About

Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, I have been living and writing in Israel since 1967.    In 2020 I was chosen to become the Chair for Co-Housing Israel – CHI.

I’ve earned the following degrees, in chronological order:  Bachelor of Arts (with honors) in American Culture  from the University of Michigan; Bachelor of Social Work from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem; Certificate in Psychotherapy from the Israel Institute of Psychoanalysis in Jerusalem; Master of Fine Arts in creative nonfiction from Goucher College in Maryland;  Master of Arts in English (fiction) from Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

Over my years in Israel I’ve worked for Teddy Kollek, the former mayor of Jerusalem, treated soldiers with shell shock after the Yom Kippur War, translated poetry from Hebrew to English, helped establish Kol Haneshama, a Reform synagogue in Jerusalem, guided tourists down cisterns,  organized events for hundreds at threshing floors and life-cycle celebrations for families in caves — all at Neot Kedumim, the Biblical Landscape Reserve in Israel. I’ve stomped on grapes with a Benedictine monk, survived several wars, two intifadas and multiple terrorist attacks, mothered three Sabras, grand-mothered five, grown organic broccoli, starred in The Sisters Rosenzweig, written a personal essay column for The Jerusalem Post, mentored incredible people, discovered my love of teaching, and celebrated my bat-mitzvah at 65, after which I became a rapper (short-lived) and a Torah reader (also short-lived.)

Between 2007 and 2012, I  served as  Coordinator of the Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Bar-Ilan University.

I completed a memoir, Our Names Do Not Appear, in June 2015, moved to Tel Aviv and learned hair styling at Tomer v’Sheli.  Now I can cut your hair, as well as your texts.