Good morning, dear readers!

A look out of the window of my office gives the impression that we are currently experiencing what would be lovely summer weather here in Jerusalem, and that the torrential rain this past weekend was just a fantasy. But first impressions can be deceptive. It is far from warm here. The temperature is currently just 8°C (46.4°F) at mid-morning. And reports are warning of another heavy winter storm threatening further flooding. I can only hope that the tragedies of the past few days will not be repeated. Four people drowned in the flooding this past weekend. 

And, as you can see in the picture above, the ski season has opened on Mt. Hermon.

Dov Eilon

A summer morning in Jerusalem?

Back to the daily grind

While the media focuses on the dramatic events of the past few days, everyday life continues. This year, however, we no longer have to deal with kids in school. I’m happy to leave that to my colleagues, like Ryan, who you got to know a little better earlier this week. But that doesn’t mean life has slowed down. As Israelis like to say, “Small children, small problems. Big children, big problems.” While dear Michael has to deal with screaming children while vacuuming, we are in a constant struggle over control of the family vehicle. “Abba, I’ll be taking the car,” is something I hear far too often now that our youngest has his driver’s license.

It will take time for me to get used to the fact that our youngest is now a man. But, I trust him to be careful on our chaotic roads. Still, as part of our insurance coverage, I have an app that informs me in real time how he is driving. The other day, I surprised him by asking why he had to suddenly break some hours earlier. What today’s technology can tell us, right?

Digital revolution

Speaking of technology, this morning on the bus I took note of the fact that very few people were reading a printed newspaper. In the past, the morning newspaper was an inseparable part of the morning commute. Don’t get me wrong. People on the bus were still reading the morning news, but now they do so on their mobile phones and tablets. 

I know experts say it’s bad to look at screens too much, but that’s the way the world is moving, and so, too, is Israel Today. We have decided to go with the trend and focus much more effort on our digital offerings. You might have noticed with our recently-revamped website.

In addition to added convenience, this move away from paper products is also good for the environment. For a long time now, I have received all my bills and invoices by email. Why waste paper and energy delivering printed letters to everyone? 

I hope that you’ll also get used to reading Israel Today online, as the move to this platform has opened up a lot of new options. It can take a while to acclimate to something new, even though later we can hardly imagine our lives without it. For example, very few can be seen today carrying cameras because our cellphones do the job so well.

With these thoughts, I, together with my colleagues here at the Israel Today editorial offices, wish you a wonderful Tuesday!

Shalom from Jerusalem!