The American Consulate in East Jerusalem

Recently I had to go to the American consulate to get a social security number for my 13-year-old son. Though he was born in America, I neglected to attend to this detail before we made aliyah 12 years ago.

Earlier this summer, my husband took him to the consulate with the requisite documents (passport, birth certificate) but they were not sufficient. We had to document our son's residence in Israel. They asked us to bring his report cards from first through seventh grade.

Now, luckily I had a bunch of his report cards (you never know what you are going to need in this country's bureaucracy.) Most of them were his self-assessments. He went to a school where the kids didn't receive grades for the first 3 years. Instead they wrote their own self-evaluations.

Read the rest of this post   |  Comments (18)

Prisoners released

I am sorry that they have not caught my son Koby's murderers. But not that sorry. I am afraid that the killers will hurt other Jews if they are not apprehended. But at the same time, I fear that if they catch the murderers, then one day the Israeli government will choose to release them. Then the killers will be celebrated. They will have a square named after them. They will be released to a ticker tape parade. They will be called liberators or militants or war heroes. While my son lies in the ground, the killers will have posters of their likenesses plastered on buildings, garlands of flowers thrown at them.

My fears are not unfounded. Last week in order to strengthen Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas, 198 Palestinian terrorists were released, among them 2 murderers with blood on their hands, one who killed Yehoshua Saloma, a Danish immigrant in 1980, point blank in the market in Hebron; another killed Tzila Galili in 1977. 

That's why I'm relieved that Koby and Yosef's murderers haven't been apprehended. The 13 and 14 year old boys were murdered 7 years ago near our home in Tekoa, trapped in a cave by terrorists and stoned to death.

Read the rest of this post   |  Comments (7)

Koby wins again

This year for the first time since my son Koby Mandell was murdered 7 years ago by terrorists in Israel I was away from home for Yom HaZikaron, Israel Remembrance Day.

I had been invited to speak at a large Toronto gathering organized by the Westmount Learning Center.

The event was the culmination of a special Jewish learning program called 60 days for 60 years: Israel. An organization called the Tribe in Great Britain in partnership with Chief Rabbi Jonathan Saks produced a book with 60 essays on Israel by 60 famous and not so famous Jews from Israel, North American and Great Britain. Each day for 60 days thousands of participants read one essay in commemoration of the approximately 23,000 lives that have been lost in Israel due to war or terror.

Read the rest of this post   |  Comments (4)

Back to the Future?

Last month during Passover vacation my almost 19-year-old son spent five days hiking through Jordan. He and six friends took taxis, slept outside, climbed through wadis, waded through rivers, and generally had the kind of adventure I would have liked to have had when I was his age.

When it was time to come home from their Jordanian adventure my son and his friends caught a taxi back to the Israeli border. The driver asked the kids where they were from. 

"Israel" they answered "Where are you from?"

"I'm from Jaffa," the driver answered.

Read the rest of this post   |  Comments (4)

Sderot Women

The Koby Mandell Foundation recently ran a day of healing in Jerusalem for 18 Sderot women referred to us by the Department of Social Services. The day consisted of art therapy, hydrotherapy, massage, dance, meals, and manicures as well as gifts for the women - shawls and skin cream. Most of the women had never before had a massage. And boy did they need one.

We brought the women to Jerusalem because we wanted to give them a respite from the daily anxiety and worry. Imagine that any hour a bomb could fall on your house. How relaxed would your life be?

Read the rest of this post   |  Comments (2)

Danny Katz

Don't look at the photo of Danny Katz in the newspapers. He is so cute with his sweet face and his bangs that your heart will break. Danny Katz was 14 years old when he was murdered in 1983 by terrorists, in a cave near the Israeli Arab village of Sakhnin. He lived in Haifa and went to visit a friend and never returned home. The story is similar to my son Koby's murder. A boy with his whole life in front of him. But there is a difference. Koby's killers haven't been found. But Danny Katz's killers were. They were sentenced to life imprisonment plus 27 years and put in jail. The high court then reduced the sentence to 35-40 years. The killers' lawyer claims that their confession was coerced.

Passover

Did you clean your cabinets?

Weed your cds?

Have you purged your bathroom?

lint brushed your tweeds?

Not bearing the details

I am at the sulfur baths at a hotel at the Dead Sea with my husband. We are trying to relax. It's been a very difficult couples of weeks.-- the terrorist attack at Mercaz ha Rav Yeshiva and a beautiful young child - Hilleli - in our community who is hovering between death and life from an accident at the nursery school where she was choked by a curtain.

We have one night to relax, unwind. I used to be very good at going on vacation. I could chill out in a minute. But now, ever since my son's murder by terrorists six years ago, I find it hard to unwind. Working helps me because I don't have space for my mind to wander. Empty time fills me with the chill stark terror of what we've lived through - losing our 13 year old son, Koby, an 8th grader when he went hiking instead of going to school. Instead terrorists beat him and his friend Yosef Ish Ran to death

Read the rest of this post   |  Comments (2)

Throwing Candy

The Palestinians threw candy when they heard that 8 yeshiva students were murdered at Mercaz ha Rav; the mother of the terrorist rejoiced that her son was a suicide bomber. The aunt and uncle in Jordan erected a mourning tent, inordinately proud of their nephew, the hero, who cold-bloodedly targeted Jewish teenagers and a young man in the sight of his rifle.

Among some Palestinian people, there exists a murderous lack of respect not only for the lives of Israelis, but also for their own children. This depravity, this lack of decency should not be condoned in any way. But it is. Too many newspapers and news services, including the AP do, referring to the terrorist as a "militant."

We can hope that eventually people will recognize evil - it's not only that there are  Palestinians killers but also too many in their society rejoice when they kill innocent Israeli children. New York Times, put this in your cycle of violence-- find me a Jewish family that is throwing a party when innocent Palestinian children are inadvertently killed because the Israeli army attacks those in Gaza who shoot Kassam (named after an Arab fighter in the 1930s) rockets into our cities. Find me a Jewish family that celebrates death.

Tiki Barber, Koby and me

Last Tuesday evening as The Koby Mandell Humanitarian Award dinner was reaching its finale Master of Ceremonies Ben Brafman called out. "And now I would like to introduce Seth Mandell and Tiki Barber!"  Applause.

I walked to the podium and looked out over the crowd. Close to 400 friends and supporters of Camp Koby and our other healing programs for those who have lost immediate family members to terror in Israel were sitting in the audience.  

Frankly, all I could think about was how it came to pass that I was standing up there with one of the premiere sports figures of the generation. "Wow", I said to the assembly, "Tiki Barber and Seth Mandell, Seth Mandell and Tiki Barber in the same breath. There's no way this would have happened without Koby."

Tiki Barber to whom I was about to present the Koby Mandell Humanitarian Award is the most successful running back in the history of the New York Giants football team.  After retiring from football last year he is currently a regular on the Today Show, the most popular morning TV show on television.

Read the rest of this post   |  Comments (1)