Boker Tov dear readers!

Is it Wednesday already? Time flies, as they say. Someone once told me that time passes much faster here in Israel than anywhere else. And there seems to be something to that, as impossible as it may sound. 

I still remember my teenage years in my home town of Oldenburg. There, the days lasted forever. I typically finished school around 1:10 p.m., and still had plenty of hours before it got dark. 

But here in Israel? As soon as I’ve finished my work day I go home, immediately have to drive someone somewhere, and before I know it, the day is over. And then it starts all over again just a few short hours later.

But perhaps these are just the seasons of life. Our daily routine as adults is by necessity completely different. We are now in a daily grind with few variations, whereas in our younger years we still had our whole lives ahead of us, we had yet to make our most important decisions impacting our futures.

Army service over, what now?

Our daughter finally completed her mandatory military service at the end of September, and is now busy pondering one of those important life decisions–what next?

I had gotten used to seeing her day-in and day-out in uniform. So it’s a little surprising each time I pick her up at the train station and she’s in civilian clothing. 

The time has come for her to decide on a career path. She is currently taking a preparatory course at a prestigious design school in Tel Aviv. The IDF has borne the costs for this, which is part of the benefits with which one is released into civilian life after the army. 

Soon she will take the entrance exams, the results of which will weigh heavily on the direction in which she will further develop. 

Will she study in Tel Aviv? Or in Jerusalem, giving her the opportunity to ride with me to the capital every morning? And what happens if she doesn’t get accepted anywhere? 

There’s a lot of competition in this industry. The course for one particular field of study received around 400 applications for just 100 places.

Our apartment currently looks like a design studio. Utensils are scattered everywhere, pens, paints, fabrics, sketches, a needle here and there, etc. The dining table is completely occupied, meaning we now often eat at the living room table. 

What will a parent not suffer for the success of their child?

Time flies, and the Shabbat looms

But why was I so concerned that it’s already Wednesday? 

The weekend is fast approaching, and that means a rush to get all the Shabbat shopping done. After all, everything should be in order when our eldest son comes to visit with his girlfriend. 

Yes, time flies. I can still remember a time when we went to my wife’s parents every weekend. Now it is we who do the hosting. And everything has to be perfect. The best day for shopping is Wednesday, when supermarkets get fresh goods and the crowds are still manageable. Most people make the mistake of only doing their shopping on Thursday.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that the weather will cooperate with our plans. While the sun is shining today, and we should have even above average temperatures tomorrow, rain is again expected at the weekend. 

But we need the rain. And when we have all the children home for the Shabbat, the sun shines on us, even when it’s raining outside.

And now, together with my colleagues from the Israel Today editorial team, I wish you a wonderful and pleasant Wednesday.

Shalom from Jerusalem!