Pesach Cleaning Day!

בס"ד

 

Today was our big opportunity for Pesach cleaning!  A couple of apartments started cleaning a day or two ago, but we did all of our cleaning today.  We cleaned our rooms – sweeping, dusting things off, and I emptied out my drawers as well.  And then after that came cleaning out the common room and kashering the kitchen.  We accomplished the task throughout the day.  At around 2:30 Gelb and I went for haircuts, and while we were waiting, we went over to the girls' house to pay for yesterday's lunch and chill with them.  Gelb's hair is shorter than it's ever been before, supposedly, but it looks good.  Mine also came out very short, especially considering that I also just shaved on Friday.  I should be good to go for the Omer, though.  The other break I took in the middle of the day was when Jesse decided to embark on a hunt for a Hebrew-English haggadah that just frankly would not exist in Yeruham.  We took a detour to the girls' apartment and the staff apartment; we had a fun adventure.  Tonight we ate pizza in the park.  No thanks to Jesse, we ordered three pies when we really only needed two and the best we could do was to get Sarah to eat one slice, since we couldn't take it home.  I wish we could have.  Anyway, I'm not sure if I feel that our apartment is legitimately cleaner than it was before, but it must be, and we fulfilled our mitzvah.

 

I'm excited for Pesach in Israel, and I'm glad that Nativ keeps everyone in Israel, unlike other programs.  Last year, at the end of Seder, singing "l'shannah ha-ba'ah birushalayim habnuya" took a whole new meaning, since I knew that I would be spending Pesach in Israel.  It will be nice to get the Jerusalem glimpse all the way back to Yeruham of how Pesach works in this country.  Here's a rough itinerary:

*Monday-Wednesday – Jerusalem!  Seder with Aunt Judy, Uncle Steve, Abby, and Michelle, and Ally's joining us.

*Wednesday-Thursday – Ashkelon with Gelb – beach and water park and sleeping outdoors!

*Shabbat Chol Ha-Mo'ed – settlement called Elkana near Petach Tikvah with a former colleague of my mom's

*Last Yom Tov – Yeruham!  Hopefully a low-key but festive chag.

 

חג כשר ושמח לכולם!

 

Kol Tuv,

Judah