Long Overdue Update

Chag kasher V'sameach to all,

The other "big" change in our life is that we bought an apartment!! Yup, we now own a piece of property in Eretz Yisrael! It is very exciting. It is one thing to live in Israel and it is another thing to own real estate in Israel, but the biggest zechut is to live in Israel in your own real estate!! So, B"H, we are blessed to be in the midst of preparing for our upcoming move to our new apartment in Efrat up the block from where we are currently renting.

Chutz me ze, it is wonderful being in Israel for our second straight Peseach in a row. It is hard to believe that we have already been in Israel for a year, wow!

This Pesach was a very deep one for Am Yisrael and the world. As a world, we all saw a type of "Slavery to Freedom" story unfold right before our eyes in prime time television (Iraq) and as a jewish people we got to all internalize and understand the famous Hagaddah saying that in every generation there is a people that wants to destroy the Jewish people (The Palestinians).

Personally, as a child growing up, I always read that line in the Hagaddah thinking of the Holocaust as my reference to the closest time to my life that the Jewish people ever tried to be destroyed. But I never thought it would happen again. "Never Again" was the saying repeated time and time again by jew and non-jew alike. Never again would jew or non-jew, the world over, allow innocent jews to be killed for no reason other than being jews. Well, my time of innocence has ended. Has yours? Many jews and non-jews alike stood by (and continue to stand by) excusing the killings of jews/israelis by the palestinians. Ad ma-tie?

When will we, the Jewish people, learn to stop putting our faith in governments, people and written agrrements with signatures and start putting our faith in the only rightful place - HKB"H - and in our own deeds/actions that can make a difference?

Until then, may we all strive to improve ourselves - our deeds, our thoughts, our words, our faith - and may we all return to our homeland soon.

Chag kasher V'sameach!

Avi