Safra Turner

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Nov 22, 2012, 3:34 PM

The reservist’s wife, or, Hell on the home front.

I am raw. Spent. I don’t even have the energy to go to sleep. That means thinking. People have been telling me to write all week. But I couldn't. I was too afraid for the security of our men...

Oct 26, 2012, 4:30 PM

Shakin’ the elections

Likud Beytenu. We have now had a night to sleep on it. The news, just as those of the Likud-Kadima coalition 6 months earlier, threw me for a loop. After initial shock and annoyance about once again being hoodwinked by our leaders, I thought...

Oct 21, 2012, 6:14 PM

Woman, shut your mouth!

So there you have it. Anat Hoffman was arrested for singing the Shema at the Kotel. It only makes sense. Anat is outspoken, she heads IRAC, lobbies Knesset and strongly supports pluralism in Israel. Of course this woman would be arrested. She was breaking the law of silence…the woman sang....

Sep 3, 2012, 11:03 AM

When it comes to our future, stingy is not sexy

Most of you don't even know about the victims of the budget cuts for Student Authority funding. No reason that you should either. JAFI Chairman Natan Sharansky publicly promised that no students would be adversely affected by the total...

Jul 29, 2012, 3:32 PM

Mandatory IDF Conscription from a Hiloni Perspective

* To read another side of the issue, please read my colleague Varda Epstein's Mandatory IDF Conscription from a Haredi Perspective. Immediately before moving back to Israel in 2004, I sat with a Haredi friend over a cup of coffee and...

Jul 26, 2012, 7:40 PM

Fighting fire with fire

Those who know me know I am serious. In the past year alone, the Israeli government has taken two full (plus) months of our income as "taxes" in two separate charges. This was in addition to the high monthly taxes...

Jul 12, 2012, 6:37 PM

Olim-by-choice suck

I met a friend last week. If I hadn't known him better, I would have been offended by what he had to say about olim-by-choice. Then he stroked my ego, and informed me that I was the exception to...

Jul 6, 2012, 2:32 PM

Wives of IDF reservists are also friarot (suckers)…

In our home, serving in miluim (reserve duty) does not entail a question mark. It is what needs to be done to ensure that our country has the reserves necessary to defend itself in times of war. My husband...

Jul 4, 2012, 9:27 PM

What a load of… fluff

Let's talk fluff. It's all anybody reads these days. As a fellow blogger made clear to me, many of the important issues that are discussed in the Times of Israel blogs are overshadowed by fluff. Blogs that should be highly...

Jul 1, 2012, 11:43 AM

Aborting Israel’s future, before it has the chance to grow…

The Jewish Agency announced its pullout, in the amount of $4,000,000 per annum for the higher education benefits of olim, and the disastrous consequences of this for the Student Authority, who doles the scholarships to student olim. At first...

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About Me

Safra made aliya in 1997, and has been involved in the Jewish world both professionally and voluntarily throughout her life. She currently resides near Haifa and owns a small translation business. Safra is married and has one son.