Hi there,

Remember when I told you that I had overheard my parents talking about Plan B? Well, a few weeks ago, they finally told me and my siblings what that was all about. It seems that until my father can find a job here in Israel, he’s going to be working for his old boss in New York again. That means he needs to fly back to America for business trips. Oh, no!

“What?” I asked totally shocked. “You mean you’re going to keep flying to America for long business trips? That’s a terrible idea! We’re going to miss you! And who’s going to help me with my homework and make Kiddush on Shabbos and all that stuff? No, that’s a crazy plan! Let’s just all move back to America together!”

“I know it’s not a great solution, Binyamin,” my mother said, while putting her arm around my shoulders. “But lots of people have a parent who commutes to work. And it won’t be all bad, you’ll see. You’ll be able to talk to your father on video chat as much as you want. And this isn’t a long-term solution. During the time your father is in Israel between trips, he’ll continue improving his Hebrew and interviewing until he finds the right job for himself here. It will be okay. You know how I know that? Because we’re going to have a positive attitude about it. Aliyah is an amazing opportunity for our family and if it means doing things that are challenging in order to make it work, like learning a new language or having a parent commuting for work for a while, we’re going to do those things. And we’ll be okay, because, Binyamin, we’re tough — we can do this!”

Well, my father is getting back from his first business trip tomorrow. It had its ups and downs, but for the most part, we’re all doing fine. I’m sure it was hard on my parents, but us kids? Honestly, don’t tell my father, but it was actually kind of fun having him away. Don’t get me wrong; it’s not that I don’t love my father a ton. It’s just that since my mother felt bad for us, she did lots of special things for us while my father was away. Plus, my father is bringing us tons of presents from America when he gets back.

So today’s entry is about how even though it’s hard, there are also good parts to having a parent who has to commute from Israel to America for work.

(Excerpted from Mishpacha Jr., Issue 790)