It was kind of a letdown that for my first chag in Israel I had a yom tov- Shabbat doubleheader. One day yom tovim was clearly one of the top five reasons I made aliyah. I spent Rosh Hashanah with the only people I couldn't see myself getting sick of after three days-- the Fischers. I called it my three day playdate with Raphi. While Raphi has little if any memory of his two years in College Park, he knows that he's known me for a long time and that we always have fun together.
Pesha: Becca is here!
Raphi: Now it's Rosh Hashanah!
Pesha: That's right, tonight is Rosh Hashanah.
Raphi: YOU said that when Becca comes it will be Rosh Hashanah!!!!
I like being associated with a holiday. Makes me feel special. If you ask Raphi what Modiin is like, he will tell you that it's bourgeois because it has lots of playgrounds. Besides playgrounds, it has an interesting mix of religious and non-religious, anglos and Israelis. One of the city's problems that was brought to like this year is it's severe shortage of shuls. Every inch of the city has been planned out, but they never imagined that so many religious people would want to live in a brand new city equidistant from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. What a shocker. Modiin has 6 shul buildings and 42 minyanim. The Fischers daven at a shul at a yeshiva high school. The first day's davenning was like being in a cafeteria. There were screaming kids everywhere and I couldn't hear a thing. For the second day I toughed it out and walked 20 minutes for a 6:30am (!!!!) minyan at someone's house. It was totally worth it.
With the new Jewish Year comes the mind boggling issue of Shmitah. The Torah tells us that on the seventh year the land of Israel must rest. This literally means that the land can't be worked at all, and of course that presents us with zillions of logistical issues-- mainly what we can possibly eat for a year. There are a couple main loopholes I leave you to look up on your own. I have decided to follow "Otzar Beit Din." I decided this because it supports the farmers who make some effort to observe the laws of shmitah, as opposed to heter mechirah which makes shmitah almost unnoticeable for both farmers and consumers. Today was the first time I went to the marketplace since Rosh Hashanah. I wasn't sure what the different certifications referred to, so I asked one vegetable seller if he had otzar beit din or heter mechirah. He totally flipped out. Lets just say like every other Israeli, he believes that what he does it right and no one should question it. This year will be interesting. Rav Leshem (head of my program at Nishmat) told us that we're privileged to be in Israel for this special time. I'm hoping as time goes on it will become less of a head ache!
Most people are shocked to hear that we have a pet cat, Harriet the Spy. Cats are like squirrels in Israel and become pretty repulsive creatures. However our cat, unlike the ones lurking in dumpsters outside, will not contribute to the out of control cat problem in Jerusalem... or well, that was the goal of today's vet appointment. We had noticed that Harriet was acting very mellow and sleeping a lot, and today we found out that she has a heart murmur and until that is treated she cannot be spayed. I got her a new toy for when she comes home from her day stuck at the vet. Poor Harriet. Guess she gets to keep her femininity for a few more days.
I was under the belief that my credit card would be sent to my apartment and I would have to pick up my ATM card at the bank. Having received neither, I went to the bank today and they told me to wait longer. I though extended Monday hours were so they could be more helpful to their customers.
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