Moving

I can't believe I find myself in the same position, doing the same task: packing. Again, we're moving. Surrounded by boxes, the task appears daunting. "Again, I have to do this?" I ask myself. "Why?" No one answers. We don't want to move, especially not now in the middle of winter and with a new baby, but our apartment was sold and we have to go. But where? We don't know yet. But the boxes are here and I'm starting to pack. We're moving, again. The same story happened to us just two years before. We've moved five times in seven years.

Moving.
Again.

Look how much I've changed, look how much I've grownThe first things I pack up are my cookbooks. I know all the recipes by heart and I've changed them anyhow. What else can I pack that we don't need now? Pictures. My toddler stands next to me as I pack, asking me who everyone in the pictures are and "What's that?" Pictures. Memories. Images and memories flood my mind and for a moment I'm transported to a different place and a different time. I look at the pictures. I look at myself in the pictures. Look how much I've changed, look how much I've grown.

Moving.
Again.

Look how much we've changed, look how much we've grown.

What next? I look around the apartment that I still, for the time being, call home. There's so much to pack. Do we really own so many things? I thought we lived simple lives and look how much we possess. I'm overwhelmed with a sense of blessing. Do I really need all this? It's time to sort and give things away.

Moving.
Again.

I'm trying to look on the bright side… At least I'll be ahead for Pesach cleaning. I start to laugh because if I don't, then I'll cry.

The phrase "Wandering Jew" pops up in my mind. I feel like I exemplify this title, the wandering Jew. I wonder about the source of that phrase. Upon leaving Egypt, the Nation of Israel traveled for forty years and moved forty-two times, beating even our record. They certainly wandered. I wonder if with each move they thought to themselves, "Oh no, not again." It's interesting that the Torah describes how much the people complained about the food and water, but doesn't mention any complaints about the constant moving. The only thing it says is praise for the nation who camped and traveled by the word of G‑d. They didn't see their moving as a bother, but merely as a means of reaching their goal, the way to get from one spiritual and physical place to another.

Moving.
Again.

Each move has a purpose.

We're moving and I don't want to, but I think back to all the times we've moved and I have to say that even when it seemed difficult, it turned out to be for our good. If we hadn't moved, we wouldn't have grown, and with this move, I know we'll grow too.