“Meow! Meow! Meow!”
Who said that?
I stood on my sister-in-law’s porch in the southern Israeli suburb of Omer, trying to find the culprit. The streets there are filled with strays—multicolored calicos, black-and-white tuxedos, even fancy longhairs—but they’d all run away when I got close. This one sounded like it was calling to me. I searched until I found it. High in a tree, overlooking a construction site next door, was a tiny, orange kitten.
“Come!” I said. “I have food.”
The kitten climbed down and raced straight to me!...

Cats are very communicative animals with many different ways to show a person how they are feeling. From meowing or purring to flicking of the ear or tail, cats will let you know what they need or how they feel about you. Here are five of the ways a cat displays affection towards a human.

This is a story of radical hope. Yuvi’s Candy Tree (Kar-Ben Books 2011)  is a children’s picture book written by Canadian writer Lesley Simpson.  The book was inspired by Yuvi Tashome, who as a five year old girl, outwitted robbers in her exodus from Ethiopia to a Sudanese refugee camp. The book grew out of an interview Simpson, a Canadian journalist and children’s book writer (lesleysimpson.ca) requested with Yuvi Tashome when she was in North America in 2009, raising awareness and money for the NGO she founded in Israel called Friends by Nature.  When Simpson heard Tashome describe her Biblical-like exodus, it felt to her as if the Haggadah was coming alive before her eyes. She imagined a picture book and then wrote Yuvi’s Candy Tree.

Tucked into a hard-to-find patch of wilderness, where the trees are not trimmed and the plants grow wild, is Jerusalem's Bird Observatory. This patch of urban nature allows the birds to find places to hide from the sun, rain, and other animals.

Tu B’Shevat, though a minor holiday about agriculture in antiquity, has significance in today’s modern world, even though celebrating it during winter in North America requires a little bit of ingenuity. Tu B’Shevat has evolved into an opportunity to celebrate a connection to Israel while promoting environmentalism. Tu B’Shevat provides a wonderful opportunity for children to learn about the importance of a healthy planet, and their roles in carrying on the legacy of a verdant world. 

Reader Dvorah, age 14, recently read The Six-Day Hero by Tammar Stein.