In this week's parsha (those outside of Israel will need to wait until next week), the Jewish people are on the cusp of fulfilling the purpose of leaving Egypt. Before taking on the enormous task of settling in the land of Israel, the Jewish people decided it was important to take a pilot trip. Not that I know from first hand experience, but a pilot trip can be an important component of putting the pieces in place for a successful aliyah. As we learn in the parsha, it is possible to get lost in the logistical details and forget the whole reason for the trip in the first place. For the generation in the midbar (desert), it meant 'Living the Dream' would be left for the next generation.
Buying and moving into a new home presents many challenges and obstacles. Throughout the process I was amazed over and over again at the hashgacha pratis involved and how many of our challenges we were able overcome. Some of those challenges were pretty absurd.
After a long period of calm, in the weeks leading up to the move my anxiety levels reached a point that if they were any higher they would have spun out of control, which has not happened in a long time. The level and frequency of panic attacks were also something that hadn't faced in a very long time. There were some challenges with the move that could have easily pushed me over the edge.
Peri and I had been contemplating if we should change keep our ADSL provider or if we should switch to cable internet. In the end we decided to take the pressure of switching providers would be too much for me before the move. We signed up for the 100 mbps package, not knowing what speed we would actually get and reevaluate when we settled.
They day before the move the tech comes to the apartment and discovers there are no ADSL lines. He said that we would need to hire someone privately. Our contractor said that it would cost 3000 NIS to pull the line and there was no guarantee of what kind of speed we would get. We called the cable company that the previous occupants had used. They had a reputation of offering a good product with lousy customer service.
At first they said that our address didn't exist. Our apartment has 2 different addresses. The main one for the front of the building and one for the back off the building that is off an alley. They were able to use the second address and we signed up for the 200 mbps package. Customer service was excellent. Speed tests since installation have come in at the 170 - 190 range. The downside was we had to go another few days without internet. My perspective on the whole episode was that, we were being forced to make the decision that we should have made in the first place. I was calm the whole time.
Earlier this week our A/C conked out on us. We were very nervous as that can turn into a very expensive repair. While trying to troubleshoot, I discovered the really hard to reach filter was in urgent need of replacing. We ended up calling the tech who installed the system, whose day job happens to be an engineer on the Rafael project. It turned out to be a burned out wire, which is a very minor repair and something that can happen with any system. The benefits of having the tech explain the in and outs of the system were incredibly valuable. He also plans on taking an idea that Peri shared and using it on the Rafael project. I am happy that the wire burned out because the knowledge and experience from the visit will allow us to make our home better.
It is not hard to look out into the world and be afraid of what we see around us. With this new home, I am doing a better job of seeing passed that. Perhaps on some level, I have internalized the lesson that the 10 spies missed.
