Aliyah Diary: Part 11

Hello friends! We are back!! I’m sorry that it has been so long since we have been in touch, but my computer broke… It is fixed now!! So we are back!!

So what has happened since we last spoke? Sit back friends…

The last time we spoke, I was having a hard time. We have been here for almost 3 months. We have gotten jobs, started working, started school, and Gan (Maon). It has started feeling more like actual life… Not just tourists.

Let me just say, it has been difficult. Difficult, frustrating, and sometimes maddening. We are just now coming out of almost 30 days of quarantine. We sent our girls to school at the start of the school year, and within the first week the baby was exposed. We found out right before Rosh Hashana that a parent had knowingly been sending a sick child to school and that our daughter spent more than five days being exposed to that kid. We had to cancel all of our Rosh Hashana plans, and we spent it alone at home. It was pretty sad, but we tried to make the best of it. After Rosh Hashana, we went to gget tested on the seventh day after the exposure (standard procedure here). Nava, and I (Yoni) both tested positive, and were required to go into another ten days of quarantine. Two days later, Tali tested positive, extending our quarantine even further. Maayan however, never tested positive, therefore, we are still in quarantine until after Sukkot…

We spent Rosh Hashana alone. On Yom Kippur I was feeling terrible and weak, and had to pray by myself at home. This was made even more difficult by the fact that I was weak, and could barely stand… We have also spent all of Sukkot (so far) alone. We have not been able to have any meals with friends, we haven’t been able to go on any Chol Hamoed trips, and we weren’t able to host my sister for any meals (like we had been planning for a while). Emotionally, this has been very difficult.

BUT, there have also been really good times. When we tested positive and were forced to stay home, our neighbors really went out of their way to try and make it better for us. They brought us food, they texted us to see how we were holding up, and some came for socially distanced visits. Although the feeling of being “locked up” up was still terrible, and extremely difficult. I feel lucky to live in a community where people really look out for you.

Through the difficult times, I keep reminding myself why I am here. Why we chose to come here. It is not about feeling totally comfortable. It is about living in the land of our forefathers. About bringing Eretz Yisroel and the Kedusha here into life in our daily lives. Some days are better than others.  But it is something that I plan to work on for the rest of my life. Here.

Love you all!!

Speak to you again soon.

-Yoni