was murdered this past Monday evening. Her car was blown up at the...

Remembering Arie Strikovsky z”l: 1st Orthodox rabbi to publicly ordain a woman – me!

Denominational politics didn't matter to him, but I distanced myself so my choices wouldn't be held against him, as he paved the way for other women's ordination

Nakba: When independence is catastrophe

With deep listening and inner work, we heard testimony, bore witness, and began the healing that will allow us to move toward peace. It was a sacred encounter

A Message from Frog this Passover Eve

While cleaning out my bathroom cabinet for Passover, I came across some old packages of menstrual pads. I had forgotten about them, as I have not needed them for several months; it seems I have “passed over” from perimenopause to menopause. I would be happy...

Dreamwork as a Spiritual Practice: Joseph’s Message

In this week’s Torah portion, Miketz, Pharaoh has a dream that disturbs him. He dreams of seven gaunt, ugly cows coming up behind seven handsome, sturdy cows and eating them. He wakes up. The next night, he has a variation on that dream. Seven thin,...

Torah commands both love and vengeance: In Israel, we live that contradiction

What if instead of trying to repeat history, we are meant to correct it? The Jews were sovereign on this land twice already, and it did not end well.

Torah commands both love and vengeance. What’s a Zionist to do?

What if instead of trying to repeat history, we are meant to correct it? The Jews were sovereign on this land twice already, and it did not end well.

Ruth and Naomi: models for our troubled times

This year, I am reading the Book of Ruth through a different lens that, I believe, can be a glimmer of hope on the Israeli horizon. As we go into Eid al-Fitr and Shavuot with missiles and bombs flying between Israel and Gaza and rioting...

A pop celeb walks into a mikveh…

When Israeli celebrity Alina Levy came to immerse at Shmaya: A Mikveh for Mind, Body and Soul a few weeks ago, before her wedding, she said that despite the rejection and harsh treatment she had received from the Israeli Chief Rabbinate when trying to convert...

Hope lies in stepping into the other’s shoes

It was a chance meeting in the valley that divides my Galilean Kibbutz Hannaton from the Bedouin village of Bir al Maksur, that planted the seed for the storyline of my debut novel, Hope Valley. I was out walking my dog when I saw Hussein,...