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| Image: http://www.air-and-space.com/ |
Flights to Israel during the times of High Holidays are a spectacular scene.
Seeing the airport filled with families, single Jews with caps, kippot srugot, payot, colorful wraps, black tickles, sheitels and shpietzels is enlightening. Everyone eyes each other trying to figure out what camp that person belongs to.
After eyeing every person in the security belt line, one gets a relatively accurate idea of what the flight will be like and who they want as a sitting partner.
There were fifteen infants on the plane, each one of them making sure no one will forget they are present by screaming out in a loud tone of voice.
G-d blessed me with the gift of fatigue. As soon as the plane took off, my eyes closed. They reopened only when the pilot announced the landing. The pilot was practically crying into the speakerphone begging the people to take their seats and fasten their seat belts. No one listened. People walked about the plane as if they were in kindergarden disobeying the preschool teachers' demand. Finally a flight attendant walked over and asked each person individually to take their seat. We landed.
After retrieving our luggages we headed for the cab section to take a Sherut to Jerusalem. For those who have never been privileged enough to travel in a Sherut, let me explain. A Sherut is a large taxi which takes ten passengers who are traveling to locations that are close to each other.
Well, this Sherut ride was the best one I have ever had. There were people from all over the world, everyone was chatting, telling their life stories. As the Sherut dropped off its passengers one by one, we parted with wishes for a wonderful New Year.
I stepped out of the taxi into the warm Jerusalem air. This was going to be a special set of Holidays.
