Shabbat Shalom, chaverim! Elul and I are still slightly reeling from last night's Shabbat service at our wonderful Temple Sinai in Delray Beach, Florida. We were enormously surprised when Rabbi Greg Kanter and Cantorial Soloist Margaret Schmidt summoned us to the bima. In fact, when we were called up from our seats in the choir loft, my first response was to blurt out "why?" But up to the bima we went, where we were given a farewell blessing by Rabbi Greg, Margaret, and the entire congregation. As we were standing there, I gazed out into the congregation and saw so much love and support that I burst into tears. My mission to keep everyone at arm's length so I wouldn't feel bad about leaving? EPIC FAIL.
Of course, I hid out in the sanctuary after the service as usual, fiddling with music and otherwise stalling, as I am always uncomfortable in large gatherings. If by chance you see me at any sort of party at all, I'll be the one standing in the corner, looking at books, or hiding under the coats on the bed. But when I finally emerged, so many people came up to Elul and me to wish us well. I will never forget how Temple Sinai met us as strangers just one year ago, but took us in immediately as family. Oy, what will I do now without Tuesday Night Choir Practice, or shooting the breeze with the librarians on Tuesday afternoon when I did a miserable job selling things at the Sisterhood Judaica Shop?
To add to the surprise of the blessing, what struck me as very funny indeed is that while it was going on, I kept thinking of a particular scene from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." The truth is, we aren't leaving for another ten days, so last night's Shabbat service was not actually going to be our last visit...next week's is! I kept wondering if we should just not come next week, so as to avoid questions like "why are you still here? I thought you'd left already!"
So we're not dead yet! And we'll show up and take the heat of being an anti-climax in human form, because it's worth it to spend just one more evening with these lovely, lovely people.
In other news, it's been a big week for us. Elul sold our car on eBay, to a nice man from Michigan. We're able to get by this week by using my mother-in-law's car while she is away on a cruise, but next week we'll be officially without wheels. We also met with the auctioneer, a very nice man who ended up living across the street from us, even though his auction house is ten miles away. Of course, we ended up getting offered much less for our furniture than we'd hoped for, but isn't that always the case? The very good news is, though, is that he was kind enough to let us keep the furniture until the day before we leave, rather than picking it up yesterday, which had been originally projected. So that means there will only be one night spent on air mattresses and in a furniture-less apartment, instead of ten nights. That convenience alone is more than worth the loss we incurred (against projected earnings) on the sale.
In the meantime, we have made a few scurrying, squirrel-like trips to Wal-Mart, CVS and the local dollar stores to collect just a few more items to stick in our suitcases. In a future post, I will share with you a picture (or maybe even video, whoo-hoo!) of my new JanSport "Big Student" backpack, which is now winging its way from the Zappos warehouse in Vegas. As a soon-to-be adult student, sans voiture, I realized I will be needing a strong, sturdy, and waterproof backpack to carry back and forth to Ulpan (the government-run Hebrew classes for new immigrants to Israel). But in the meantime, here is one example of a product we got.
Anyone know the Hebrew for "As Seen On TV"? Israelis, you have no idea what you are missing by not having products like "Eggies," "Forever Lazys," and machines that give you rock-hard abs with no exercise or dieting! This process reminds me of Golda Meir's memories of packing for her move to then-Palestine. She was convinced that they'd be living in tents, so she brought a lot of blankets. But she also insisted that they bring their wind-up Victrola and their collection of records, too. Somehow the record player made it, and she said that it was an attracting factor that helped them make friends and connections with lots of people. Perhaps our Eggies will draw lots of new friends to us!
P.S. I understand that if you're getting this blog emailed to you, it may not show certain photos or links to videos, e.g. Betty Boom Bah and today's YouTube link to a scene from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." The way to view these, I guess, is to go directly to my blog at www.movingtonahariya.blogspot.com. But otherwise, do continue to sign up to have this emailed to you, so you don't have to keep visiting and checking to see if I've posted something new. And again, have a peaceful and happy Shabbat!
Of course, I hid out in the sanctuary after the service as usual, fiddling with music and otherwise stalling, as I am always uncomfortable in large gatherings. If by chance you see me at any sort of party at all, I'll be the one standing in the corner, looking at books, or hiding under the coats on the bed. But when I finally emerged, so many people came up to Elul and me to wish us well. I will never forget how Temple Sinai met us as strangers just one year ago, but took us in immediately as family. Oy, what will I do now without Tuesday Night Choir Practice, or shooting the breeze with the librarians on Tuesday afternoon when I did a miserable job selling things at the Sisterhood Judaica Shop?
To add to the surprise of the blessing, what struck me as very funny indeed is that while it was going on, I kept thinking of a particular scene from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." The truth is, we aren't leaving for another ten days, so last night's Shabbat service was not actually going to be our last visit...next week's is! I kept wondering if we should just not come next week, so as to avoid questions like "why are you still here? I thought you'd left already!"
So we're not dead yet! And we'll show up and take the heat of being an anti-climax in human form, because it's worth it to spend just one more evening with these lovely, lovely people.
In other news, it's been a big week for us. Elul sold our car on eBay, to a nice man from Michigan. We're able to get by this week by using my mother-in-law's car while she is away on a cruise, but next week we'll be officially without wheels. We also met with the auctioneer, a very nice man who ended up living across the street from us, even though his auction house is ten miles away. Of course, we ended up getting offered much less for our furniture than we'd hoped for, but isn't that always the case? The very good news is, though, is that he was kind enough to let us keep the furniture until the day before we leave, rather than picking it up yesterday, which had been originally projected. So that means there will only be one night spent on air mattresses and in a furniture-less apartment, instead of ten nights. That convenience alone is more than worth the loss we incurred (against projected earnings) on the sale.
In the meantime, we have made a few scurrying, squirrel-like trips to Wal-Mart, CVS and the local dollar stores to collect just a few more items to stick in our suitcases. In a future post, I will share with you a picture (or maybe even video, whoo-hoo!) of my new JanSport "Big Student" backpack, which is now winging its way from the Zappos warehouse in Vegas. As a soon-to-be adult student, sans voiture, I realized I will be needing a strong, sturdy, and waterproof backpack to carry back and forth to Ulpan (the government-run Hebrew classes for new immigrants to Israel). But in the meantime, here is one example of a product we got.
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| In our new lives in Israel, we will never have to peel eggs again! |
P.S. I understand that if you're getting this blog emailed to you, it may not show certain photos or links to videos, e.g. Betty Boom Bah and today's YouTube link to a scene from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." The way to view these, I guess, is to go directly to my blog at www.movingtonahariya.blogspot.com. But otherwise, do continue to sign up to have this emailed to you, so you don't have to keep visiting and checking to see if I've posted something new. And again, have a peaceful and happy Shabbat!
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