A Few Days in Yerushalayim

Recently I went for a short trip to E”Y and it was more restorative and helpful than I could have hoped for. I once heard that when you are desperate for a vacation, that means you needed one long ago, and that is how I felt going into this trip.

 

I had also not been to Eretz Yisroel in three and a half years and I was a little nervous about going back; what emotions would it bring up in me?

 

I landed on a Wednesday afternoon and took the train from the airport to Yerushalayim (my first time taking the train – do it)! I braved public transportation with my fifty-pound suitcase and schlepped it onto the 3 bus to Sorotzkin to my cousin’s apartment.

 

That night I woke up at 2:30 AM (jet lag), and as I lay in bed, I became aware of a change that had come over me while I slept. I felt like a new person, renewed and reconnected to something deep and alive in me. I felt happy. I got out of bed and looked out the window at the lights along the mountains of Yerushalayim, and I could not catch my breath. I stood at the window and gasped and cried and felt whole and at home for the first time in forever.

 

This was the energy of my trip (all four and a half days of it). I felt awake and alive in Yerushalayim and I did not want to go back to the U.S. I davened at the Kosel every day and went to Kever Rochel and took my seminary cousins out to eat and davened at the kever of my grandfather the week of his yahrtzeit. I got to do something very special and visit my grandmother for the first time in three and a half years. I connected and reconnected with cousins. I ate frozen yogurt and pizza with rotev and a Belgian waffle with three sauces. I took buses and the light rail and walked and breathed and looked around like I was seeing everything for the first time.

 

Believe it or not, my four and a half days felt leisurely and luxurious. I had gone with no agenda (kind of forgot I was going), and I took it slow and followed my instincts.

 

I had a beautiful Shabbos with family and wrapped up my trip on Sunday evening, taking the train back to the airport.

 

I miss it and can’t wait to go back.