I have heard from a number of people that one of the hardest adjustments for a North American oleh to make is the loss of Sundays. Having one day a week with “no responsibilities” (at least as far as work is concerned) is a great luxury and sanity-saver. Israel, as a Jewish state, does not celebrate Sunday as a day of rest. So even when Shabbat ends at 8pm, you still have to go to work tomorrow morning (and clean up, etc). Definitely a bummer.
However, I can now personally attest to a good way to get used to not having Sundays as a day off: have a baby. Especially a two-and-a-half week old cutie who is in the middle of a growth spurt and loves to eat every 1.5-2.5 hours, round-the-clock.
But you have to admit, he is really cute.
July 25th, 2005 at 13:04
A cutie is right! Hmm, is there a catalog I can order one of those from?! Enjoy your new “work” 7 days a week!
July 25th, 2005 at 14:13
He’s downright adorable!
On the “Sundays” note though…it’s not just the relaxation of Sundays, it’s the ability to engage in activity that is not-work and not-Shabbat: shopping (both for luxuries and for necessities), cleaning, taking your family to a museum or the beach, going through your bills… I imagine that I’d be exhausted if the only time I had to do all of that was weekday evenings, on top of making/eating dinner, helping with homework (no kids yet, but I can pretend), preparing lunches for the next day, and just taking a few moments to decompress so I can actually sleep. (And I have good working hours, too…)