Letters to her parents about starting a relationship with Eli (translated)
Yesterday I made a wonderful discovery - Mount Herzl. It's funny, I've lived a five minute walk away for half a year, almost, and only yesterday I discovered this stunning place. Now with the onset of spring, it's full of flowers and colors and trees, and of course the blue sky - oh, it's really beautiful and secluded. Not many people pass by here and I hear nothing but the wind and the birds. No cars or buses or people ... so beautiful here. From where I sit I can see Hadassah.
I'm a little worried about Passover, people are starting to stress. I guess I'll go to Order A at Toby's, only I want to be where Shisul is [Debbie's older uncle, homeless in the country], I'm sure Horowitz will invite him, only he feels like an intruder and does not really want to go. He checked public orders like in the Jerusalem forest - which I really do not want to go to. I hate such arrangements - I think. I want a family and I guess the Horwitzes are the closest I can feel here. Either way, it may sound disgusting, I do not so much look forward to Passover, and I have no idea what to do for the second Seder night - this is a problem ...
Letter after Passover
Passover was very nice, but very sad at first. I guess it's pretty normal, but it's the first Seder night I and Visol were together here, with Toby (Horowitz). It was really nice, very interesting and informative. They discussed all sorts of different things - that suited different age levels. Speak from simple things to deep things.
Seder night took a very long time, but was fun, but in a very different style from home and of course I felt homesick. There were none of the jokes and laughs, and the looks of "Next Year in Jerusalem" and the Yiddish of "One Who Knows," and so on. In fact, there was not so much emphasis on poetry. Of course I'm not objective, but it was not as bad as I thought.
I asked Rabbi Horowitz what I should do, whether I should behave like everyone else in Israel, one Yom Tov, or also observe a "second Yom Tov of postcards," which means another day not to do a craft and do Seder again. What Rabbi Horowitz advised me is a kind of compromise, I guess, but that's what most people in my situation do. He said I should make a second order, but I should not have said the blessings (prayers) in it, I could read the Haggadah to the end, if I wanted to - and so I did. Toby, Ari and I did a small second order of our own and it was a lot of fun.
Many other very interesting things developed on Passover. Very strange but interesting. Toby has a big brother, Eli, who was in the army and all sorts of things - I do not really know - but anyway, he was always around, but he is very quiet and very restrained and withdrawn, but in the last week I really got to know him better and we had great conversations and nice times . He took me for a few hikes and now I know how unfit I am, I'm just not used to this mountain climbing so I was pretty scratched.
I'm waiting to hear how your Passover was, I'm sure it went well and everything is fine (I hope !!) Write!
On Monday morning, I and 99,999 other people were at the Western Wall for the traditional pilgrimage and blessing of the priests. There were thousands of priests there. I send pictures - words can not describe how beautiful and nice. Wow. I have to go.
with love,
Debbie
