Hey… I’m the new girl. You can learn all about me from my bio on the “about” page. I’ve still got Pesach on the brain and since this lil bit helped get me to where I am today, this very moment – I thought I’d share. Even though, when my parents read this, they might not be so proud. Or maybe they’ll finally go…international pressure is on! So, Next Year in Jerusalem it is:
Every year at the seder, Jews through the Diaspora end the evenings order by announcing ” Next Year in Jerusalem!”. This year, I returned from Jerusalem only days before the first seder, and as part of me was wishing I was still there, it got me thinking. Why is it OK to break the 9th Commandment (no lying) during Pesach, but not OK to eat flat breads, like naan or tortilla because they don’t resemble cardboard? For real: how many people say “Next Year in Jerusalem” and mean it or follow through?
For example: my parents, during their marriage alone, have said “Next Year in Jerusalem” twice a year for 34 years. How many times have they travelled to Israel? Zero. My parents, who dutifully kasher their home for for Pesach every year, who attend shul every Shabbat, who have countless sets of dishes, utensils and cookware, who are involved wholly in their Jewish community…and they’ve not once set foot in the Holy Land when they’ve announced 68 times – “Next Year in Jerusalem”.
Before I left for Israel last month, I told my parents that I would use my camera to document all of the amazing things I saw there, so that they would see what they’re missing. I took pictures of everything I could – the scenery change from rocky terrain outside of Jlem to grassy mountains carpeted with wildflowers in the Golan…from the mudpits at the Dead Sea to the lapping waters of the Kinneret. Even of my younger cousins’ gelato covered faces as we walked through the German Colony. And what shayne punims! If their doe-eyed, chocolate-faced cuteness wasn’t enough to lure my parents to Israel, what could?
I’ve been emailing them often with information about organized trips for adults – so if anyone knows of some – let me know. It’s my goal to get my parents to Israel by this time next year!
- The Shabbat Experiment - 8/22/2010
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Sorry ’bout that, ck.
hey arielle, if your parents are reading this does that mean i can’t fucking swear?
Baruch haba’ah, Arielle. I think with you in Israel, your parents coming to visit is only a matter of time.
my parents wanted me to say – that there were a few years that they didn’t have a second seder, so maybe they transgressed only a few less times than I noted.
When I moved to Israel a few years ago, I told my mother, who had never visited Israel (not that she ever had a great interest in it) that the only way should could see me was if she came to visit. I was moving far away from home for university, so if she really wanted to see me within this five year period, she had to come.
And she came.
My advice: keep the first-aid kit handy to treat accidental exposure to excessive amounts of testosterone.
Ha, made me laugh. I hope you plan on posting pictures for photos to see.
Thanks for the heads up about trips to Israel for parents MUL. But was the intro necessary? Can we please try to play nice? Please?
the good ol’ santa cruz hagadah would probably tell us that by those words we are committing to seek out a ‘jerusalem of the soul’ next year and to excape the ‘mitzrayim of the soul’ in which we exist (whether we know it or not). either way, i think we probably say something on yom kippur that asks for forgiveness for making promises we didn’t keep. maybe it evens out?
:wave:
Just upload posts that are less terse, preachy and derivative than what Froylein writes and we cool. 😉
(I know that wasn’t nice, but I just felt like stirring things up. Plus, it’s been a while! ;-D)
As for trips that adults can go on, I remember putting fence up on the northern border with Sar-El a few years back. The ticket came with a six month open-return after a few weeks of service. I don’t know if they’re still in operation or have been overtaken by the cooler groups, but figured I’d mention it.
Everyone picks and chooses.
The intellectually honest thing would be to omit the line if you don’t really mean it. Or come up with some symbolic or esoteric explanation to why it doesn’t really mean what it says…the true Jewish way!
From a former Bucks Countyite, welcome to Jewlicious 🙂 May you help drive CK crazy!