I expected younger students to notice our age. Instead, they noticed what we bring. When I asked younger students how they see older students at university, I expected to hear about the generation gap. But they spoke about depth. Life experience. Critical thinking. Support. Stability. One student even called us: “The mothers and fathers of the lecture hall.” I’m still not entirely sure whether that was a compliment… Several students told me that my presence calms them. Some a

My memory isn’t what it used to be. One of the biggest challenges of returning to university later in life is… memory. I used to read something and remember it. Now I read. Highlight. Summarize. Review. Make flashcards. And during the exam, I still sometimes wonder: “Have I ever seen this term before?” When I had to memorize a long list of medications, I looked at the list. The list looked back at me. And I thought: “No way.” I can’t do it… Studying later in life requires mor

Going back to university later in life has made me think a great deal about lifelong learning — but also about something we discuss far less often: intergenerational learning. As an older student, there are many obvious questions. How do you combine studies with work and family responsibilities? How do you return to exams, deadlines, and academic life after many years? And how does it feel to study alongside people who are a generation, younger than you? Initially, I thought

A change in identity is not always a beautiful, easy, or inspiring moment. Sometimes it begins with discomfort, with a sense of inner constraint, with the realization that something that once protected us no longer allows us to grow. The shell that was once a home slowly becomes a place that limits us. And in order to truly change, we need the courage to let it go. We do not always know right away what kind of butterfly we will become. But the very act of leaving the shell is

When my son was about five years old, we once stopped behind a garbage truck. With the absolute confidence of a five-year-old, he said: “When I grow up, I want to work on a garbage truck.” I asked him why. His answer surprised me: “Because they don’t need seat belts.” I have thought about that sentence many times since. So often, we live our lives strapped into invisible seat belts. We stay in jobs we no longer love. We remain in relationships, roles, or routines that no long

The sense of foreignness that many migrants experience, at least at the beginning of their journey in a new country, seems, at first glance, to contradict Turner’s concept of communitas. Turner (1957) described communitas as a sense of belonging to something greater, something beyond the individual. It is the joy found in shared group experience. It is a collective feeling in which the group itself acquires meaning. What is interesting is that this feeling sometimes emerges w

By Dr. Efrat Tzadik Imagine a six-year-old girl who has recently arrived in Belgium. In class, she speaks little, frequently scans the room, holds her body tense, and keeps her hands close to her sides. When the teacher addresses her, she offers an uncertain smile, looks down at the floor, and remains silent. The teacher wonders: Is she shy? Does she not understand? Or has she simply “not yet connected”? But perhaps she is communicating - just in another language: the body la

In Judaism, we are now approaching the second evening of Passover. It is actually tonight. According to Jewish tradition, this is the moment when the Red Sea parted and the Jewish people crossed through it. It is also a time associated with miracles. The story begins with the Jews standing before the sea perhaps feeling despair, doubt, or even regret for having left Egypt... There are moments in life when we find ourselves standing before our own “Red Sea.” A place where th

Dr. Efrat Tzadik At the beginning of my academic journey, I conducted research on pilgrimages to graves but not necessarily pilgrimages...

An international conference. One of the participants speaks enthusiastically, lightly touches the arm of her conversation partner,...

Imagine the following scene: You are in a work meeting with a team made up of people from different countries. One of the participants...

Between Biology and Culture: The Role of the Smile in Reducing Otherness, Building Trust, and Creating Interpersonal Bonds in Migratory...

Human relationships are complex. Lately, I’ve been seeing more and more teenagers and adults in my clinic who describe a sense of "social...

“Niksen”is Dutch word meaning doing nothing. I tried. Honestly, I did. The past academic year was intense: multiple projects, studies,...

When a child opens their heart – we should be there to listen. A lesson that wasn’t written in the curriculum. Yesterday, at one of the...

"But there are those who take a monopoly on wisdom They know better than me They know better than you What’s good for me, what’s good for...

"Do you want coffee?" or maybe "Do you want to drink coffee?" or "Do you have time for coffee?" You could also say "Hi, I’m Efrat, nice...

a few thoughts... Finding myself again. Discovering things I didn’t know about myself. Understanding things that happened in the past...

I know... I do so many things... 168 hours that I need to fit everything into... actually, not everything... just what is a priority for...

This morning, we celebrated Purim in a small organization I manage. I decided to dress up—just something small—but the moment I put on...