Can't Quite Believe It's Been a Year

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And That's the End of That (For Now)

On Friday, the US announced the end of passengers needing to have a negative Covid test before flying to the US. This, unfortunately, happened about an hour before Shabbos and almost caused my phone to have a meltdown from the large number of calls and messages from people who had booked antigen tests with me for Saturday night, after the end of Shabbat. It certainly caused the last hour before Shabbat started to be WAY more stressful than I would prefer.....

On Saturday night, we worked out all the details of who definitely needed to test (those flying before 7:01 a.m. Sunday, Israel time [aka midnight US time], those who tested just because they were concerned that someone at the airport might not have read the memo (mostly people flying Sunday morning) and the vast majority who said "Yippee!" and canceled their tests.

I just flew to visit my mother a few weeks ago, when the mask mandate was undergoing big changes: when I flew out, no masks were required in Ben Gurion airport (I wore one), but when we lined up to board, everyone had to wear a mask from then until landing (although they were MUCH less strict about it than any other time I've flown during Covid). When I returned home four days later, I left Boston at 8:30 pm. At midnight, the mask mandate for air travel was expiring in Israel. Would masks be required for the first half of the flight? Nah. El Al took the easy way out and masks were not required on the entirety of the return flight (I wore one [seeing a trend?!]). 

Mandatory covid testing had stopped two weeks before my return home. It was really nice to have "the circle" that one enters at Ben Gurion upon leaving baggage claim once again have people around it waiting for arriving travelers. And, no matter how well-run and quick the covid testing process was (and it was!!), it was great to just exit the airport without doing anything else. 

Had I been asked, though, I would have suggested that the governments involved wait a bit longer to get rid of testing. There have been a LOT of changes in the last month or two, and what have we seen? A very large rise in covid infections (likely vastly under-counted because, hey, relatively few people need to get tested for anything any more).

In the meantime, I'm taking early early retirement ;)

Adventures in Covid Testing

 Earlier this year, the company I work for started doing official rapid antigen Covid testing and testing now takes up a surprisingly-large part of my day (seriously--I have done over 650 tests!). Our tests give people either an official travel document or, for people not traveling, the results get entered in the Ministry of Health, thus giving someone a 24 hour "Green Pass" (which is being phased out at the moment, but formerly was required for entrance to a movie theater, hotel, restaurant, etc) ) OR an official Covid diagnosis. The results make their way from my company to the Ministry of Health and then over to the person's kupah (HMO) where they become a "forever" part of their health record. 

this will hold me for a few days!

It's interesting to note the American mindset, as people visiting here just do not understand how un-private your health info is. If you are officially Covid positive and show up to the airport (which, by the way you can't enter without proof of your flight and a negative Covid test) and try to fly--EVEN with proof of a negative Covid test--during the time you are supposed to be in in quarantine: THEY KNOW. And you will (supposedly, at least. Thankfully no one I know has tried to pull this off) be taken from the airport and put in a Covid hotel. So often people say to me, "well, in the US they'd never know". Yup. And here they do. So don't try any funny business!

And speaking of un-private: I was appalled when the list of my vaccinations from my kupah contained two other pages with a list of prescription medication I've taken this past year AND the results of my last blood work! I printed the vaccination list and decided that Delta would just have to somehow deal without knowing my latest blood count (where's that eye-roll emoji?!).

waiting on results

Back to Covid testing: We do a throat (tonsil) swab and a swab of each nostril (also a difference w the US, I hear, as you guys are evidently not throat-swabbing for antigen tests). I am well-protected with gloves, a surgical gown, mask and face shield, which is good given the number of people who gag or cough on me after the throat swab (I hear you, folks--not my favorite thing either).

People flying into the US have to do an antigen test the calendar day before their flight. Note that it's not 24 hours before, just one calendar day, which is much more flexible and user-friendly. This means that anyone flying Saturday night before midnight can do their test anytime Friday. For Shabbat-observant people, this is a huge help. Too bad more people don't know about it, as I generally have a small number of tests on Fridays and a LARGE number of people setting up appointments for Saturday night (those flying after midnight have no choice).

The company uses a scheduling site that books appointments 5 minutes apart, which generally is great as long as people keep to their appointment times. My first test of the day is 7:55 a.m.most days and the other day I was stunned to hear, while I was davening (praying) at 7:35 that there were voices outside. And those voices clearly did not belong to my neighbors getting in their cars and driving off.....EEK.  Luckily our friend Ephraim, who had stayed over for Shabbat, was leaving early Sunday morning and told them I'd be out in a bit. Let's just say it wasn't the best praying I had ever done 

Unusual answers to the website questions:

"City of residence in Israel (required by the Ministry of Health to keep track of which cities are orange/red)": "New York" 

"City of residence in Israel": "US"

"Your passport number": "No" (I still have no idea what this person meant. But they did, indeed, show up with a passport)

And, of course, many of the folks visiting from the US put their birth date in US form, mixing up month/day with day/month (even though the website asks for it in Israeli order and gives an example).

If I'm home/awake, I'm happy to do a test. This has led to some madcap moments such as when my good friend found out she was Covid + on a home test and it was 11:30 at night. "QUICK!!!! Come down right now and I'll get your results in the Ministry of Health so today counts as Day 1". This has happened a number of times around 9 or 10 pm, but that was the only time doing the test and getting the results was a nail-biter countdown to midnight (the results take 15 minutes and it takes another minute or two for me to input into the Ministry of Health). The current rule in Israel is that you have 5 days of bidud after a positive result. the day you get a positive result is Day 1. If you get a negative result (can be on a home test or an official antigen test) on Day 4 and then again on Day 5, you are free from quarantine on midnight at the end of Day 5. So getting that first day in the system is a big help for people.

The Ministry of Education requests that parents give their child a home test before school on Sundays and again on Wednesdays and has supplied parents with free tests and a website to submit their results. Some schools are more strict than others about this testing and require parents to submit their results to the school as well and there is at least one local school which will send a child home if the results were not submitted to the school. However, submitting a positive result to the Ministry of Education/your child's school does not get your child in the Ministry of Health system. Without being in the MOH system, your child does not officially have Covid. Being officially diagnosed means that your child is exempt from needing a booster shot (at least for a while), have an updated Green Pass and does not need a test to fly. The upshot of this is that I have an uptick of tests on the days that people test their children and find out--SURPRISE--that their child has Covid.

Worst part of the job: telling people they are positive, especially those who are asymptomatic and thought they were just going through the formality of testing before their flight :(

Shloshim

 Shloshim, the 30 day period that marks the end of mourning for all relatives except a parent, finished two weeks ago. I am so thankful that I made it to this age without previously being in aveilus (mourning).  I am also in awe of the way that Judaism guides us through the 7 day-, 30 day-, and full year after the death of a loved one....

Although it was hard to leave my Mom and siblings, Shalom Shachne and I came home for the final two days of shiva and it was nice to be supported by the people where we live. I also think it would have felt very.....odd.....to come home after shiva and have everything be "normal".

The kids had put up photos of my Dad on the door (hoorah for Israel's super-safe metal doors that also double as magnet holders) and they are still there. I really love looking at the photos and have no plans for them to take them down any time soon.

So, shloshim: 

--for thirty days I did not wear makeup (my SuperStay24 lipstick habit might have permanently gone out the window [at least while we still wear masks]). No haircuts or trimming nails, either.

--I did not publicly listen to music (I did listen on headphones while running). This also meant that Shalom Shachne, who recently received the incredible birthday gift of a complete refurbishing of his beloved high school saxophone (way to go, Chana, Steve and Jeff!) did not play his saxophone, and SS and Chana only played piano with headphones on. Because we're in this as a team.

--we did not invite any guests for Shabbos nor did we go out for meals. In extreme Covid irony, we went out for Shabbos lunch after shloshim ended and our host called 1.5 days later saying she had just gotten a positive Covid test......

--at the end of shloshim, Shalom Shachne made a siyyum on a portion of learning (seder Nashim) he had finished and spoke about my Dad. I was very touched at the comments people made afterward. Here is a brief sample of what he said:

I’m making a siyum לעילולי נשמת נתן ועלוועל בן בעריל, my father-in-law, Norman Zagorsky who passed away a little more than a month ago.  

He was a person of strong and good character, who became quite successful in business.  He went to work for a synagogue friend who had started a small catalog company, and together they built a $200 million business that went public, opening 150 stores throughout the US.

Norman’s nickname was “Norman the Negotiator”.  He had the ability to make deals that seemed impossible to normal people (like me).  He accomplished this through a combination of traits: 

• fearlessness -- willingness to make seemingly outrageous offers, and also a willingness to start at the top.  His first call would be to the president of the company, no matter how large the corporation.

• a belief in the fundamental fairness of a good deal -- both parties need to get enough value out of it.  If he convinced someone to sell for ½ his original price, it was because the other side was still making a profit.

• and also the ability to develop a good relationship with the person he was negotiating with.  He said that it was his goal that, after getting everything he wanted out of the deal, the other person would want to go out to dinner with him.  

A lot more could be said about his accomplishments in business, but there are two aspects of his character which are examples for all of us.

He grew up in financially meager circumstances in Chelsea, a suburb of Boston, and worked for his father’s and uncle’s glass business every day after coming home from school.  His father sent him out to do estimates for glass installations even from a very young age.  

One day, the glass business got a big break: contractors constructing a large building wanted an estimate to install glass shower doors for all the apartments.   This was the biggest job they had ever estimated and the contractor was shocked when my father-in-law, who was 15 years-old, showed up to do the estimate.   However, everything proceeded smoothly, until the contractor asked Norman a final question:  “will all the shower doors be perfect?”.  Norman answered truthfully, saying that the glass doors always came out of the factory with a few small imperfections, and so it was impossible to guarantee they would all be perfect.  

A few days later the contractor phoned the glass shop and told Norman’s father how impressed he was with his professionalism.  But, he said, they would have to give the job to another company who had promised that there would be no flaws in the glass.  My father-in-law’s truthfulness cost him the biggest business deal that their small company would ever have.

In שמים, one of the big 3 questions we are asked is:  נשאת ונתת באמונה?  Did we deal faithfully in business?  It’s easy to be honest when it costs nothing, but to be willing to lose a big deal that could make your life more comfortable, requires real integrity and courage.

One last point before the סיום:  my father-in-law’s highest priority was always his family -- whether it was his children, grand-children, cousins, or even just friends of the family.  He was always looking for ways to help improve their lives --  whether it was showing up with some tools to do house repairs (as he did many times for us), or calling the president of some company which had treated one of his family members unfairly, or providing financial support for a family member’s education or business venture.   I hope that I will eventually be able to live up to his example with my own family and friends.

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--So now we are on to the rest of the year of mourning. I still find that I want to tell my Dad something and realize I'm not able to do that by picking up the phone. Don't know if that's going to go away anytime too soon.....

I am learning about how my year will be structured in order to give honor my father and our relationship: this kind of mourning is done exactly twice in a person's life. My friend's daughter is getting married this week; I may attend the chuppah ceremony only, not the meal or dancing. On Purim this year I will get no mishloach manot gift baskets (they can be addressed to us as a family, though). Throughout this year, I will buy no new clothes (bringing to light just how often I used to pop in to one of the stores in the mercaz and bring home "just a little something". The night before I left for Boston, when we knew my father was nearing the end of his life, I ran to the mall to get a new turtleneck to protect against the Boston cold. I got two different colors and one I did, indeed, wear the week of shiva. And one will wait patiently for me for next winter. When I will probably cry putting it on for the first time).