Post-Holiday Blues?

As Simcha and I discussed on the last few shows, the Chagim in Israel are something to behold.

Lulav and Etrog sales on the streets of Jerusalem ... Sukkot built alongside virtually every home ... Rosh HaShanah-themed advertising from all the major companies ... the list goes on and on.

So here we are, now safely into the month of MarCheshvan, thus named because we are bitter (Mar) about the lack of holidays in it, and I have to ask myself ... does it feel so rotten?

One would think that if Cheshvan feels empty in Chutz L'Aretz, it must be even more dramatic here in Israel, right?

Wrong. There are no post-holiday blues here. Because, while you in the Diaspora (especially the US) now have to live with three months of Hallmark-holidays ... from Halloween to Thanksgiving to X-Mas ... we as a nation are collectively only looking forward to Chanukah, which is just 2 short months away.

In fact, when I walked into a local bakery the day after Sukkot, there were already trays and trays filled with sufganiyot (Israeli Chanukah donuts)
.

This is not necessarily THE reason to drop everything and make Aliyah, but it sure is a nice, current example of what it means to live in the Jewish Homeland ...