Varda Spiegel, at The Blogs

Jan 4, 2022, 3:52 PM

Because I'm from the generation that shows up, a generation that today would do almost anything for our kids and grandkids

Aug 12, 2021, 12:23 AM

Who called Dr. Elroi Price a ‘whore’s daughter’ in Knesset?

Disinfecting the Knesset ahead of the swearing in of MKs amid the coronavirus crisis, March 16, 2020 (Knesset spokeswoman)

A ZOOM participant in an August 9th meeting of the Knesset Constitution Committee meeting blurted out the offensive slur bat zona (daughter of a whore) during statements made by Dr. Sharon Elroi Price, head of Israel's Health Service's, regarding...

May 20, 2021, 3:57 PM

‘Mr. Security’ has robbed all Israelis of our security

The security I felt as a single woman when I moved to pre-Bibi Israel in 1978 was an absolute sea-change in my life. “Aren’t you afraid?” asked my friends and family in the US, openly astounded that I would...

Jan 13, 2021, 7:07 PM

Insurrection and Holocaust: How can you tell your kids this year?

Yad Vashem Security guard stands at the empty Hall of Names in the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem on April 19, 2020. In order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease, the Yad Vashem Museum will remain close this year on Holocaust Remembrance Day, but will switch its main activities on their website and social media. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90 *** Local Caption *** יום השואה
שואה
יד ושם
היכל השמות
קורונה
וירוס
ריק
הולך
מאבטח

As I write these words, Israel and many nations around the world are locked down, daily deaths from COVID-19 in the richest nation in the world surpass those on 9/11 and the FBI is warning that there may be...

Nov 19, 2020, 2:55 PM

Comparing coronavirus vaccines to the Holocaust

It seemed like such a preposterous notion that I did not want to go anywhere near this unseemly marriage of Holocaust and coronavirus deniers. But no one should remain silent when a German activist like Stefan Bauer compares coronavirus...

Sep 24, 2020, 2:56 PM

Featured Post

Who’s afraid of COVID-19 in Israel? (part 2)

Clalit healthcare workers test Israelis for the coronavirus at a drive-through mobile testing station, in Lod, on September17, 2020. (Yossi Aloni/FLASH90)

To the Under-the-Nose community: Wear your mask over your nose for your own sake! Your nose cells are an open invitation to the virus, and may explain our surging numbers

Aug 18, 2020, 4:15 PM

Featured Post

Trump just dog-whistled to Christians that Jews are ingrates

President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Wittman Airport, Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Oshkosh, Wis. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Forget the false claim he moved Israel’s 'capital' to Jerusalem, I worry when the US president suggests Jews aren't excited enough

Jun 25, 2020, 1:24 PM

Corona, bat mitzvah and the Israel-Diaspora divide

Illustrative: Three fragments from the Temple Scroll, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, is displayed at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in Beachwood, Ohio, March 28, 2006. (AP Photo/Jamie-Andrea Yanak, File)

When we returned to Israel after a two-year stint, we took my then-seven-year old daughter to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. As soon as we passed through the gates (on a Saturday!), we made for the iconic Shrine of...

Apr 20, 2020, 6:45 PM

Featured Post

Why I won’t watch the Holocaust remembrance ceremony this year

The prime minister who would deliver the central address still shares his official residence with a man who wants me dead

Feb 23, 2020, 2:23 PM

Featured Post

Who’s afraid of Corona in Israel?

An illustration of the coronavirus. (Twitter)

The virus doesn't worry me as much as the Ministry of Health's unprecedented measures that whip the public into a frenzy of panic

About Me

Varda Spiegel was Nurse-Director of the Bedouin Mobile Unit of the Negev, later serving as Maternal-Child Health Director for the Ministry of Health Jerusalem District. I am the author of Hershele and the Chicken Skates, was the English Web Content Manager for the Israel Museum and have translated from Hebrew to English for Haaretz and the ANU Museum of the Jewish People. I'm a grandmother, mother, and beachbum.