Next Year in Jerusalem

I've been admittied to the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in the Rabbinical Program. I've passed my Hebrew Test. I've received my Year-in-Israel book and my Financial Aid forms. Does this mean that I'm actually moving to Israel this summer??

It seems fitting that this first post be made during Passover. It finally hit me that I was going to be moving to Israel in July to start my Rabbinical School journey as we sat in the Passover and exclaimed, "Next Year in Jerusalem!" While everyone took that opportunity to look our direction with smiles, knowing that for some of us, saying that statement was in fact true, it hit me that next Passover, I would be in Jerusalem, having a different experience, something new to look forward to.

I've had many new beginnings in my life. Maybe that's why I dislike and shy away from change. I've moved quite a few times since I was a young girl, and have traveled many journeys throughout my life that have taken me to new places, physically, spiritually and emotionally. Yet this new beginning is something that I've been waiting for since the time of my Bat Mitzvah, and it seems both surreal and daunting to me that it has finally arrived.

We're beginning to face reality to make this change: we've started looking for an apartment in Jerusalem, have read the 74-page Year-in-Israel Handbook, and have started to say goodbye to Cleveland. We don't know at this point where we'll land after Israel, and though Cleveland isn't my favorite place in the world, it is the only place that Yoni and I have ever lived together, so in that way, it gives me a strange feeling to say goodbye.

This blog is a way for me to stay connected at home and to reach the few who would like to follow me on this journey. I promise to keep you posted as often as possible with pictures and stories, and hope that you'll keep in touch as well with whatever is going in your lives.

L'shanah Haba'ah B'Yerushalayim!