In Hebrew, Matt's name sounds extremely similar to the word for "dead," met, מת. This was first brought to our attention years ago in Jerusalem when my 5 year-old neighbor would chase Matt around the backyard yelling: "Matt atah met ?" "Matt are you dead?" Most adults, however, don't seemed bothered by this, expect, that is, for our friend's father. Since moving to Haifa we have spent much time with said friend's father. He and his wife fed us when we had no kitchen, he helped us navigate the apartment search, even meeting with our landlord and writing up our lease contract. All the while, we noticed, never quite getting Matt's name right. Sometimes he was Matts, sometimes it sounded more like Max, but it was never Matt. This past shabbat, my friend was in town visiting her parents and we were invited over for dinner. As we entered the house we were greeted by a booming voice: "Shalom, Stef! Shalom, Mitch!" Mitch? Who's Mitch? We all laughed. "Dad, his name is Matt," our friend corrected. But for the rest of the evening, Matt was Mitch, there was nothing anyone could do about it. After a great meal, it was time to go home: "Goodnight Stef, goodnight Mitch," to which Matt replied: "If you're going to change my name, at least call me chai," (Hebrew word for "life") - we'll see which name sticks.
As soon as Shabbat ended, we rushed out of the house to begin our evening activities. Stef had made plans to roam around the art fair that was in conjunction with the Haifa International Film Festival with a new Haifa friend. During which time Matt would hang out with her husband and kids. Then we would switch kid duty and the men would go to the final basketball game of a pre-season tournament being held at the newly renovated sports center. This was the plan until right before Shabbat when we made a deal to pick up some cabinets and a desk from someone we met while searching for a couch (sometimes you're looking for one thing and something else just falls into your lap), who said we could either pick up the furniture Saturday night or we would have to wait until they got back from vacation. Luckily for us, the friends we had plans with have a big car, so we hired a babysitter for them and while Stef and friend went off to the festival, Matt and friend loaded up and delivered cabinets to our still unfurnished, but slowly getting there, apartment. They even made it to most of the basketball game!
8am Sunday morning we met the movers who would help us move the fridge and stove (that we acquired for free) from the neighbors down the street to our apartment (we weren't going to be able to do this move on our own). Watching two men move a huge fridge using a long strap slung over their shoulders and barely using their hands as they navigate three flights of stairs is a pretty amazing sight to see. Another amazing sight to see: the amount of sweat that this one mover produced. It literally looked like he just got out of the shower and I had to follow his around the apartment wiping up small pools of sweat that were accumulating all over the floor. In just over half an hour our kitchen was now equipped with a fridge and stove, which was great, except for the fact that they were utterly disgusting. Not only had they been sitting in a storage unit since April, it looks like the previous owner never once cleaned them. The fridge was basically covered in a thin layer of grim, both inside and out and the stove was streaked with grease, all the crevices filled with greasy food remains. BUT, they were free, so we put on our rubber gloves and started scrubbing. Actually... before we started cleaning, we popped over to the film festival and saw a really interesting film about an haredi (ultra-orthodox) family and issues of marriage ("Fill the Void"). After many hours of work, the stove looks almost brand new and the fridge still looks old, but really clean.
Sunday afternoon we headed back to Ahuza to spend Simchat Torah with the same family we spent Yom Kippur with. Even though this chag (holiday) is supposed to filled with fun and dancing, we were both feeling pretty "holiday-ed out" so we took it easy and had a relaxing day. As Simachat Torah ended on Monday night, we entered a new phase in Israeli life: "Achrei HaChaggim" ("After the Holidays"). From a few weeks before Rosh HaShana throughout the month that comprises the fall Jewish holidays nothing much gets done in this country, everyone uttering the common refrain: "It'll get done after the holidays" "Be in touch with me after the holidays" "Your lift with all your worldly possessions will get delivered after the holidays." Now that this elusive time has arrived, let's see what happens...
Back in our apartment we were excited to put our new appliances to work! First load of laundry, success! Second load of laundry, mostly towels, another story... Until our lift arrives, we only own three towels, all of which were in dire need of washing. It seems, however, that our washing machine can't quite handle that kind of load. After watching the machine struggle to spin our water-soaked towels around, I (Stef) decided to lighten the load and take out two of the towels. This didn't help as much as we hoped and the machine continued to huff and puff. At the same time we decided it was a good time to plug in our newly cleaned fridge. Within minutes, the power was out. We found the circuit breaker and flipped the electricity back on. Less than a minute later, pop! lights out. Convinced that the fridge (which is about as old as we are) was causing the damage, we unplugged it in a hurry, but before we knew it, lights out again. Our poor washing machine was so over worked it was completed over-heated and was causing the power to shut off. Long story short, we have clean towels and have had a few successful loads of laundry since with the fridge and electricity all in working order.
As if all the holidays weren't enough, the day after the holidays are over is still kind of a holiday - the kids don't have school. To enjoy this non-holiday holiday, Stef accompanied her friend and three small children to a farm to pick onions to donate to charity. This experience only confirmed that Stef's destiny is to be a farmer. You heard it here first people.
Turns out the cabinets we had bought were in less-than-great condition - one missing foot and doors that don't close properly. Luckily for us, the man we bought them from is a carpenter and offered to stop by and fix any and all problems, for no cost. This man, a virtual stranger, stopped by our apartment Wednesday morning, tool box in hand and fixed the cabinets right up. He even gave us some advice on other fix-it projects around the house, insisted that we keep the wood glue and some plastic wall anchors in case we need them and told us to call him if we ever need anything. Everyone here really does treat you like family, for better and for worse, whether their actually related to you or someone you just met.
On a serious note, this week also brought the last day of Kaddish (the mourner's prayer) for Matt's dad. For the last 11 months, Matt has been attending services three times daily to say the mourner's kaddish for his dad, an experience which has profoundly shaped each and every day. As Matt noted at the unveiling we held in Los Angeles before we made aliyah, saying kaddish in a minyan every day has allowed him to take his dad with him everywhere we went. From our community in Chicago to our childhood homes in LA and Buffalo to camp in Wisconsin, vacations in Florida, Boston, Maine and Panama City and finally to our new home in Haifa, his dad's memory has traveled with us. We are now entering a new chapter as we prepare for his first yahrzeit (the yearly anniversary of his passing) in one month's time. Thank you all who have supported and comforted us in this past year, may we have only happy times to come!
We're off to Jerusalem for the Shabbat to meet up with Matt's uncle, aunt and cousin who we haven't seen since we got here.
Shabbat Shalom and have a great weekend,
Stef and Matt
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