Akiva Gersh, at The Blogs

Jul 29, 2024, 7:34 AM

October 7th and the 9th of Av Right now we're in the period known as the "Three Weeks" in the Jewish calendar. A time of mourning over many tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, mainly the destruction of Jerusalem and...

May 20, 2024, 4:28 PM

A hug for Shani

I want to share with you a very powerful experience I had the other day at Shani Louk's funeral. To remind you, Shani was 22 years old when she was captured, raped and killed by Hamas at the Nova Festival...

May 16, 2024, 8:04 AM

My People

My people are being terrorized on the streets of the world. My people are hunting down terrorists in dark alleyways and tunnels. My people are taking down their mezuzot and hiding their Jewish stars. My people are rising up like a lion...

May 8, 2024, 9:41 PM

To be a Jew today

To be a Jew today means looking over your shoulder in places and at times you never thought you would have to. To be a Jew today means losing friends in real life and on social media after they expose...

Jan 24, 2024, 2:43 AM

The Angels of Nova

I went to the site of the Nova festival. I've been to Poland many times guiding groups to death camps and pulling up to the Nova site brought up that same feeling for me as pulling up to Auschwitz or...

Dec 15, 2023, 2:16 PM

The 8th day of Hanukkah and the 7th of October

Today, the 8th day of Hanukkah, is a spiritual fixing for October 7th. I know that might sound like a crazy thing to say, but allow me to explain. October 7th was Shemini Atzeret, a one-day holiday (in Israel) that comes...

Nov 21, 2023, 12:37 PM

At the funeral yesterday, I saw…

At the funeral yesterday, I saw... a woman who works at the register in the supermarket I shop in. the guy who I sat next to in synagogue this past Shabbat. my son's 7th grade teacher. the local Chabad rabbi. the kid I bought...

Oct 25, 2023, 4:10 AM

Omer Balva: A Hero Who Chose Life

When I used to work at the JNF-Alexander Muss High School in Israel program, teaching Jewish History and Modern Israel through lessons in the classroom and field trips around the country, our last site visit on the last day...

Jul 26, 2023, 6:39 PM

Still Trying to Learn How to Make Space for One Another

With the strong focus of Tisha B'Av being on the destruction of the First and Second Temples, it's easy to forget the spiritual source and original calamity that occured on Tisha B'Av: the Children of Israel's loss of faith...

Mar 25, 2023, 10:01 PM

In Israel, happiness is our secret weapon

A few days ago the results of the annual World Happiness index were published and Israel found itself recognized as the fourth happiest country in the entire world, its highest ranking since the index began in 2012. To be clear,...

About Me

Akiva Gersh moved to Israel from New York in 2004 and has been working in the field of Jewish and Israel Education for over 20 years. In 2020 he founded @Israel to share his love and passion for Israel with students, schools and communities around the world through his online classes, courses and virtual tours of Israel. Akiva is also the editor of the book "Becoming Israeli" (at-israel.com/book), a compilation of essays that gives an inside look at the unique experience of making aliyah and the journey of acclimating to life in Israel. He also created a social media platform called "Vegan Rabbi" through which he teaches about Jewish teachings related to health, animal welfare and environmental stewardship. Akiva lives in Pardes Hanna with his wife Tamar and their four kids.

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