Chagim 2022

 That brings us to the end of Chagim season of Tishrei 2022. It was truly a great time, filled with smachot, davening, family, friends, grandparents, siblings, etc. It was a good month to be living in Modiin.

Already spoke about Rosh Hashana a few posts back. 

Erev YK we went to the beach for a mikva and 3 on 3 football game. 

YK - I was supposed to do mincha in the main shul which was exciting to me, but I completely lost my voice 2 days before chag. Could not even whisper, in fact I did zoom calls with a text to voice app (including calls I gave tutorials on). DR switched me. Somehow, by miracle I was able to sing by the time Neila came around, so I did that at the Newmarks. It was pretty good until I started losing my voice again around Kedusha and it was a struggle to get through. 

Arba Minim was a big success this year, I love Shmita. 

First chag of sukkot was fantastic, lots of family time. 

Eitan came to shul almost every day, and he got his own lulav and etrog. He loved the shaking, the hoshanot, and of course, the Torah coming out. I also brought an Etrog to Hila and Hadar. 

One day of CH, we spent with the Newmarks and went to a Petach Tikva zoo which was very nice. Later we did takeout of Keyad Hadimion, and I painted a snacks bowl for my home office. 

The next day was my family day. We went fruit picking in the morning, which was really fun. Then we had a rest break, and left for Jerusalem. We went to the aquarium which was so nice, both kids loved it (Fish are friends not food). We finished the day with a short wiffle ball game (Eitan was a star) at Bubby and Zayde, and then a BBQ which was super fun to see everyone. 

The next day, I worked for most of the day and left for Jerusalem at 2:30 for the proposal. Was incredible to be there, and of course the Lechayim afterwards was a lot of fun. 

Friday morning, Shifra was positive about the rest of the day. We quickly setup the Sukkah Hop for the next day. The Sukkah hop was nice, Eitan's grade was small (though he loved going to the Rabbi's sukkah and the Raymonds), but the other groups were big.

Friday night we had delicious brisket at Sandy's thanks to Donni. 

Shabbat lunch we had at the Newmarks which was nice. 

Sunday morning I went to Hashkama, went shopping, and then played wiffle ball and football (Hoshana Raba tradition). I then went to JJ for Kreplach, and had by far my least ever there (8-10 range). It was so delicious though. I sent a message to teens about Chag and included to please not talk about scores you find out about in shul.

Simchat Torah night was so much energy, thanks to the teens, specific teens, and RAC. It was very leibidik, and elevated the holiday to another level. E and H both had a great one, collecting tons of candy, kissing torahs, going on all the grandfathers' and my shoulders, and loving the atmosphere. I gave out a TON of candy at night and in the morning, and I liked it, I think I will be a candyman when I grow up. Then we had Ari and Maya and Amitay which was super fun. It is really fun to be so close to them in Modiin, especially with our kids liking each other so much. They played nicely for over an hour by themselves with barely any intervention on our part. Ken Yirbu!

The morning davening was nice, but nowhere near the same level. I gave out a million candies again, and it was great holding E and H for Kol Hanearim. We gave out the leftover Q and A ice cream to the teens, and gave lollipops to non-teens. 

All in all, a wonderful holiday season. I love holiday season, family, etc. but I also love my day to day life, so I am enjoying the moments but also looking forward to real life.