It has become increasingly challenging to blog about Jerusalem when I haven't been there recently enough to collect new material to share. Not for lack of trying, mind you, but my best laid plans were overridden by His. Which, of course, makes it all the more necessary for me to
Remember Jerusalem - somehow.
Enter WhatsApp! As far away as I may physically be, I am grateful for the technology that zaps me Home instantly.
Messages and photos from friends in Israel warm my heart.
Words of
Torah from some of Israel's finest teachers stir my soul.
Videos and graphics make me cry, smile...and, yes, LOL.
I couldn't be in my beloved Land of Po for Chanuka but the lights of the holy Land brightened all eight nights...via WhatsApp!
When we were looking for a place to stay for the February trip that didn't happen, "Claudia" WhatsApped photos
of her beautiful Har Nof rental - and the breathtaking view from her window.
Although I couldn't reach out and touch a
sh'keydiah porachat
(blossoming almond tree) on Tu b'Shevat this year, a dear friend surprised me with a virtual one - WhatsApped, of course.
And on
Rosh Chodesh Adar, the first day of the happiest month on the Jewish calendar, I awoke to a WhatsHappY greeting from Israel,
where their month had begun seven hours earlier than mine. WhatsApp continued to gladden me with pre-Purim cheer - like this delightful WhatsHappY
flash mob straight from the streets of Jerusalem. (If clicking on the words doesn't work, type https://youtu.be/DhWnFXNBjkc into your browser.)
WhatsApp is arguably "the next best thing to being there" (for those of you old enough to remember that ad for long-distance phone calls). So join the fun! Send me your number and I'll WhatsHappILY send you my personal wishes for a very
WhatsHappY Purim wherever you are. Looking forward to receiving yours in return!
P.S. If you've been following this blog for a while, you may have noticed that I changed the wording on the header, replacing the verse "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem..." (Psalms 122:6), with King David's instruction (paraphrased) to "...
Remember Jerusalem above my greatest joy" (Psalms 137:6). On Erev Shabbat, December 30, the sixth day of Chanuka,
Rosh Chodesh Teves, we remembered Jerusalem above the immense joy of welcoming our first grandchild into the world.
Her name, Tehilla (which means praise), is mentioned many times in
Sefer Tehillim - that very same aforementioned Book of Psalms from which I have quoted so often in these blog posts and which I carry with me - literally and figuratively - always.
The name is most fitting for our praise and gratitude to the Almighty for this blessed addition to our lives. Tehilla lives about 220 miles away so our first glimpse of her was...you guessed it - on WhatsApp! The ongoing WhatsApping of photos and videos enables us to watch her grow on a daily basis. Definitely the next best thing to being there. May Tehilla Riva (middle-named for her maternal grandmother) bring true
nachas (Jewish pride and joy) to her parents (Yoel and Yael), grandparents, extended family and all
Am Yisrael.
Shabbat Shalom and A Very WhatsHappY Purim
from our house
to yours.
.
