Bill and Ronit talk through what it feels like to live inside a war—airport missile alerts, boycotts, wildfires, and everything in between. No big claims, just the small, strange facts of daily life in a place that keeps going even when it doesn’t make sense.

Memorial Day and Independence Day in Israel stand side by side, forcing a difficult emotional passage — from the deep grief of loss to the cautious joy of independence. This reflection by Prof William Kolbrener and Ronit Eitan explores how, especially this year, the sirens, the silences, and the celebrations together shape a national memory and hope.

Prof. William Kolbrener and Ronit Eitan reflect on the aftermath of the October 7th attacks one year later, discussing how the events profoundly changed them, reshaping their identities, and how it inspired the creation of Writing on the Wall.

Ronit Eitan and William Kolbrener come together for an impromptu conversation on the missile attack from Iran on Israel just hours ago, sharing stories from the miklat (shelter) and reflecting on the challenges of moving forward during the Rosh Hashana holiday and beyond.

In Episode 3 of Israeli Bytes, we speak with Vered Tohar, a professor in the Department of the Literature of the Jewish People at Bar-Ilan University. As a third-generation Holocaust survivor, Prof. Tohar reflects on her poem "Miklat," dedicated to her grandmother, and discusses the devastating events of October 7th, drawing parallels to history repeating itself.

Read the poem here: https://writingonthewall.io/miklat/

In her discussion of her poem, ‘Jerusalem Caesarian,’ dedicated to Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the poet Geula Geurtz talks about language, identity, the creative process of writing, and the sacrifices of a mother since October 7th.

Dr. Yaakov Mascetti, Chair of the Comparative Literature Department at Bar-Ilan University, reflects on presence—both human and divine in his poem ‘Tell Me,’ dedicated to the memory of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old American-Israeli hostage killed in captivity in Gaza.

Read the full poem on our Wall.