12 Weeks In Israel – March 24
WOW! Just wow! Time really flies.
The biggest news is that my shipment (stuff that came on a container boat from America) has landed and cleared customs. I got an e-mail from the shipper recently asking if I was ready for delivery. Unfortunately, I am still a month away (hopefully) from the promised move in date of my apartment. That is really the next big landmark.
It sounds as if it will be at least another month (until May 1) before I will get to move into my new apartment. There is really no way to put a positive spin on that, so I have no choice but to accept it. (it is what it is) Ze mah she ze in Hebrew.
I am so looking forward to being in my new apartment with my “stuff” set up. I am so looking forward to having my desktop computer with WiFi and my stereo system with my entire CD collection and TV’s able to stream sporting events/news and movies. I will need to buy a few objects, including a refrigerator and a washing machine and a new office desk. I really think that at that point (especially with my new/used car) I will be settled.
I am looking forward to being able to cook meals and create my new/next normal structure.
I will have to pay a storage fee to the moving company and all I get is an extra month of looking forward to being settled. It has taken longer than I expected/anticipated. In some ways it has been a harder transition than I expected but I think that reflects more on my expectations than anything else.
So here are a couple of stories. I might have mentioned this before, but I was talking a while ago with a tourist who was anxious about finding his connection on taking a train from Zichron Yaakov to Jerusalem. The advice I gave him was that being in Israel was the opposite of being in New York. Where in NYC on a subway the last thing you want to do is try to ask strangers for help (in fact some advise to not even look anyone in the eye), in Israel it was important to remember that most people are happy to help a stranger. (Especially a fellow Jew from America)
Last week I was walking around a new development (in which all the apartment buildings looked the same) trying to find a specific building where someone had taped to the front door an envelope with a printed copy of a form I needed to complete for my shipper. (ps everything from the shipper was urgent at the last minute). The new friend I had met that day at a local café had done me a big favor by agreeing to print the pdf that I asked to forward to him but he messaged me that both he and his wife were on zoom calls and could not be disturbed.
So, I was walking around in the dark lost. Finally, I saw someone pull into a parking spot so I walked over and asked the woman driver if she spoke English and if she knew where I would find the address I was looking for. She immediately got out of her car and looked around and apologized for not knowing for sure and then started leading me around trying to find the right building. Eventually we ran into another woman walking in the dark and the first woman asked the new woman (in Hebrew) to help. We continued our hunt and still could not find the right building. Finally, the second woman (who spoke no English that I could hear) said to the first woman wait a minute and she knocked on a door and went in and a few moments later came out with a third woman who lived in the neighborhood. The third woman took my phone to look again at the address and led the group of us to the right building.
I have been attending Shabat services (Friday night and Saturday morning) at a local Masorti (conservative) synagogue. Truthfully, I had initially wandered into this synagogue on my scouting trip in November simply because it was nearby to the Airbnb where I was staying. The services of course are all in Hebrew. The Rabbi gives his sermon every week in Hebrew and I of course don’t understand more than just a few random words. At kiddush however it appears that everyone speaks English and more than half of the congregants are fluent English speakers. Every week new people come up to me and introduce themselves and ask questions about my background and tell me about theirs. In the seemingly short time that I have been coming regularly it feels like I have been very warmly welcomed into their community. In fact one week after services before I could get up out of my seat a woman came over and sat down next to me and said “Oh your Alan from Oregon. Welcome”. The next week she came over and invited me to her house to join her family for dinner.
As I said the shul (kehillah in Hebrew) is in the same neighborhood where I stayed at an AirBnb during my scouting trip in November, so I was already familiar with the dog park and café and restaurant nearby. Sometimes when at the dog park with Jerry people who recognize me from services walk by and stop to say hello (outside of shul). Similarly in the local café (which has become my go to spot) new friends from the congregation will stop by my table and engage in friendly conversation. I definitely feel part of the community, and it is a wonderful feeling.
All’s well still. I (like most Israelis) am anxious for this war to end.
Shalom to all.
As always PLEASE feel free to share this post with anyone that you know who you think might be interested or enjoy it and definitely keep writing to me at adrchildlaw with questions and comments.