Shelley Kleiman Trachtenberg, at The Blogs

Shelley Kleiman Trachtenberg

Dec 31, 2023, 1:49 PM

They don't wear IDF-issued uniforms. They wear sweats, spattered with cottage cheese, pasta sauce and magic marker stains. They don't carry rifles. They carry knapsacks with sandwiches, bags of groceries, and toddlers, who refuse to walk to nursery school, hanging...

Oct 22, 2023, 2:29 PM

Letter from the Home Front

What follows is an edited version of a letter I sent to colleagues at a large US-based tour company that I have been associated with since 2009. I have omitted the company’s name for privacy considerations. Hello, my friends: While I...

Oct 2, 2020, 8:04 AM

Ushpizin in the Time of Corona

When my husband and I sat down -- just the two of us -- at our Passover Seder half a year ago, there is no way we imagined we would be sitting alone in our sukkah. At the time,...

Jun 21, 2020, 8:10 PM

Old City Revisited

I had not ventured into the Old City of Jerusalem since my last group of tourists left the country close to four months ago. It seems like a lifetime. Last week I decided to visit my professional playground. Alone....

Jun 5, 2020, 1:08 PM

Ode to New York

It was the city where I was born; the city where I was raised. It was the city where I took my first steps, rode my first bike, learned to skate and went on my first date. It was the city...

About Me

Born and bred in New York , I made Israel my home over 40 years ago. Graduate of CCNY (BA) and Harvard University (MA) in English and American Literature, I am a (lapsed) freelance writer and former English teacher and am currently a licensed Israel tour guide and educator at Yad Vashem and Jewish Heritage sites in Poland.