[img]96|left|||no_popup[/img]Dateline Jerusalem – Often I conveniently forget how far away Israel is from the U.S. In flight miles, it is approximately 8,000 between Los Angeles and Tel Aviv over the polar route and a mere 15 1/2 hours during that non-stop flight. But it really doesn't seem like such a long flight with delicious meals, movies and TV at your individual seat. As for time, Israel is 10 hours ahead of Los Angeles, 8 ahead of Chicago, and 7 ahead of New York. Just before Yom Kippur, Israelis turned back their clocks, and the time difference is now 9, 7, and 6 hours respectively until the U.S. turns their clocks back on Nov. 4. I am looking forward to the time change because it is much easier for me to subtract 10 than 9. When it comes to distance and time with phones and computers, sitting in Israel is like sitting in the U.S. Reception is like speaking locally. It takes just seconds to communicate with friends and relatives halfway around the world.
When I first moved to Israel, I signed up for a phone service that provided me unlimited phone calls, incoming and outgoing. I have a local California phone number that enables my family to call me for free and talk for literally hours at a time. We definitely take advantage of the convenience. I am in daily contact with many of them. Of course it is not the same as actually being with them, or seeing them, except when I use Skype. But it feels as though I am nearby. The calls I receive are not the “hi, how are you?” kind, but are requests to wake them up just in case they oversleep or turn off their alarm clock, calls for recipes, calls for advice, and often just calls because we spoke daily when I was still in the U.S. The only time it gets difficult is during holidays because most Jewish holidays in Israel are observed for one day while two days are observed in the U.S. For example, since religious Jews cannot speak on the phone during Shabbat or holidays, I cannot call the U.S. when Shabbat is over here because it is still Shabbat there due to the time difference. My family and friends do not understand this. Many of them are non-observant Jews and use the phone anyway. But I do not call them because I cannot put them in a position of desecrating Shabbat by picking up their phone.
The distance between Israel and the U.S. seems to be endless when I must return to the States on short notice. Not only must I face the dire circumstances of what unexpectedly brought me to the States in the first place, but I must waste time at the airport for three hours awaiting the flight after check-in, then endure the 15 1/2 hour flight that suddenly seems like eternity, stand in long lines for passport control and customs, and drive 1 1/2 to 2 hours to my destination. It is times like these that remind me of how far away I am from my loved ones. Speaking on the phone daily is not the same as having to be somewhere important with so many time and distance obstacles along the way.
This past week was particularly frustrating for me. I had both a stomach and respiratory flu. My doctor was on vacation due to the holidays we were celebrating. Just before Shabbat, I learned of my mother undergoing emergency hip replacement surgery. Shortly after Shabbat, I learned of her having a slight heart attack in the ICU while recuperating from that surgery. My family told me not to make flight reservations back to California yet, but to pack a suitcase just in case. In the meantime, I worried about how I would travel if G-d forbid I needed to come to the States, how I would withstand such a long flight during my illness, and whether I would arrive in time. Thank G-d my mother seems to be doing better.
But the worry about time and distance has stressed me, making me realize that living so far away is indeed troublesome. Why can't I travel as fast as phone and internet connections? With all the Israeli inventions that have contributed to the betterment of the world, I can only hope that one day soon they will figure out a way of traveling those 8,000 miles in an hour or two.
L'hitraot. Shachar
