The happenings of Tuesday October 8, 2024 until Sunday October 20, 2024 in transit from Caesarea, Israel to Casarea, Israel
The week leading up to Sukkot was mostly calm, except for the sirens that were coming more frequently. In theory I wanted to take them exploring on a weekly basis, but the increased attacks made that slightly problematic. Instead, the boys spent their days learning, swimming, biking, meeting up with cousins, picking fruit from my parents’ trees, and making sukkah decorations. Amichai even led a few science experiments for his brothers. He tried making rock candy, but didn’t have all the materials ready before the experiment started so the experiment failed. It was an important lesson for all. The slower pace was a good break from the constant movement of our recent travels. Meanwhile, Eitan’s pain had gone away and his swelling had almost disappeared, though not fully, which was still concerning.
My father and I rescheduled our sailing trip for the Sunday before Sukkot. We figured this would give us a chance to get comfortable with the rental boat before taking the kids out with us. Also, the rental company – Freesail – only allows customers to sail their catamarans once they’ve taken a lesson with one of their sailing instructors. Chaim and the boys enjoyed playing on the beach in Sdot Yam while Dad and I sailed. It felt amazing to be back on the water and special to be with my dad who was so eager to teach me what he knew. By the end, I felt ready to take the boys out with us, but our time was up. We expected to be able to go again before Sukkot. However, high winds and Eitan’s tooth acting up again foiled our plan. Instead, the boys spent the day swimming and making sukkah decorations. My dad and I figured we would reschedule for some time during chol hamoed Sukkot/middle days of Sukkot.
The boys worked hard to help Grandma and Poppop set up the sukkah in time for Sukkot. They particularly enjoyed using the ladder to hang decorations higher up. At some point, Chaim needed to get into the pool to finish screwing one of the walls back together. Building a sukkah from inside a pool was a unique experience he could never have dreamed of before that moment. Afterward I took them biking to a bike park with small slaloms built into it. Right next to us there was an after-school tennis club taking place. A little bit into our excursion, I noticed it had gotten strangely quiet. The tennis players had disappeared. All of a sudden we heard “boom”, “boom”, “boom”, “boom”, “boom”. I hadn’t received any alerts and figured the booms were from a city nearby, but nothing we needed to really worry about. At Amichai’s suggestion, we walked our bikes to under a giant olive tree and waited there. We knew the coast was clear when the tennis club reemerged. Our biking excursion ended soon after when the boys decided they thought it safer to be home. Later, I found out that the interceptions had happened over Netanya, about thirty minutes south of us, and we were probably fine.
Sukkot was finally here, which this year fell on Chaim’s and my anniversary. We didn’t do anything special for it, but being on this crazy adventure together is certainly giving us plenty to appreciate and for which to be grateful.
I love Sukkot in Israel. It is one of the prettiest seasons. The weather is absolutely gorgeous. Warm, but not too warm. Windy, but not too windy. It is the perfect time to sit outside in a hut remembering the temporary nature of all things. Most of all, everywhere you turn there is a sukkah. Once again, a reminder that we were with our people. The first day of Sukkot was calm and quiet. Shul was busy with tons of children to play with and most excitingly, the Rabbi was back from miluim/reserve duty. Motzei chag/after the first day of sukkot ended, we went to the rabbi’s house for a simchat beit hashoeva/traditional sukkot party. Traditionally, gathering in and visiting friends’ or neighbors’ sukkot/huts is exciting and full of joyful singing and banter. This year, a balance needed to be struck between moving forward and remembering October 7 and current situation. The rabbi did a lovely job keeping the singing calm yet joyous and leaving space to pray for the hostages and soldiers fighting to bring them home. The boys enjoyed their time, especially because they had a chance to play with other kids.
The next day the boys and I walked to the sand dunes near the beach. In terms of sirens and possible attacks, the situation had not changed much. However, we could not stay cooped up in my parents’ house forever and leaving felt much more like an act of resistance than anything else we could have done. I’m not going to lie. As much as I was confident we would be fine, I never stopped scanning the skies for potential threats or thinking about what we do in a worst case scenario the entire time we were out. The boys had a blast running up and rolling down the hot dunes before realizing how close to the water we were. They made their way up and over the ancient aqueduct, excited to wade in the water. The waves were so strong that I had to stand behind Matanel and Shai to make sure they wouldn’t be swept away in the undertow. As my thoughts lingered on doom related possibilities, the boys jumped over waves and laughed so hard their sides hurt.
That afternoon my brother’s family joined us at the house. They would be staying for Shabbat and we hoped for the remainder of sukkot.
Shabbat was lovely, except for a loud boom at 7:00AM that shook the whole house. To be fair, I might have slept through it. My brother received an update informing us that Bibi Netanyahu’s house had been attacked. Bibi’s house in Caesarea is a five to ten-minute walk from my parents’ house. Military helicopters filled the sky for the next few hours as they worked to assess and manage the situation. As was reported in the news the next day, a drone crashed into one of Bibi’s windows. And, as Israelis have learned to do, everyone continued about the day as if it was just another normal day. Guests came for lunch, the kids swam away the rest of the day, and the older kids enjoyed a movie night.
All was well, except for Eitan whose tooth pain and swelling were back.
