I’ve just spent a few days away with my family, and had the most relaxing time since moving to Israel!
Exactly a year ago, our family spent five days in Colonial Williamsburg. As we were walking through the historic village, dh and I were discussing the possibility of moving to Israel. We were coming to the conclusion that we’d make the move. And I remember expressing to dh a bit of sadness that our trip to Colonial Williamsburg, which was fantastic, was the last one we were likely to take. I knew that if we moved to Israel, our reality (at least initially) would preclude funds and a vehicle to make outings and trip as frequent as they were for us in the US, and that thought made me sad.
When we moved here in August, it was just a week and a half before the school year started, and we jumped immediately into real life – no time (or money) for enjoying trips in our new country. I’ve always appreciated and enjoyed going places with our children, and as grateful as I am for the reality of waking up every day in Israel, I do have a bit of wistfulness about not currently being in a position to actively explore the country. Public transportation is expensive and complicated for a family our size, and finding a place to stay overnight on a budget with a big family isn’t easy. And on the savings we’ve tried hard to stretch until we have income coming in, there really wasn’t room for the luxury of a big trip.
All of this background is just to go and show you that G-d cares about and provides for even our small wants! Just a couple of weeks ago, someone from Tzfat (Safed) called to invite our family for Shabbos! This was someone I met 3.5 years ago, when the wife was visiting the US and stayed at our home for Shabbos, and we touched base again after moving here when I called her to ask about school options in her area. They have a two bedroom vacation unit attached to their home that we’d be able to use, and were fine with us coming for a couple days longer than just Shabbos. Wasn’t that wonderful?
I’ll write in another post about our trip!
Avivah
That is lovely! Have a great time when you go!!!
That’s so great! I have an idea about the identity of your hosts :). Batsheva says they are “the nicest of the nice”! So glad you got this special time.
If you’re thinking of the family our girls spent Shabbos at together, this is yet another wonderful family! (That family also spent Shabbos with us when they were visiting the US!) We had a melave malka with that family though, and you’re definitely right, they are the nicest of the nice!
It’s wonderful you got to have this vacation.
I’ve been wondering for a while: how does your family feel about being the subject of a widely-read blog (even given all the privacy measures you do of course take)? Are they used to it or does it impact them?
Shuli, it’s a good question! I’ll try to answer it in its own post.