Since people were interested I will give a report of my first ten days.
Nice.
My high school English teacher used to go ballistic at that word. "Nice! What's NICE???" She felt it wasn't descriptive enough. A meal can be nice, a person can be nice, a suit can be nice, the weather can be nice etc. etc. and in each instance we mean something different.
To be a little more specific... People are very friendly here. It seems that want to create an environment where people feel connected and cared about. It is also very quiet. During the day you barely see anyone - certainly not men. Almost everyone goes to Yerushalayim to work or learn. My son DID spot an Arab shephard and his flock. Really.
I never dreamed that I would live in such a comfortable, spacious house. That wasn't really on the top of my list of things to accomplish in this world. Life is TOO SHORT to worry much about lodgings here. But if that is what the Ribbono Shel Olam wants for me then I can't argue and I will accept the "din":-).
This area was captured by the Israeli's in 1967 [I believe] and it appears that in the spot where I live nobody has lived since then. That is EXCITING. Yishuv Eretz Yisrael! I am inhabiting the previously uninhabited and living in the country Hashem gave us as a gift. I am so proud to be a first and last generation American. America was nice [there is that word again]. I learned English, professional sports, pop culture, got somewhat of an education, picked up a more American mentality [I try to be polite...] and ate a lot of pizza [a word that appeared at least twice in the slichos of Erev Rosh Hashana]. But now after 2000 years I come home and raise my children here. The VERY FIRST THING that Hashem told the VERY FIRST JEW was "Go from your land to the land I will show you" meaning ISRAELLLL!!!! AHHHHHHHHH - AZA GROISE ZCHUS [was that Hebrew?].
The whole neighborhood is a ten minute walk from top to bottom. All the way at the bottom there is a livishe-charedi shul/beis medrash called Bnei Yeshivos. They are expanding. In the middle there is a chasidishe shul/beis medrash called "Jikov". They are also expanding. At the top there is a sfardi shul called "Miskan David Aharon". They are also expanding. May my family be like the shuls. Amen!! Strangely, the Rav of the shul is also named David Aharon. I have never heard of a shul that had the same name as it's Rabbi [unless you consider Dovid Hamelech the Rabbi of the Beis Hamikdash which is known as "Succas Dovid"]. There MUST be a story behind that.
No Young Israel in the neighborhood. No shul sisterhood or gym on the premises. When I was recently in America I went to one shul that was neither for sfardim nor for ashkenazin nor for yemenites. It was for midgets!! The proof was that the mechitza was about up to my knees:-). I saw that, turned back on my heels and sought out a shul where I would be less distracted by the nashim tzidkaniyos in whose merit we left Egypt and in whose merit we will be ultimately redeemed. What can we do. All Jewish woman are beautiful. They are all Bnos Melech - THE Melech Malchei Hamelachim. That is why a mechitza is required in shul. In this neighborhood all the shuls have the "you-can't-see-a-thing-mechitzos". Those are the BEST! [Even though I get special pleasure watching my daughter daven which I can't do here.]
Since I am connected to chassidus, I chose to daven the first day of Rosh Hashana in the chasidishe shul. I happen to LOVE the word "Jikov". The Rov of the shul is a huge talmid chochom and very welcoming. When I walked into shul he came to show me where I could sit with my men [known in the vernacular as "my children"].
Here was my issue. I love my Rebbe Shlita. Love is not the word. It is far beyond that. However, to walk to his beis medrash would have meant arriving sometime before Yom Kippur but well after Rosh Hashana. That made me sad. It just isn't the same without him. I knew that when I moved here but it still hurt. He is a great source of spiritual inspiration for me and I lacked that. Of course, I only moved with his encouragement and bracha so just being here is part of my connection but still.... The davening was nice but I decided that on the second day I would try something different.
There is a tendency in certain litvishe circles to be really morbid and melancholy on Rosh Hashana. I didn't want that, so instead of the ashkenazi-litvishe shul, I tried out the sfardi minyan the next day. It was OK. I love the emunah pshuta of the sfardim. I like their niggunim and piyutim they say. When they auctioned off the kibbudim the one that was a sgula for parnasa [I don't remember which] went for big bucks.
I wanted to go to the kotel for mincha as was my custom for the last umpteenth years. No go....
All in all - I hope Hashem heard my tfillos bi-rachamim together with all of klal yisrael. I also hope that my yearning for Yerushalayim counts for something. I am certain that it does.
A poem of Rebbe Yehuda Halevi about Yerushalayim:
Beautiful land,
Delight of the world,
City of Kings,
My heart longs for you from the far-off west.
I am very sad when I remember how you were.
Now your glory is gone, your homes destroyed.
If I could fly to you on the wings of eagles,
I would soak your soil with my tears.
But this is no time for sadness. A GREAAAATT YEARRR awaits us all! We will hopefully experience both our personal and national geualas. AMMMMEEEENNNNN!!!:-)
In the meantime Yidden remember - life is NEVER perfect. Embrace your reality because that is the hand Hashem dealt you.
Love and blessings,
From my beautiful home,
Givat Ze'ev Hachadasha,
Israel
