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Rivka Atara Holzer

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Apr 14, 2026, 4:15 PM

My Poland trip, revisited

When I was 17, a mere seven years ago that feel like a lifetime, I joined my school’s heritage trip to Poland. I spent hours in the weeks leading up to the flight trying to get my grandfather’s blessing....

Oct 7, 2024, 9:04 PM

For this, the world was created

Only a few days ago, we celebrated the Jewish new year, the creation of the world. Today, with sirens still blaring across the country, we grieve over a thousand worlds we lost, and the world we thought we knew...

Dec 23, 2022, 3:37 PM

Dispelling Darkness

As the clouds begin to converge on the sun and the human reality freezes over, the trees stripped of their familiar colors in the backdrop to the dramatic downpours of the heavens, we welcome this recurring darkness with a...

May 11, 2022, 7:25 AM

Tragedy and Triumph

Cholent has long been one of my favorite foods: the texture, the flavors, the savory aroma, the nostalgic hints of childhood Shabboses, and the more meat and barley, the better. Due to its manner of preparation making it halachically...

Feb 6, 2022, 1:00 PM

Moving out of the melting pot

“Forty-five minutes,” my commander informed me in Hebrew, gesturing that I should begin. Fumbling through my bag and my words, I handed out to each of the dozen or so candidates for officers’ course in my group the slips...

Jan 30, 2022, 12:10 AM

To be or not to be… an officer

That moment, those twenty minutes sitting in a stiff uniform under a beating sun with my hesitant dreams packed messily in bags, my head still half in the clouds and unsure whether I’d find my world intact when I...

Jul 23, 2021, 4:47 PM

Devastation and Devotion

Three weeks of sobriety, nine days of mourning, all culminating in a day scorched by the agony of hundreds of generations of tears, dedicated to fasting, prayer, and painful memories. Six days later, Tu b’Av, a national day of...

Jun 6, 2021, 2:20 PM

Nothing New Under the Sun

“Antisemitism is on the rise”, shout Jewish activists, hoping for someone to pay attention. While Israelis perpetually acknowledge and prepare for the inevitability of the next war, many optimistic Jews abroad plead to those who rule over them for...

May 14, 2021, 6:54 PM

If only you knew

...but God willing you never should have to. Hi S (not her real name), I’ve seen a few of your public posts about my country that have gained a considerable amount of traction. Firstly, I hope you’re doing okay. Secondly, I...

Feb 1, 2021, 4:01 PM

Confronting Comfort Zones

The farther I’ve stepped from what I’ve considered to be my comfort zone, the more I’ve started to look for familiarity. With all the spontaneity that corona now demands, and the unpredictability of the army, stability is hard to...

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About Me

Rivka Atara Holzer made Aliyah from Miami Beach in 2015. She studied in Midreshet Lindenbaum, served in the IDF and is currently studying Law & Government at Reichman University.