Lockdown again!

As we settled into our new home the covid infection rate in Israel rocketed and the government started putting restrictions in place. Initially this didn't have much impact on our daily lives but as we headed to the High Holy Days it became apparent that we were in for a more severe lockdown. We had been due to be back in the UK for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, but difficulties in getting insurance for Malcolm (having been in hospital within the last six months with Covid) and the new restrictions meant that we stayed in Israel. Gila and Tzvi were unable to come to us as Tzvi only had permission to leave base to go to his own home, but with synagogue services outdoors and going to friends for a meal Rosh Hashana passed pleasantly enough even if felt unnaturally quiet. It was then announced that even greater restrictions were going to be imposed on the eve of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, further limiting synagogue services. We could go no more that 1km from our home other than for food and medical supplies and we were not allowed to have anyone from another household in our house. These restrictions would remain in place until after the festival of Sukkot, Tabernacles, two weeks later. This obviously had a huge impact on everyone as the key to enjoying celebrating the Jewish festivals is spending time with family and friends, and it was disheartening to cancel the arrangements we had made. Police cars were stationed at major junctions to check that people had a legitimate reason to be out.

However, every cloud has a silver lining; our shipment arrived at the port of Ashdod as scheduled but instead of taking a week or more to clear customs we received a call to say they would like to bring our shipment the very next day, just before Yom Kippur.

So in preparation for lockdown and the shipment, we bought 25 bookcases from IKEA and Malcolm started building the library, whilst the builder finished off his work.

Additionally, the gap year programme for Aron, our cousin's 18 year old son, decided to close during lockdown so we had the pleasure of his company for the next three weeks. Thursday morning, bright and early the 40ft container appeared. 320 boxes/items later the builder finished his last job and Aron turned up. Timing is everything!

I had anticipated that it would take two weeks to unpack everything but with Aron's help - I don't know how we would have managed without him - and nothing else to do we were finished well before then. It was lovely to see our furniture, and reassuring how well it all fitted in, as if we had bought it for the house, even though the Barn had been such a different property. We had to laugh at ourselves at some of the things we had shipped all the way across the Mediterranean.

One of the customs of Succot, the Festival of Tabernacles, is to build a temporary dwelling in your garden, to represent the period when the Children of Israel were in the desert for 40 years. We eat all our meals in it which can be very challenging when you live in the UK where it is usually, although not always, wet and cold, especially as the roof has gaps in it so that you can see the stars. My parents and other family members had been due to come to Israel for Succot but obviously that was not going to happen so we invited friends for meals. Sadly the lockdown rules specifically stated that you could not host anyone in your Succah, even though it was outdoors, so it was just the three of us. Despite this we decided to buy a Succah big enough for the number of people we would have liked to have hosted, and hopefully will be able to host in the future. The weather was glorious so, knowing that the weather was awful that week in the UK, we ate every meal in the Succah and tried not to complain about being too hot.

When we had canceled our September trip to England we rebooked our tickets for the Thursday 15th October, after Succot. We didn't tell anyone as there were so many reason why we might have to cancel again. The airport was closed and anyone wishing to leave the country needed special permission unless you booked your ticket before midnight on 25th September. We had booked on the 25th. Even though we had already flown in a pandemic it was eerie at the airport, although very exciting to use our Israeli passports for the first time. So unbelievably empty and quiet with no more than two flights an hour. One meaty and one milky eatery was open in the departure hall and that was it. On our British Airways flight there were roughly 50 people. The baggage hall at Heathrow was empty, although it still took ages for our luggage to come through.

Our flights were booked for 10 days as the bizarre UK quarantine rules mean that you can break quarantine to travel back to the airport. They also allow anyone living in the house where you quarantine to go about their business as usual so Samuel wouldn't have to quarantine even though he lives in our flat. With my parents in the flat below we would be able to sit on their patio and catch up with family and friends. However as we all know making plans at the moment is pointless. As we were sitting in the departure lounge we were getting messages about England going into a stricter lockdown and much debate as to whether our London based family (we are in Hertfordshire) would be allowed to come into our garden as London moved to tier two. We then woke up on Friday morning to learn that Israel were changing the UK's status from green to red and anyone arriving into the country after midnight on 22nd October would have to go into two weeks quarantine. Needless to say we immediately got on the phone to BA and are now going home on Thursday 22nd after only a week. We had a lovely Friday night dinner with the boys, and Shabbat lunch with my parents but having seen friends in the garden all through Saturday we have sadly come to the conclusion that its just too cold to sit outside and we don't want to go back ill. What would have worked in September doesn't work now. Apart from our siblings we have cancelled all other garden visits. To quote Malcolm's Mother's favourite poet, Robert Burns, the best laid plans of mice and men......

The main aim of the trip was to spend time with the boys and my parents and we have achieved that. It's a balmy 27 in Israel and whilst it doesn't look like Israel will be letting non Israelis into the country any time soon its seems possible that Israel could become a green country in the near future and we might be able to come back to England without having to quarantine. Here's hoping.