On Shabbos (Sabbath/Saturday), there was a shalosh seudos meal at our shul, sponsored by a number of people in honor of us leaving.  We were asked when we wanted it to be held, and we asked that it be this week rather than the very last Shabbos we’d be here, since it turns into a late night, we’re leaving Sunday morning, and we need to have our kids asleep at a normal time the night before we go, and we’ll also need the last few hours to finish up the last details of packing, etc.

As the organizer finished reading off the names of the many people who participated, someone quipped, “You should have just said who wasn’t a sponsor; it would have been much shorter!”  It was very heartwarming to see how many people voluntarily participated in this for us (two of my kids came home on Friday with the newsletter and separately exclaimed over the long list of sponsors), and our entire family was very touched.

We had lunch at the home of good friends, and then walked directly to the shul since we stayed such a long time chatting!  On the way there, I was caught in a massive downpour – we were a few buildings from a public building when the rain started and I thought we’d duck in there and wait it out, but the rain was so heavy that in the three minutes it took us to get there, we were totally drenched.  (Ds18 had gone home earlier with ds2 and ds3 to put them in for a nap, and dh left ten minutes before me to go home to pick them up, so I was grateful they all missed the rain.  It was just me, dd10, ds9, and ds5.)

Dd10 and I agreed to keep walking because we were so wet  we couldn’t get much wetter, so we walked at a leisurely pace in the downpour.  No one else was out, and I’m sure the people driving by wondered why we weren’t at least madly running for cover if we had to be out!  When we got to shul, we were literally dripping, and it was somewhat distressing that the last time I’d see most of these people I looked like a drowned rat.  Oh, well.  Sometimes you just smile at the absurdity of a situation, and this was one of those times. I was freezing when I went in the building because of the air conditioning and me being soaked to the skin, so I went to the front of the building where there is a small covered porch I could stand under to warm up.

I chatted with a couple of people coming out of the shul while they waited for the rain to break so they could head home, and at some point, ds9 told me he didn’t think many people were going to show up because of the rain.  I told him whoever was going to come was who was meant to come, but he was right, hardly anyone was coming in.  When it was about the time for the shalosh seudos to start (I got there about thirty minutes early, according to the pre-rain plan dh and I agreed on); I went downstairs and was very suprised to see the room was full!  Everyone had come in the side entrance or from inside the shul itself, and I hadn’t seen one single one of them!

It was so lovely.  We’ve been blessed to be part of a very special shul, which is as special as it is due to the direction and guidance of  the rabbi and his wife, both very warm and wonderful people.  Knowing them has been a gift in our lives and we’ve learned to be accepting of others at a deeper level than we were previously as a result of their example.  My husband spoke about our gratitude and appreciation for the community we’ve been part of there, and our hope that these friendships we’ll take with us as we go to Israel.

Then the rabbi spoke very warmly about our family; he said he wanted to focus on two specific points: integrity and chinuch (education), and we appreciated his sincere and kind words.  I was then very surprised when the rabbi said that my closest friend here in Baltimore had asked to speak – it’s very unusual for a woman to speak at our shul at this kind of event, but she later told me the rabbi knew how important it was to her and agreed.  That was also really, really nice.  (No, I’m not going to repeat over specifically what anyone said about us.  But it was very nice.:))  I amazingly didn’t cry the entire time but when she spoke was when I came the closest to it.

We stayed until the very end – somehow we’re always the last ones to leave and close up! – and this time was no exception. When we got home it was close to 11 pm and we were so glad this was held at a time that we could be fully present and appreciative, rather than pressured by the late hour and the following early morning!

This was a lovely way to have closure with our shul (synagogue) community, for us to say goodbye and thank you.  And to hear that we’ll be missed!

Avivah

Things are starting to look like we’re moving soon – basic furniture is being sold, there are piles of things everywhere waiting to be packed, boxes all around – lots of fun!

Then today I got two bits of welcome news: ds18 was accepted the yeshiva of his choice in Jerusalem (they said they’re accepting him without an interview based on the strong recommendations they heard), and then later in the day, we got the message that his file was approved for aliyah!

In case you’re confused, ds18 has a file independent of our family in order to make aliyah.  There were so many delays with this – even after I posted weeks ago that I was told his file was complete and was being sent for processing, a week later I got an urgent email that something was missing and couldn’t I hurry up since nothing could be processed without it.

That something was his current Israeli passport, which was being processed at the embassy at the time of our appointment (two months before) with the Jewish Agency representative.  At the time, I gave the representative his expired passport and explained that the new one was being processed, and I’d get a copy of it to her within a few days.  She told me not to worry about it, she could get it directly from them.  Then two months later, it was me holding everything up by not having submitted it on time.   

Then his file was finally – really – sent for processing, we got an approval a couple of weeks later, but were told it wasn’t really a complete approval because he needed further paperwork.  Since he’s the child of two parents who are gorer zechuyot (immigrants who left before the ten year period of rights ended), and we’re officially changing our status to returning citizens as soon as we get to Israel, he isn’t eligible for any benefits right now.  So documentation had to be made that we were changing our status (as a returning minor, he has full rights very similar to someone making aliyah).

Since we had to do this and then wait a couple of weeks in order to get our authorization for our tickets, I asked if she could call the office that had already issued approval of our status, thinking this would save time rather than start all over.  Silly me.  And apparently, annoying me, since I got an irritated message in response asking why I can’t just sign the paperwork requested and don’t I know I’m going to hold everything up if a call has to be made to verify that this has already been done.

Well, I guess my idea of efficient isn’t the same of government officials, but I’ve wised up and learned repeatedly during this process that redundancy is a very good idea.  Submit the same papers time after time after time, then fax then to a different office for good measure.  Then fill out repeated applications for the same thing, and this will be faster than sending one application for that same thing.  I’m catching on.  🙂   It’s a good thing I started this process five months ago.

What today’s approval means is that I can now order ds’s plane ticket, and the cost will be covered by the Israeli government.  I’m hopeful that there will be room on the flight that we’re scheduled for in a week and a half (nothing like last minute plans, hmm?  And to think, I read on the blog of someone making aliyah that they couldn’t believe they were only approved and given a flight date two months before they had to leave!).

It’s so nice to have gotten this today – now that’s one huge detail that is out of the way. On to the myriad of boxes waiting to be packed and an entire house that is waiting for a semblance of order to be restored….

Avivah