Time Flies- My first 6 months in Israel

Sherri at her daughter Daisy's Bat Mitzvah

Time flies…
    when you are having fun
    when you fill your days with study and text
    when you are traveling and engaged in new adventures
    when you are learning a new language
    creating a new identity and life

Time even flies…
    when you are bored
    when you are stuck in a rut
    when you feel frozen

Time seems to come to a standstill…
    when you are sitting in a hospice room, saying goodbye to your
    best friend/cousin who is like your one of your sisters

Today is my birthday
    last year I woke up in Tucson, Arizona visiting Max
Today I wake up
    in my new apartment in Jerusalem, about to go to school
Next year…
    who knows

Years fly by…
    First I’m 5 years old, then 10, 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85, 95,         120…

Minutes, hours, days, years fly by in a blink of an eye…
    So make the most of the time you are given
        collect memories
            smile, laugh, hug, engage with lifecry and scream, lay in bed when you need to 
then get up, dust yourself off and start over again

    Time flies by...
            In a blink of an eye

This poem is written in memory of my beautiful cousin Sherri Takiff Zirlin.
She died on December 31, 2018, a month before her 50th birthday.

In honor of her life and mine…
I hope you will smile at someone you don’t know.
Hug up your people.
Call your family.
Tell the people you love- how much you love them.
Love yourself.
And just smile.

February 24, 2019

Collecting Memories

PS what I've been doing since my last blog post in October

Learning Biblical Hebrew grammar

Thanksgiving 2018, Chicago with over 40 family members

8th Night of Hanukah Dec 2018 back in Jerusalem

I finally have dual citizenship! Dream come true!

Got to see Uncle Jack on my visit to Chicago January 2019

Tu B'shvat Seder in the Jerusalem Hills January 2019

Now I'm really an Israeli- everyone wears these shoes :-)

Studying Torah, I can read out loud and translate! Chanting is next years goal.

My first sporting event in Israel, cool basketball game. We lost but had fun.

Women of the Rail! Havdallah on the רַכֶּבֶת

Eclipse over Jerusalem- super cool! Thanks, Ari

Beautiful flowers on the hill where I watched the eclipse with friends

My Dad's yahrzeit January 18

My Mom yahrzeit January 31

 Amazing day of hiking to see the red kalaniyot flowers

I love this photo of me.
Wearing my Mandela spirituality shirt
(I am safe, I am loved, I am where I am supposed to be) at the same time wearing tefillin in a sea of red flowers.  I am in heaven. I embody polarities!
First time laying tefillin.  

Dear ones, 
I think overall that catches you up a bit. I have 2 more blog posts ready to send later this week. My trip to Turkey in Jan, a talk I gave at Pardes.
With so much love/אהבתי and gratitude,
Tamy