Honeymoons; they aren't just for marriages, but cover a whole host of life changes. Moving into a new community, as I have, is one of them
Ordinarily the honeymoon period wanes and a new reality sets in; one starts seeing the town, warts and all. Only if the warts become as acceptable in one's eyes as the perfect curve of the nose, does real love of place set in.
Never before has that fresh quality remained; never before have I slipped into the comfortable stage. Never, till now.
A year plus has gone by; I haven't had perfect days. But the feelings that this is home, this is the place I should be has strengthen, not lessened.
Take today for instance, a nearly perfect Shabbat. I attended a Tehilim/good speech lesson, in Hebrew, and could understand more than normal (the woman leading it did explain things, but I got some on my own as well.) I was home for a bit then another Shiur; this one by the father of one of the women on the Yishuv; an astounding talk that I couldn't begin to summarize by a an extraordinary author. Then I came home again and began to prepare for Shalosh Seudot; the 3rd meal of the Sabbath day.
Our family was joining another family; a semi-spontaneous get together, and my friend, we would be eating in the yard of their house under the cabana, invited another family. We carried our small dining room table over the fence separating us from our neighbors, and brought of chairs. There were salads and fish and this luscious dressing, and we were all squeezed together, barely enough room to move, at the two tables. The children played together; not a single fight among them. And we adults talked, and laughed, and talked some more. We shared thoughts on Torah and family life, and Israel; how happy we were having made this move. The time passed so quickly that I was surprised when the benchers (booklets containing the after meal prayers) were brought out; was the day ending so soon? It seemed as if we had only sat down together a few minutes before. But I looked around and realized that night was settling in; a new day was forming. The men went to Shul and returned. We made Havdalah and began to clear away the remnants of the meal, reclaimed our individual portions of the meal, and tables and chairs were brought back to rightful owners.
One day blending into the other. A day of rest, a day of work.
Perhaps that is why the Jewish day begins at night; one day connects to the other without the interruption of sleep, so one carries part of the day before into the new day. Into this day I carried joy and friendship, a pleasant meal and learning.
As we left we promised each other to do this again, next week. I hope we do. These types of gatherings are what make a home, and a homeland.
I have decided I can't read your blog anymore. That is the life I want but I would have to divorce Rich and smuggle Lillianna out of the country in order to have it. *sigh* I loved living in Israel for all those reasons and more. Life is to be enjoyed. I loved all the celebrations of major holidays and especially Shabbat. You are so lucky to be living this wonderful life in Israel filled with love and joy and daily celebrations.
Oh, ok, I lied. How could I STOP reading your blog? I may make Rich agree to a trip to Israel when Lillianna is 13! That's my secret hope!
LOL; I got scared there a moment! Hey, maybe you could blindfold him and take him on a surprise trip to Israel! I'm sure you can keep it a big secret, though I don't know how you'll explain the Hebrew speaking pilots and announcements.
Posted by: Rachel Ann at August 29, 2004 05:22 PMSighhhh....this sounds so much like the purrrrrrrfect life :-)..you deserve every bit of it..God bless !
Thank you for stopping by dear, and making me feel better :-)
Posted by: Pincushion at August 29, 2004 08:11 PMDid I ever tell you then when my friends(at this point they were strangers)
flew to Israel from England to live on our kibbutz they fell asleep on the flight. When they woke up there were a bunch of Hasidic men (maybe 15 or so) bowing quickly by the emergency exit. Ok, I know they were praying but when Karen and Justine and the other volunteers who had been napping saw this they thought the men were getting ready to jump out of the plane for an emergency exit due to some problem....lol. They panicked and tried not to become too nervous. Eventually someone explained that they were saying their morning prayers.
I will try to think of a way to get Rich to Israel one of these days.
Posted by: Robin P at August 30, 2004 02:46 AMWhat an a idyllic scene, I love those spontaneous events when friends get together. And what a peaceful feeling:
"One day blending into the other. A day of rest, a day of work. …one day connects to the other without the interruption of sleep, so one carries part of the day before into the new day. "
I love that concept.
A beautiful post.
Posted by: Gary M. at August 30, 2004 07:46 AMI meant to write about that wonderful seudat shlishit myself. I'm glad to see that you did becasue it was so special.
Beth