Hi everyone,
I am awake now, back to the business of caring for my family on our first full day here. Rabbi Larry has succumbed to the call of the oh-so-very comfortable bed I was napping in earlier. :)
For the more mundane: it's really hard finding food with English labels -- not a total surprise, but it makes me glad that I packed a "starter kit" of foods safe for Keithen to eat. We have what we need, and for me, this is a lesson in "enough" -- and Rabbi Larry and I are delighting in the prospect of a simple Shabbes with much joy if a smaller spread than is often prepared at home.
This morning, on our way to Machane Yehuda, Keithen and I were chatting in the backseat of a cab about how different everything is here. The solar panels and hot water tanks on the rooftops of buildings draw the eye as much as did the Knesset and the Great Synagogue viewed from a distance. These edifices are testaments to the perseverance of the Jewish people in the form of apartments built from Jerusalem stone.
Keithen was full of comparisons to the way things are in Canada -- comparisons any stranger in a new land would make. After we spoke for a while about these comparisons, from the number of cats roaming free to a discussion of whether it was wasteful for Canadians to use energy to keep their water hot at all times, I finally said, for his benefit as well as mine, that it is best to leave behind the comparisons and simply discover -- then accept -- things are you find them, as they are.
Late afternoon light filters in as I type, and I can't help but reflect that one of the first blessings of this place is the utter silence in our building. The hush is a reverent juxtaposition to the wonderful sights and sounds just outside the door.
Shabbat shalom, everyone.
Laurelle aka "Rebbetzin 'Relle
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