Miklat (Hebrew: מקלט): A reinforced public bomb shelter, usually underground, intended to protect civilians from rocket and missile fire. Derived from a biblical translation meaning “shelter.”   In a week of war, my neighbors have quickly become characters in a story that none of us wanted. Here, I present to you a photo essay detailing the people of my building, who have gathered in our miklat under our building alert after alert, throughout any and every hour of the day thi

This morning, I attended a topical and fascinating Zoom lecture about Iran’s geopolitical strategy and the shifting balance of power in the Middle East. The lecturer was Ido Freund, an expert in the Arabic language, a Middle East intelligence analyst, and a trust & safety strategist. He has an extensive background as a researcher of the Middle East and Islam. I took a ton of notes during the talk. The following is a paraphrased summary of the main ideas that were discussed. I

A collection of Israeli newspapers in a box of Purim accessories. The front page headline translates to, "Iran is the most disturbing arena right now." There’s been a tension boiling in the air since January. It seemed so likely that we would go to war then. At the time, I was dog-sitting for a week in a home without a bomb shelter. (Whereas this is normal in the rest of the world, it is not normal here.) I’d had a talking-to with Beauty, the aptly-named husky I was dog-sitti