Leaving Home

We've wrapped up 8 nights of Hanukkah and two Christmas celebrations and we feel loved. We are in the midst of packing up suitcases for our friend John to take on his flight, and then we'll pack up some more suitcases for Tom to take next week. We're making progress but we're feeling the wear and tear.We're thankful for our temporary home, which feels like home thanks to the Browns, but soon we will be celebrating little Cassidy's 5th birthday (something we eagerly look forward to -- 5!) and then we'll be getting on a plane for a new life.

We spent about two weeks packing, sorting through everything we own. It was a strange process, determining what is essential for Israel, what is worth saving for later and what should find a new home. Some gracious family members and friends helped us move ALL of our stuff to new locations -- my folks' basement being our storage unit for all the things we couldn't part with but couldn't justify bringing. What a blessing to have a rent-free, safe location for all of our things.

And then the cleaning. I'll spare you the details, but rest assured the house was in great shape when we left it. The place is still thick with memories, and it's hard to drive by it (we're currently staying 4 doors up) without feeling sad and strange, but we closed on Wednesday, so it's no longer ours.


My cupboards have never been so bare

Thank you for your prayers in regards to the home, the closing went seamlessly and selling it is a strong reminder of the faithfulness of G-d. We hope to see many of you in the next month and a half. This year is almost over, but there's always time to donate. We love seeing the L-rd tie all of this together!

His yoke is easy and His burden is light

Here is an old Jewish tale that illustrates Jesus’ Hebraic teaching that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. 

“The true purpose of religious limitations [laws/commandments] on worldliness is only to release the soul for its free flight into the spiritual realms of holy joy.  Adam and Eve’s mistake was in failing to realize that by obeying G-d’s command, by restricting their physical pleasure and avoiding eating from just one tree among the many permissible, they would open themselves up to more intense and fulfilling spiritual pleasure and would enjoy the eternal bliss and delight of the Garden of Eden.”  

A STORY:

Rabbi Yaakov Kranz, the Maggid of Dubnow, the most famous Jewish preacher of the eighteenth century, told the following parable. 

A jewelry merchant and a tool seller, traveling separately on business, checked into the same hotel in a certain town at the same time.  The jewelry merchant had with him his small suitcase, containing his diamonds, pearls, and other jewels; the other merchant had a big, heavy trunk containing hammers, saws and all kinds of work tools. 

The jewelry merchant asked a porter to take his suitcase up to his room.  The porter came down soon afterward and presented himself for a tip, and the merchant gave him something.  But instead of leaving, the porter coughed and shrugged and made it clear that he was not satisfied with the tip.  He mumbled that the suitcase was “so heavy” and so difficult to “drag up the stairs.” 

The surprised merchant said to him, “If you’re talking about a heavy suitcase and how hard it was to drag up the stairs, you’ve made a mistake! That was not my suitcase! My suitcase is very light! You took the wrong suitcase!” [JToMJ by Buxbaum pg 14-15]

Jesus teaches a similar principle that following Him is not burdensome but joyful.  He doesn’t teach that the laws & commandments are done away with because they are for our benefit (Matthew 5:17-20).  If we find the rules and regulations of following Jesus “burdensome” then we are carrying the wrong suitcase!  When truly entering into the order and structure of His Kingdom, we have the ability to experience “more intense and fulfilling spiritual pleasure” as the joy of the L-rd becomes our strength.      

Our December Letter