How I'm Staying Connected to Israel Right Now
Election campaign videos, art, film, Hebrew, and Rosh Chodesh
Hebrew Word of the Week:
I asked ChatGPT to give me a Hebrew word of the day. It gave me hitlabtut (תלבטות), which means indecision or being torn between two options. Apparently Chat knows me too well.
Hi friends,
I’ve been feeling nostalgic lately.
As I said in a recent Drop, one year ago I was in Tel Aviv during the 12-Day War.
Actually, my journey looked more like:
Tel Aviv ➡️ an army base in the Negev ➡️ Tel Aviv (when the war started) ➡️ Ariel ➡️ back to Tel Aviv ➡️ a kibbutz in the Negev ➡️ Tel Aviv ➡️ Athens ➡️ Home!
Why do I feel nostalgic for a time when I was running to bomb shelters and schlepping all over the country?
Because I miss what it represents.
I miss volunteering on an IDF base just before the war started. I miss the friends I made there, and sipping cocktails on the beach with them waiting for Iran to retaliate.
I miss practicing Hebrew in an environment where everyone speaks it.
While I don’t miss getting up 3-4 times in the middle of the night to go to bomb shelters, I miss practicing resilience. And being surrounded by people who just get it. The “it” being the fight Israel’s up against and what’s at stake if it loses.
One year later, I miss my friends I met there (though I’m working on a friend’s play about 10/7 that starts in NYC TONIGHT! Get tickets here.)
I yearn to be back. I got accepted to a trip for content creators, but it fell through.
When friends tell me they’re going there for the summer, my soul cracks with envy.
All of this is to say I am missing Israel. Until I can go again, here are some things I've been doing to stay connected, and to bring a little bit of Israel into my everyday life.
Learning About Israeli Politics
The next Israeli election is October 27th (the same day the next A Court of Thorns and Roses book comes out… big day!).
Israeli elections in brief: Citizens vote for political parties rather than individual candidates, and each party receives a number of seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, based on its share of the national vote. There are 120 seats. The leader of the largest party becomes prime minister. This means Israeli governments are typically made up of multiple parties that must negotiate and compromise to pass laws and stay in power.
My colleague held a lunch and learn to teach Israeli politics through campaign videos.
So you could imagine how petty and entertaining they were, or just downright odd, like this 2019 video from the New Right featuring Ayelet Shaked responding to criticism of her policies being fascist in a perfume ad. Tongue-in-cheek or anti-feminist? You decide.
Anything but Bibi
So far, for this upcoming election, there’s a couple of videos out. One is Likud’s, Netanyahu’s party.
It’s a bizarre video of a family sitting around their Shabbat table, and the son “comes out” as a Bibi supporter, or a Bibist. Chaos ensues.
The father: “How is that possible? You work in hi-tech!”
The mother nosedives into her cake. You should just see the meshugas for yourself:
The point of the video is to deflect and play victim, to send a message to the real Bibists: “We know you face discrimination for your political beliefs. We see you. We hear you.” (I’m not supporting him in any way by sharing this video, by the way.)
Likud seems confident they’ll win if this is what their election video focuses on. Not on issues or policies, but on identity politics.
Yashar 2026
The other 2026 election video came as a stark response to Likud’s, and it’s by the relatively new Yashar party, led by former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot.
This video also features a family sitting around the Shabbat table, having the exact same conversation. The only difference? You can’t see the actors; you can only hear their voices as they speak in a kitchen riddled with bullet holes and destroyed property.
The end text reads: Search on Google. October 7th.
The underlying message: Bibi is to blame for security failure on October 7th.
It’s short and powerful. They have my vote! Not that it counts for anything.
Learning about Yaacov Agam
This week, I read the news that a renowned Israeli artist died.
Yaacov Agam was born in Rishon Lezion in 1928 and became one of the founders of the kinetic art movement, which experiments with movement and light.
I learned he created the colorful, modern fountain sculpture in Dizengoff Square!
In 2026, he received the Israel Prize for Visual Arts. Read more about his life here.
Watching Israeli Film
Another way I’m getting my Israel culture fix is by watching Israeli movies!
I saw two films at the Israel Film Center Festival at the JCC. I liked one much more than other so I’ll just talk about that.
It was called The Big League, starring Israel Attias, who plays Meir in my favorite Israeli show, Shababnikim!
This movie is like the Israeli Ted Lasso, and by that I mean it features a guy who is forced to coach a ragtag soccer team full of misfit teens.
It’s cute, it’s laugh-out-loud funny, and its cast and crew are made up of both Israelis and Palestinians. Despite this, the film was boycotted from showing in European film festivals.
If a charming soccer movie can’t bring about peace, what will?
Learning Hebrew through Israeli videos
I’ve been watching videos on the YouTube channel, Piece of Hebrew, by a cute Israeli couple named Doron & Elsa!
They make videos on everything from Elsa’s morning routine and exploring the Golan, to an Israeli celebrity guessing game between the two of them.
Living the Jewish Calendar
I attended my first Rosh Chodesh circle in YEARS to welcome Tammuz with some girlfriends.
There was fresh pasta salad, homemade chocolate challah, and a guided meditation on our personal sieges. Which brings me to a Shabbat prompt for YOU:
✍️ Shabbat Prompt
What are you protecting right now?
In addition, I’ve been eating at a lot of Israeli restaurants (just dined at Malka for the first time, wow that schnitzel). I’ve also been hearing about friends’ recent trips there. I’ll be back someday.
Shabbat Shalom. Stay passionate,
💦 If you like feeling connected, check out these Drops:
Like Covid, but with Missiles
After three weeks in Israel, I am finally home safe and sound. This was not the Drop I imagined writing when I first set off for Israel, but it turned out to be far more meaningful than I could have expected.
How I'm Finding Joy This Adar
On chasing the highs of Jewish joy, from Torah study and hosting a Shabbat meal, to Israeli music!