[img]96|left|||no_popup[/img]Dateline Jerusalem – I am moving! The keys to my new apartment (old building but newly renovated interior) will be mine next week. According to Talmudic sages, a person's luck, “mazal” in Hebrew, changes when moving to a new location. You have heard the saying, “location, location, location.” I could not be happier with my new location. It is in the same neighborhood of Rehovot, Israel, where I now reside, down the street from my current apartment. My new neighbors across the hall, and across the parking lot, happen to be friends of mine. In Ethics of our Fathers, when Rabbi Yochanan asked his students the best trait for a person to acquire, Rabbi Yossi said “a good neighbor.”

It Still Counts

Although I am not buying a home, certain traditions still are observed even when renting. According to Jewish law, renting is considered a temporary purchase. Because moving to a new home is a joyous occasion, especially with a change of luck for the better, it is customary to have a home dedication party, “Chanukat Habayit,” where friends get together to express blessings and wishes for a happy stay. The shecheyanu blessing is recited, “Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the Universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion,” and a new fruit is eaten.

I once did a term paper on “bubbe meises,” literally grandmother stories, also known as old wives tales. My grandmother, may she rest in peace, lived to 100 years old. She was my main source. She told me there was an ancient Jewish custom of bringing salt and a loaf of bread into the home before anything else. Bread is considered the basic staple of human sustenance. It has been used as a metaphor for prosperity and never knowing hunger. Salt symbolizes the permanence of the new home because salt does not lose its flavor, does not spoil, does not decay. A variation of this tradition is the addition of sugar so that your life will have sweetness and a penny so that there will be wealth in the new home. Some also bring a broom to sweep away troubles. There is a custom of bringing in Jewish books and a tzedakah (charity) box before the furniture is delivered. The reason: To establish the essence of a Jewish home, a home of Torah study and kindness.

Any Day I Choose

Since my current lease does not expire until the end of January, and the new furniture I intend to order cannot be delivered for up to two months, I can take my time packing boxes and gradually moving over small items. Best of all is that I can choose the day of my move without being stressed that I must immediately move out of the apartment I have lived in since I made aliyah five years ago. According to kabbalah, the most propitious day of the week to move is Tuesday, the only day G-d saw “it is good” twice. Shabbat and Jewish holidays are days of rest. Moving cannot take place then. The divine attribute of severity is dominant on Mondays and Wednesdays. Therefore, those days should be avoided. Considering I am active in a religious women's charitable organization that meets on Tuesdays, has Coffee and Torah on Tuesdays, and sometimes has book sales on Tuesdays, I might become stressed finding a Tuesday to move after all.

I am looking forward to opening my home to family and friends. I cannot wait to cook in my new kitchen, gather around my dining room table for an abundance of food since another Jewish tradition is making sure your guests have so much food that they have to insist they cannot eat another bite. In Israel especially, salad with dinner means a minimum of four and up to 20 different kinds. Best of all is the good conversation and sharing of joyous times together.

L'hitraot. Shachar