As I sit down to write this on April 6, 2026, Easter Sunday was only yesterday, April 5, and Passover is still in progress, with its last days extending until dusk on April 9. Our home’s table features the well-known symbols: colorful eggs, matzah, bitter herbs, and a plain candle for contemplation. Despite the distant sound of sirens, friends still congregate in Israel. I have not observed a single religious holiday for the past 24 years, from 2002 to 2026, without the threat of war hanging over it.

Conflicts in the area this year have once again made travel difficult, increased anxiety, and required us to modify our customs. But here we are, my wife, our kids, and me, choosing happiness in the little, holy deeds that have kept us going through every crisis since I was a student in the early 2000s. These holidays are now more than just customs for me as a husband, father, and university lecturer. They are classrooms of the soul. What have I learned? And what can I pass on?

The Long Shadow: A Personal Timeline

In 2002, I was a young student juggling exams and the anxiety of the Second Intifada. Passover with friends that year felt muted; we rushed through the Seder as news updates crackled from the radio in Haifa and television in small-town Wisconsin. Easter services were held under tight security. Fast-forward through multiple rounds of regional violence, and the pattern repeated: 2006, 2008-2009, 2012, 2014, 2021, 2023-2024, and now 2026. Each spring, as flowers bloomed and these holidays arrived, the familiar weight returned: the closed borders, the postponed visits, and the quiet prayers for those in uniform or in shelters.

In the middle of it all, I turned into a lecturer, teaching Zoom classes........

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