Sukkot in Israel
My mother always fell asleep in the car. This is because my father was always the one driving. Whether it was a trip into the city or one of our cross country/dead president home tours, my mom would fall asleep.
My brother and I would be sitting in the front on the longer trips, keeping my dad company (or was it because my mother liked my sister better and she was in the backseat with her — we will never know the truth). The shorter trips, mom was in the front with dad.
My father was the one who needed the sleep more, but my mother didn’t like to drive, and my dad just wanted my mom to be happy (or he was scared of her — we will never know the truth) and that is just how it was.
Never once did I ever hear my dad say to my mom, “How was your nap?”
Fast forward to when my family of five would go on our baseball trips. I would be the loving wife and would stay awake to keep Husband #1 entertained (or annoyed — we will never know the truth) and all was right with the world.
For one reason or another, on one of the trips, I fell asleep. Not only did Husband #1 not ask me if I had a nice nap, I got: “You just slept for 26 minutes and 15 seconds. I haven’t slept at all.” Well, I would hope not, you are the one driving.
And so it began. I would be afraid to fall asleep because Husband #1 would point out how I got more rest than he did. Is this normal in a marriage? And why am I writing about this now?
At this moment, I am sitting next to Husband #1 on our flight to see Danish and her family. It was a 1:30 p.m. flight. He fell asleep as soon as we sat down, but he has not really slept much more than an hour or so.
I have not slept at all. (I know, poor me…it’s my column, humor me, please.)
“I am kind of tired,” he said a few minutes ago. I kind of wanted to strangle him. But, thank God, we landed safely and managed to stay awake the whole day.
How could we not when we got to see Danish and her family and Son #3 and DIL #3?
Being in Israel is always an experience. Five years ago, I fulfilled a dream of being in Israel for Sukkot. I hadn’t been there for this special holiday since 1993, when, after a whole year of convincing, my paternal grandmother, who had never been to Israel, took my parents, my brother, and me on a very lovely trip.
I was still single, so my mom was hoping that if we stayed at the Inbal (way back then it was still the Laromme) I would meet my future husband. Little did we know that my future husband was not in Israel at the time.
Spending the holiday with my non-observant grandmother was comical, to say the least. When my family kept both days of yom tov, we had our beloved tour guide Rafi take my grandmother on the second day and show her some sights. It was a win/win for all, except maybe for Rafi.
Five years ago, my cousin was so nice and generous and allowed my family of four (Son #1 had just gotten married so he was with his in-laws) to stay in his apartment. It is centrally located, so we were able to eat meals with friends who were staying nearby, I was able to walk to the Kotel every day — it was amazing. My kids saw their friends, Son #3 could walk to his yeshiva. Thank God, everything worked out really well. It was a magical experience.
Who was to know that covid was just around the corner?
This year has been a totally different experience. We rented an apartment near our kids in Ramat Eshkol. We were supposed to have a sukkah on the porch, but we could only have one 44 steps down in front of the building, the phone and internet stopped working after only two days, so that was an adventure, but it was magical in a whole different way.
When life is wonderful enough to hand you grandchildren, you just smile and say thank you, and all the other stuff fades into the background.
Hope your holiday has been just as magical, healthy and safe.
Banji Ganchrow of Teaneck is hoping to be back home by the time you read this, but after her last to trip to Israel, she isn’t sure…
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