Eureka!

I think I'm starting to get it. We've been here in the Holy Land 15 months now and I'm finally starting to catch on. Gone are the clueless looks and confused faces we had when we first arrived. We have gladly shed those and passed them down to the newest crop of Olim. 

I'm getting the hang of it here. 

For instance, English cake tins are actually a very good size. Not as big as a 9x13 which nobody ever finishes anyway, but not too small. Or, for example, no matter how little food you have in the house on Sunday morning, you DO NOT go shopping until Sunday afternoon, as it takes a bunch of hours to get food into the stores on Sunday. Or that yes, the banks are really closed on Sunday, and if you can remember that you'll save yourself a lot of trouble.

Or perhaps that maybe some essential stores (think pharmacy) closing in the middle of the day isn't so crazy…because neither is jumping in bed for a quick middle of the day nap. Or that if you wish to hold on to whatever shred of sanity you have left, Shabbos shopping never gets done on Thursday or Friday-- Wednesday only.

Don't get me wrong; I still oft dream of a master bedroom in which I don't have to side step (do-si-do) to get into my closet. Or even one where I can take more than three giant steps, Mother May I. Wegman's may be a thing of the past, but on those long Sunday mornings as I wait for the supermarkets to restock milk, bread and fruits and veg, I can wistfully sigh and reminisce about a 24/7 store that really does carry parsnip and celery and turnip…well, 24/7.

And although I'll most probably never hear a shofar blowing (until Moshiach comes) like SR's in R, I am still yotzei with the one that I barely made it to in shul.

 And most importantly, this small town hick is starting to get things like what being part of the עם  means. It means that when I'm standing there barely able to listen to the shofar with one little guy in my arms with a fever who is yelling over the mechitza, "Hey! There's Uncle S! Hi S! HI!!" and another who just got run over by a scooter whimpering on my leg, it's ok. It's ok because there I stand with over a hundred other mothers and children who are listening with me. Because just by being here, in the Holy Land with my holy brothers and sisters,  I'm "עם", (with) the עם -- and the עם has got my back.

So, although it wasn't my most spiritual RH ever, I am starting to get it and that makes my comfort level which essentially equals my happiness level that much better.

So here's to "getting it", and to the start of a great year filled with only good things for us all.