In every international crisis, natural or man-made, there are winners. Often they are cynical self-serving business folk who profit from the misery of others, but here in Israel, those benefiting from the recent grounding of flights due to volcanic ash are members of the general public.

You may know that on a daily basis Israel exports large numbers of flowers to Europe, the continent where the volcanic ash was disrupting flights. During the chaos of the ash, flower growers tried taking their flowers to Greece by boat and then looking for onward connections, but failed.

The long and short of it is that there were millions of flowers that didn’t make it for export, and even now that flights have restarted there is a backlog.

Now of course, this is a disaster for flower growers, who estimate losses at $5.3 million and are now asking for compensation from the state. But for members of the general public, it means a domestic market flooded with cheap flowers, and hence sweet-smelling homes and happy partners.

So, my wife has more flowers than she’s ever seen — which kind of makes up for the fact that the ash also meant that her in-laws’ visit from Britain was, let’s just say, rather longer than expected.

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Make a matched gift today.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT