There was a terrible surprise awaiting us there

My name is Elchanan. I’m 12 years old, and I live in Kiryat Sefer.

For years, I’ve been begging my father to take me to Meron on Lag B’omer, but he always refused. He said there were too many people, it was too big a schlep, I had to go to cheder the next morning and we would get home too late at night, and all those grown-up reasons. It was very frustrating to hear from other kids, year after year, all about the excitement at Kever Rashbi.

I wanted to go desperately.

Having little brothers can be annoying. Trust me, I know. But when my brother Moishy got old enough to start begging and pleading, too, it was a good thing. It’s harder for fathers to ignore two boys than to ignore one. At long last, it seemed like my father was going to give in. We were all hanging around the dinner table, eating toasted cheese sandwiches (we have our main meal for lunch, just like our Israeli neighbors, because my parents say it’s healthier). Moishy and I were taking turns explaining why it was absolutely crucial to go to Meron this year. “This is the best year to go,” I said. “Lag B’omer is on Thursday night, so the next day is Erev Shabbos. It’s a short day in cheder. And we always start late on Lag B’omer anyway. Abba, I promise we’ll get up and go to cheder on time!”

Moishy took his turn. “Abba, Yehoshua told me that he davened at Meron last year for his aunt to get married, and she did! He said it’s a really mesugal place to daven. I want to go and daven for Rivky.” That was a good line, I had to admit, because Rivky’s my father’s youngest sister, and she’s already been in shidduchim for a really long time. I decided to play up that theme. “And I also want to daven for my learning,” I said seriously. “My rebbi said that davening for your Torah learning on Lag B’omer is very powerful.”

Abba was starting to look more amused than annoyed, which was an excellent sign. I stepped it up a little. “And imagine how special it will be,” I said, “to spend time together with just me and Moishy. We really enjoy having special, quality time together with you,” I said solemnly. My mother, sitting quietly across the table, covered her twitching lips with her hand.

“And here, Abba, look at this,” Moishy pulled out an advertisement with the local bus company’s logo at the top of the page. “It’s going to be really organized this year. You need to sign up in advance and order tickets in order to get on a bus to Meron. It’s gonna be much calmer and more efficient this year!”

I had to hand it to the kid. He was really bringing up all the right points, arguing almost like an adult, even though he was a year younger than me.