My mother, Raz, 57, is a positive and creative person who is very committed to her family.

In recent years, my mother has taken up a host of creative interests: painting, crafting jewelry from beads and Fimo, making dream catchers, macramé, and gardening. She has turned our home into a greenhouse, full of potted plants, to which she talks as if they were her children. She also recently started volunteering at a nearby kibbutz, teaching crafts to seniors. I like to learn from her and her projects. 

Raz has been struggling with chronic health issue for the past 13 years, but she never complains. She has brain and spinal lesions, suffers from severe pain, and cannot bend down. She is always optimistic, and when asked how she is feeling, she’ll say “everything is fine.” 

Friday-night family dinners are when she shines. Despite the physical challenges, she insists on cooking everything. My favorite dish she makes is stir-fry. We are a family of vegetarians, except for my dad, and she manages to make amazing dishes. Mom is the challah champion. She makes the best challah in the world. I love baking with her, she prepares the dough and I shape the challah.

Interviewee: Ella Ben Ami, her daughter.