Just for a change, the State of Israel is trying to torpedo this year’s kibbutz in Uman.

This time around, it’s refusing to come to terms with Moldova, where the main Kishinev airport there is the closest one to the Ukrainian border, and a vital thru-way for pilgrims to Uman.

I am not up on all the details, last I heard it was an argument about the State paying 10 million shekels – i.e. the same amount the government voted to help our dear PM ‘fix’ his home, after a drone ‘attacked it’. Whatever….

In this country, we pay so much tax, so much of which is being skimmed off to finance Unit 8200 ‘start ups’, and other exercises in cronyism and corruption, that asking the State to cough up 10 million shekels to help at least 50,000 people fulfill a spiritual imperative is really a very small drop in the ocean.

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B’kitzur, my SIL has been told that at the moment, all flights have been cancelled, going out to Moldova, or at least, will be cancelled.

On top of that, the tickets now are crazy, crazy expensive – $1,200, for the flight and the hours upon hours of travel into Ukraine.

It’s mamash an exercise in mesirut nefesh, to go to Uman for Rosh Hashana at the moment, and has  been this way for the last five years, since ‘Covid 19’.

I myself have had a lot of ‘Uman PTSD’ as a result of what’s gone on, and I know a bunch of other people are also having that now.

It’s really not easy.

It’s really a big tikkun.

BH, the reward is commensurate with the effort – not just for the individuals who are spending a ton of money, and putting a ton of time and difficult travelling to get there, just to fulfill Rabbenu’s words that no man should be missing! But for all of Am Yisrael.

In the past, it was a party in Uman for the guys on Rosh Hashana.

Now, it’s really not.

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There are other things going on behind the scenes with Uman…

When I have something concrete to share, I will.

BH, we will finally hear some good news.

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I am planning to take most of this week off from the blog.

I don’t feel so well at the moment, and I need to just spend a few days before Rosh Hashana detoxing from all the ‘uck’ of this world and taking it easy.

The last few months, I’ve been thinking more and more, how we need to make a huge effort to continue to find the good, and the joy, and the ‘happy’ in this world.

That doesn’t really exist online.

Yesterday, I bought the first real cook book I’ve splurged on in about four years, to try and get some inspiration and appetite back for cooking.

It’s little things like this, that make a person content and happy day-to-day, regardless of all the crud happening with ‘politics’ and ‘wars’ and ‘media lies’.

And I want to focus more on the offline side of things, this week, as a good siman for the new year.

But if I have anything important to share, I’ll be back.

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Last thing, is that if you want to give some tzedaka before Rosh Hashana, the Rav’s Kollel Chatzot could really use some help to make sure that all their avreichim, some of whom have big families, have what they need for the chag.

Baruch Hashem, I’ve been working with one of the wives there, to try and make the donation process a bit easier and more organised, for people from chul who are used to ‘YWN’ levels of sponsored content.

(Like, THIS. Every year, the exact same thing about ‘saving the family of a gadol’ by donating half a million dollars. Am I the only one who is noticing?)

Here’s the link to donate:

https://www.matara.pro/nedarimplus/online/?mosad=7014431

You can pick ‘English’ in the top right hand corner to change it to English, and they’ve split things up now on the form, so you can pick a specific option to donate for, and also put in names for them to pray for. Here’s how it looks:

Basically, these are the options:

2000 NIS – to buy a food basket for an avreich and his family, for the Chag.

1800 NIS – to have the Rosh Kollel, Meyer Sa’adeh, pray for you in Uman, Erev Rosh Hashana (Rav Berland said about him that half the world stands in the merit of his shmirat eynayim.)

700 NIS – to sponsor the prayers and Torah learning of the Kollel Chatzot on erev Rosh Chodesh

495 NIS – to sponsor an evening of learning and prayers for an ilui neshama, or yahrtzeit.

360 NIS – to sponsor an evening of learning and prayers in the merit of a ‘yeshua’, or miracle required.

And the last option, you can pick your own amount.

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Here’s the link again:

https://www.matara.pro/nedarimplus/online/?mosad=7014431

One more technical point, is that while this is already an officially registered charity, they are waiting to be granted the status that would make the donations tax deductible in Israel. Apparently, it takes a very long time to get through that process.

If you need your donation to be tax deductible, they can give you a link for the main charity for the Shuvu Banim Yeshiva, in the meantime.

And may we just hear good news.