Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Passover - The Miracle of Jewish Continuity

 Passover, a Dry Bones cartoon from 2002

Wishing you a Chag Pessach Sameach, A Very Happy Passover to all!

Wishing you health and happiness, prosperity and peace.

Please consider donating to Dry Bones

And link for donating in US Dollars below

Much love and joyful New Year of 2026. Blessings to you and your families and loved ones.

Please donate to Dry Bones in order to help me, the LSW, to keep up the expenses of the Blog and the postings, and pay the rent. 

You can donate with this link. It works with your credit card or with PayPal.

  Donate to Dry Bones denominated in US dollars here  

 https://tinyurl.com/3xmbc4mp 


ALSO PLEASE NOTE:
TO DONATE $50 or MORE BY CHECK (and is U.S. Tax DEDUCTIBLE)
1. Write a check to “REPORT, Inc.”
2. Write a cover note stating that these funds are to be directed to Dry Bones Project. Mail the Check and the accompanying cover letter to:

REPORT, Inc.
PO Box 1670
Southampton, PA 18966, U.S.A. 



Monday, March 30, 2026

Pre-Pessah Cravings

 Here is a Dry Bones cartoon from 2004. Yaakov always kept to the tradition/rule of not eating matzah and other Passover food before the holiday. I was raised in a Reform household, so do not know how much of a real rule this is. But on the Passover before he passed away, and he was at a rehabilitation center, they converted everything over to Pessah food about a week before the holiday for ease. So, I am assuming that it is just a tradition. Suddenly all of the stores are filled with Passover products and it is all very tempting for someone like me, who really loves matzah. In a few days, here in Israel, all of the food stores will have many of their shelves covered and hidden with brown paper, or colored plastic cloth. They cover the non kosher for Passover products so that you cannot buy them. I think it is a useful, lovely and unique tradition. 

This year, I have signed up to go to a Chabad Seder in Raanana, a town nearby. It will probably be mostly lone soldiers. And even though I am not a soldier, I am lone too. I think it should be very interesting and fun.  I wish you all a very good holiday.


Wishing you a Chag Pessach Sameach, A Very Happy Passover to all!

Wishing you health and happiness, prosperity and peace.

Please consider donating to Dry Bones

And link for donating in US Dollars below

Much love and joyful New Year of 2026. Blessings to you and your families and loved ones.

Please donate to Dry Bones in order to help me, the LSW, to keep up the expenses of the Blog and the postings, and pay the rent. 

You can donate with this link. It works with your credit card or with PayPal.

  Donate to Dry Bones denominated in US dollars here  

 https://tinyurl.com/3xmbc4mp 


ALSO PLEASE NOTE:
TO DONATE $50 or MORE BY CHECK (and is U.S. Tax DEDUCTIBLE)
1. Write a check to “REPORT, Inc.”
2. Write a cover note stating that these funds are to be directed to Dry Bones Project. Mail the Check and the accompanying cover letter to:

REPORT, Inc.
PO Box 1670
Southampton, PA 18966, U.S.A. 


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Friday, March 27, 2026

Who would have thought?

 Yesterday was  very hard day in Israel of lots and lots of missile and drone attacks and sirens. But last night was relatively quiet, and I was able to get some sleep.  

We are now at the erev Shabbat before Passover, so time for some Pessach content. 

About 12 years ago, Yaakov and I made a YouTube instructional video on how to make horseradish.  I am going to post it for you here. Unfortunately, it suffers from my lack of technical skills. He is, as usual, his extremely hilariously funny self. 

However, I was shocked to watch it and see how much he had deteriorated physically in the last 6 or 7 years. It happened so slowly and I saw him everyday, so I was really not aware of it. It really shook me up to watch it and see him so young. Of course, young is a very relative term, as he was in his 70's.😂 I sadly have been remembering him more as he was in the last few years. I guess that is fairly common with older couples. Maybe this will help me to remember more the better days. He was never very physically active or sporty and spent most of the time at his drawing table or computer, and was always super sharp mentally, so I didn't see the physical limitations as much.  

Anyway, here it is, if you want to watch it. The best part in my opinion, is towards the beginning, and sometimes You Tube starts it a few minutes in for some reason. So, please make sure that the little slider thing underneath the picture is slid all the way back to the left hand side of the screen. Also, sometimes the sound is low, so you might need to turn up your volume. I am too technically challenged to fix it. Sorry about that. So here is the link if you want to check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6FRdiGWrLc&t=2s


And here, I am posting for you my very favorite Dry Bones Passover cartoon. It is from 1997. You are welcome to share it. Enjoy! With love from the LSW!

Wishing you a Chag Pessach Sameach, A Very Happy Passover to all!

Wishing you health and happiness, prosperity and peace.

Please consider donating to Dry Bones

And link for donating in US Dollars below

Much love and joyful New Year of 2026. Blessings to you and your families and loved ones.

Please donate to Dry Bones in order to help me, the LSW, to keep up the expenses of the Blog and the postings, and pay the rent. 

You can donate with this link. It works with your credit card or with PayPal.

  Donate to Dry Bones denominated in US dollars here  

 https://tinyurl.com/3xmbc4mp 


ALSO PLEASE NOTE:
TO DONATE $50 or MORE BY CHECK (and is U.S. Tax DEDUCTIBLE)
1. Write a check to “REPORT, Inc.”
2. Write a cover note stating that these funds are to be directed to Dry Bones Project. Mail the Check and the accompanying cover letter to:

REPORT, Inc.
PO Box 1670
Southampton, PA 18966, U.S.A. 




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Tuesday, March 24, 2026

The Unspoken Truth

 Here is a Dry Bones cartoon from 2017. It is still true today.

We are getting sirens and missile attacks multiple times a day and night. Yesterday, we went most of the day with quiet, and then at about midnight and again at 1.30 am and again at 4 am and again at about 7 am this morning, we had missiles. I grew up in Oklahoma where we had tornados, so it sort of prepared me for this. We go into shelters and wait till the all clear signal on our phones. One gets used to it, up to a point. There is a lot of feeling of camaraderie among strangers, which is nice.  But schools and most gatherings are prohibited and everyone is getting through the day with some degree of sleep deprivation. We expect this to continue for at least another 2 or 3 weeks, if not more. It is a bit tiring. But most people are optimistic about the future, if we are able to weaken or cause regime change in Iran eventually. We have been under the threat of future nuclear bombs from them for years.

I am really enjoying going through and posting the old Dry Bones cartoons on the blog. I

I am getting sad coming up to Passover and the one year anniversary of Yaakov's passing. He died on the second day of Passover. I have booked a place at a Chabad Seder in Raanana, a town very close to my town of Kfar Saba where I live. It has a lot of English speakers, and the seder will have lots of lone soldiers, so it should be interesting.


Wishing you a Chag Pessach Sameach, A Very Happy Passover to all.

Wishing you health and happiness, prosperity and peace.

Please consider donating to Dry Bones

And link for donating in US Dollars below

Much love and joyful New Year of 2026. Blessings to you and your families and loved ones.

Please donate to Dry Bones in order to help me, the LSW, to keep up the expenses of the Blog and the postings, and pay the rent. 

You can donate with this link. It works with your credit card or with PayPal.

  Donate to Dry Bones denominated in US dollars here  

 https://tinyurl.com/3xmbc4mp 


ALSO PLEASE NOTE:
TO DONATE $50 or MORE BY CHECK (and is U.S. Tax DEDUCTIBLE)
1. Write a check to “REPORT, Inc.”
2. Write a cover note stating that these funds are to be directed to Dry Bones Project. Mail the Check and the accompanying cover letter to:

REPORT, Inc.
PO Box 1670
Southampton, PA 18966, U.S.A. 


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Monday, March 23, 2026

Wiz Bangs and Booms Overhead

 Here is a Dry Bones cartoon from 2014.  Same thing today, but I am optimistic of the future.



Wishing you a Chag Pessach Sameach, A Very Happy Passover to all.

Wishing you health and happiness, prosperity and peace.

Please consider donating to Dry Bones

And link for donating in US Dollars below

Much love and joyful New Year of 2026. Blessings to you and your families and loved ones.

Please donate to Dry Bones in order to help me, the LSW, to keep up the expenses of the Blog and the postings, and pay the rent. 

You can donate with this link. It works with your credit card or with PayPal.

  Donate to Dry Bones denominated in US dollars here  

 https://tinyurl.com/3xmbc4mp 


ALSO PLEASE NOTE:
TO DONATE $50 or MORE BY CHECK (and is U.S. Tax DEDUCTIBLE)
1. Write a check to “REPORT, Inc.”
2. Write a cover note stating that these funds are to be directed to Dry Bones Project. Mail the Check and the accompanying cover letter to:

REPORT, Inc.
PO Box 1670
Southampton, PA 18966, U.S.A. 


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Thursday, March 19, 2026

Spring is in the Air

We had a sleepless night in Israel, but...here is a more optimistic Dry Bones cartoon from 1994. 

Spring is in the air, even as we are at war. Here in the center, we had sirens about every 2 or 3 hours. And in the north, it was much worse. But even with not enough sleep, I see that it is such a pretty day! The air smells of orange blossoms and jasmin. I went into Tel Aviv yesterday to take things to my bookkeeper, who is near the Carmel Market shuk area, and I wandered the shuk, had lunch, splurged on a taxi home instead of the very slow bus, and got home just as a siren went off. So, here is a Dry Bones offering for spring. 

It will soon be also time to wish you Shabbat Shalom!

Wishing you health and happiness, prosperity and peace.

Please consider donating to Dry Bones

And link for donating in US Dollars below

Much love and joyful New Year of 2026. Blessings to you and your families and loved ones.

Please donate to Dry Bones in order to help me, the LSW, to keep up the expenses of the Blog and the postings, and pay the rent. 

You can donate with this link. It works with your credit card or with PayPal.

  Donate to Dry Bones denominated in US dollars here  

 https://tinyurl.com/3xmbc4mp 


ALSO PLEASE NOTE:
TO DONATE $50 or MORE BY CHECK (and is U.S. Tax DEDUCTIBLE)
1. Write a check to “REPORT, Inc.”
2. Write a cover note stating that these funds are to be directed to Dry Bones Project. Mail the Check and the accompanying cover letter to:

REPORT, Inc.
PO Box 1670
Southampton, PA 18966, U.S.A. 


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Tuesday, March 17, 2026

The Jewish State and the State of the Jews

 Here is another Dry Bones cartoon by Kirschen. We had a relatively quiet night here in the center of Israel. Only two missile attacks from Iran. The north of the country had multiple attacks though, as was the night before. A missle from Hezbollah hit a home in Nahariya (a seaside town in the north).

But all of the antisemitic attacks in the USA and the rest of the world are very worrying. Unfortunately we seem to be getting used to it. I looked for a more "up" and inspiring cartoon for today. I might need to post two. Sending love from a weary, sleepless but very strong and resilient land.


and another: 


Wishing you health and happiness, prosperity and peace.

Please consider donating to Dry Bones

And link for donating in US Dollars below

Much love and joyful New Year of 2026. Blessings to you and your families and loved ones.

Please donate to Dry Bones in order to help me, the LSW, to keep up the expenses of the Blog and the postings, and pay the rent. 

You can donate with this link. It works with your credit card or with PayPal.

  Donate to Dry Bones denominated in US dollars here  

 https://tinyurl.com/3xmbc4mp 


ALSO PLEASE NOTE:
TO DONATE $50 or MORE BY CHECK (and is U.S. Tax DEDUCTIBLE)
1. Write a check to “REPORT, Inc.”
2. Write a cover note stating that these funds are to be directed to Dry Bones Project. Mail the Check and the accompanying cover letter to:

REPORT, Inc.
PO Box 1670
Southampton, PA 18966, U.S.A. 


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Monday, March 16, 2026

Passover Frogs cut out book by Kirschen

 In just about 2 weeks, it will be Passover, the first day of Passover this year is April 2nd. It will be a hard holiday for me this year as Yaakov was connected to Passover in so many ways and he passed away on the second day of the holiday. Of course, you all know about the Dry Bones Passover Haggadah which is available from Amazon and from Koren Publishers. But Yaakov also did a cool cut out construction book that is available on Amazon. Here is a picture of Yaakov and his frogs, and a link to the book. It will really keep the kids busy, and the frogs look great on the table.


The Plague of Frogs and the Dry Bones Passover Haggadah are both available from Amazon and can be seen at http://www.Amazon.com/author/kirschen

and for those in the UK or Israel:



A Plague of Frogs for your Seder Table
The Build-a-Frog Activity Book a Natural Companion to Dry Bones Passover Haggadah Published by Koren Publishers

Dry Bones cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen’s latest book is sure to delight his many fans. It is titled “a Plague of Frogs” and is an activity book of colorful paper models of frogs to cut out and put together. Beyond origami, children and adults can enjoy this creative Passover experience together. The frogs can decorate Passover Seder tables or be used as name place settings. This charming book makes a lovely companion piece to the popular Dry Bones Passover Haggadah.

Each of the twenty models in this book accurately shows the colors and patterns of different species of frogs. Three color-it-yourself models round out the fun and educational experience.

Passover celebrates the freeing of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The Bible and the Passover Haggadah describe ten great plagues that struck Egypt and finally convinced Pharaoh to “let our people go”.

 The second of those ten plagues was a plague of frogs. Most people think that frogs are green, but as Kirschen points out “frogs are found in an amazing number of colors; red, green, blue, purple, yellow, orange, and more. Some have smooth skin, some bumpy, some are one solid color, others have crazy patterns of contrasting colors.”

Explaining the origin of this new Passover treat, Kirschen says “Whenever I think of the plague of frogs I imagine the land of Egypt being overrun with hundreds of different types of frogs. In my mind I picture frogs from all over the world, pouring into Pharaoh’s kingdom in huge colorful, swarming crowds. It was this vision that gave birth to this book and to its selection of frogs from around the world.”

Both the “Dry Bones Passover Haggadah” and the new “Plague of Frogs” activity book are designed to add to the traditional and full Seder experience by making it more entertaining and enjoyable for all.

The Plague of Frogs and the Dry Bones Passover Haggadah are both available from Amazon and can be seen at http://www.Amazon.com/author/kirschen
and for those in the UK or Israel:
http://www.bit.ly/drybonesbooks

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