This Family Day, We Have More Reasons to Cherish

Family Day ('Yom Hamishpacha') 2025

Personally, I don’t remember ever experiencing a stormier year in our Israeli lives. This is a year of looking Up ‘to where our help comes from,’ and trying to redefine our structure time and again through ongoing changes and emotions during this very long war, in which we could have lost everything in a heartbeat.

Perhaps it’s somewhat easier for our lips to utter that Yeshua is our Rock in calm times, when a high Rock might be much like a refreshing viewpoint that overlooks the calm sea. But what if a storm hits, and the ongoing rain feels like your feet keep trying to grasp on for some grip underneath you? Perhaps the image of the Rock is exactly that: He is always there, through calmness and storms. And yet, when we experience a storm, His refuge and strength stand firmly as a place of comfort where we can catch our breath and be reminded of His promises and truth. Meanwhile, being made in His image, we are also called to be like Him in character, stability, and strength, no matter our circumstances. May our homes, too, be an oasis of peace.

Judaism places great emphasis on the family unit and family values. The family is the foundation of Jewish life, playing a vital role in passing on Jewish values from one generation to the next. It is the cornerstone of Jewish society and the basic unit of our community and the foundation upon which our future rests. The family is the first and most important of all human relationships, and the primary source of our physical, emotional, and spiritual nourishment.

On Family Day ('Yom Hamishpacha'), younger Israeli children usually bring home a sweet craft they made, often including a family picture. This truly is a year where we are reminded of the value of life more than ever. It’s the hard and rocky places in life—where we witness heartache from up close and all around us—that we develop a greater awareness of what we actually have. When we see greater troubles of war, perhaps our little struggles naturally seem more proportionate, pointing out what really matters. Perhaps we tend to look up from low places as we search for steadfastness, but may we also look around and cherish the little joys in life, even if we have not yet reached the view from up top and are still climbing up.

This Family Day, if you can, I really encourage you to take a moment to sit and breathe in the little wonders of life that our Heavenly Father sprinkles on us, that we might just miss out on in our busyness or storms. More than anything, this is just as much a timely reminder to myself! Just to take a moment to truly see, to be, and to remember that our home has the most amazing opportunity to be a harbor of safety, no matter what.

In honor of Family Day, our family will go out on a little hike with a super simple picnic made of homemade blueberry muffins, a coffee kit, and some cut-up apples. Together, we will breathe in some of the amazing nature at our doorstep, as the rainfall transforms our winter into a green, flowery springtime. It’s a fun way to take our energy outside and just enjoy, together.

Please share your ideas on how to celebrate Family Day this year.