And Now We Wait….

I would rather be waiting here!

After a long and frantic day yesterday and the resulting feeling of this being the beginning of a waiting period between horrific events rather than an isolated tragedy, I had a completely opposite feeling today. While colored with a few tainted hues of recent reality, it was a tremendously exciting day when we would take the next step in our journey home.  

My wife and I met with our Shlicha this morning at The Jewish Agency office in New York. Well, we met after a taking the train from central New Jersey to Penn Station, walking across town, and filtering through the multiple stages of security. We brought all of our documents, even the Nefesh B’Nefesh ones we didn’t “need”, and I am glad we did. I will just say this: there is no such thing as too many recommendations.

After answering some questions about our background and our decision to make Aliyah, we sorting through the pile of papers that we thought were organized when we left the house this morning.

Birth Certificates? Check! Thanks Mom!

Marriage Certificate (with Apostille)? Check! We have an extra one without an Apostille if you want it… thanks Philadelphia.

Conversion Documents? Check (and check and check and check)! I have a lot of supporting documents. It’s a long, and some would say painful, story.

Letters from sponsoring Rabbi? Check and… check! That was a close one!

Health Declarations and Entry / Exit Forms? Check and Check!

Passports and additional passport photos? Check and Check! And that is when we said bye-bye to our passports. Good things we aren’t planning on leaving the country (well, at least not until the summer)!

With everything checked off the list (woo hoo) it was time for… more paperwork (d’oh). Okay, I’m exaggerating, it’s not that bad, just one more form. We borrowed our passports and filled out or immigration visa applications. And, as has been my theme during this entire process, every other line I would ask “what’s this?” or “what do I put here?”

Eventually, we got them filled out and signed and we returned them to our Shlicha along with our borrowed passports. Bye-bye passports (part deux).

And now, we wait. We wait and we prepare. Emotionally, financially, spiritually we prepare. Anxiously, excitedly, nervously we wait.