Rosh
Hashanah and Shabbat Shuva are behind us. We’ve made contact with those sick
relatives we were worried about, put our homes back together, restocked our
kitchens, maybe caught up with our back pile at work, and have begun thinking
about Yom Kippur preparations. After that, if all’s well, it’s on to planning
for Sukkot.
You’ll be
having a review of everything we did before the three-day Rosh Hashanah
marathon. There are menus to plan for three days, food to order or cook, and
laundry to finish so there’ll be enough children’s clothes to last through
Saturday night. You’ll be concerned if there’ll be enough fruit and treats to
snack on. You’ll wonder if you prepared an adequate amount of toilet paper. Did
you buy sufficient Kleenex, baby wipes, and diapers? Is there really plenty of food? What’s your boss going to say about yet another
two days off now and again the following week?
At this
point my life differs from yours. Although I did a tremendous amount of
organizing before the three-day Rosh Hashanah began, it’s now behind me.
Thursday evening of Sukkot, instead of beginning a second day holiday, I’ll be in the Chol
Hamoed mode. Whereas you’ll be hurriedly heating up a Yom Tov meal, I’ll be
listening to music on the computer and popping popcorn in my electric air
popper to eat in the sukkah while I talk to my friend on the phone.
I’ll have no
missed work to make up because I automatically had a day off for the holiday. Friday
morning I can decide whether there are enough leftovers from Yom Tov for
Shabbat or if I need to do some more cooking. Undoubtedly, someone will be sent
to the supermarket to stock up on supplies. I’ll take a good, hot shower
without any Yom Tov complications and enter Shabbat fresh.
There are
many, many spiritual benefits to living in Israel but, contrary to popular
belief, there are a number of practical ones. Compare medical costs here to
those in America. Don’t believe that our health system is inferior. Although
there are those who travel abroad for surgery, they do so because the top expert
in the needed field isn’t here in Israel. However, there are those who come
from America to get health care here because their particular expert is living
in the Holy Land.
It would be
prudent to compare the cost of day school education to tuition for any private
school here in Israel. The difference is surprising. Yes, salaries are less
here but so is the cost of living.
For anyone
who has had a teenager turn sixteen and immediately receive his driver’s
license there is another excellent reason to move to Israel. The age here to
begin learning to drive is only seventeen. That’s a whole year plus of not
having to worry about one’s child behind the wheel.
There are so
many practical reasons to move to Israel. Chol Hamoed Sukkot is the time
when those of us who were blessed to be able to live here understand them the
most. For you, my sisters living outside
the land of Israel, I bless you with the ability to perceive this. May this be
the year that you comprehend the tremendous privilege that you could have
living here. May this be the year that you do, indeed, come home. May all of us, whether here or there, be
sealed in the Book of Life.
Chol Hamoed : Intermediate days of the holiday
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