Ready

Someone reminded me of the Hebrew word for loving kindness - Chesed. That is what you need to have in your suitcase.

I'm still not in Israel, but in a strangely rearranged apartment where about a quarter of the space has been completely emptied out for the workmen, and everything else has been packed into places you would never put anything (there's a small bookshelf, for example, right in front of the refrigerator door). Time is slightly askew as well - I'm planning to catch a few hours sleep and get up at three a.m. to catch the airport shuttle. Next time I post, I'll be in a different place.

Somebody told me a couple of weeks ago, that going on a pilgrimage will make me into a "new person." I don't know what I think of this, but I do know that my apartment is going to be very much changed when I get back. Also, cleaning out my closet and finding a lot of stuff that used to be impossible to throw away, and which I now haven't touched in nine years and no longer need, shows me that I'm already a new person, without having traveled anywhere at all.