This has been, for the family, seven days of ups and downs.
Michael, Tslil, Tao and Ollie have been with us since very early last Tuesday
morning, after a traumatic time at the Israeli embassy in Lisbon. Just to
remind you: the Israeli passports of both Tslil and Micha’el had expired, and
currently the Israeli Government is not issuing new passports at all. The waiting
list for a new passport is obviously very long, and the kids were unable to
renew theirs.

Although Israel usually requires that its citizens enter
and exit Israel on their Israeli passport, in these extenuating circumstances
citizens who also hold a foreign passport are being told to travel on it. This
includes Micha’el, but not, unfortunately, Tslil. So she required a laissez
passer (a temporary travel document allowing foreign travel), which the embassy
was prepared to issue not more than three days before travel, on presentation
of all the relevant documentation.

When the family arrived for their appointment at the
embassy last Monday morning, they were required to deposit their bags,
including, understandably, their phones. They were allowed to keep one bag with
everything they needed for the baby. However, the bag they had packed with
snacks and games for Tao, anticipating a long wait, they were required to
deposit. The security staff assured them that they would find, inside, a
playroom with games and toys. What they actually found was a table with a few
sheets of paper that had already been drawn on and a few crayons.

The kids had also been hoping to register Ollie’s birth
with the Israeli authorities, as legally required. However, the list of
documents that the embassy demanded to see included at least one that does not
exist in Portugal, so this is a battle they will have to continue fighting when
they have regained their strength.

After a succession of further examples of lack of
consideration, the family eventually emerged with the travel document Tslil
needed. From that point, their journey to Israel was considerably smoother.

The owner of the Airbnb they stayed at in Lisbon, with whom
they had left their luggage, coordinated with them, and met them at the airport
with their luggage. In the airport, as the parents of a four-month-old baby and
a three-year-old, they were given priority treatment at every stage, and
whisked through the various checks and processes with the minimum fuss. Tao, in
his buggy, slept through virtually the whole process and woke up just a little
time before they were due to board.

The plane left late but landed on time. Tao slept well on
the flight, and Ollie, apart from one momentary cry, didn’t make a sound
throughout the flight, even on take-off and landing. In Israel, the recommended
taxi driver we had booked met them, not exactly as planned, but after a rather
anxious delay..

Although everyone was fairly wiped out, as much as anything
by the anxiety over the uncertainty of being able to fly, and by the long trip
from Penamacor to Maale Adumim, they were more or less recovered by the middle
of the week. Except, that is, for Tao, who had been nursing a cough and been
feeling run down for a couple of weeks, and who was also scratching some spots.
The kids had suspected chicken pox, but the doctor they took him to in
Penamacor did not offer a diagnosis. We were able to take Tao to the doctor
here, who was fairly confident that he had, indeed, been fighting chicken pox,
and seemed to be over the worst.

Then, early on Thursday evening, Esther, Maayan and Raphael
arrived, after a horrendous almost three-hour journey. They soon revived when
they reunited with Micha’el, Tslil and Tao and met, for the first time, their
newest nephew. While I was adjusting to the new reality of our ridiculously
large home for two bursting at the seams after these waves of invasions, Tslil,
feeling very tired, put herself to bed early – which seemed to me eminently
sensible.

On Friday, we all left still poorly Tslil in peace while
we, and Bernice’s sister and two nieces and their husbands, gathered at my
mother-in-law’s grave to mark her yahrzeit (which was, in fact, a couple of
weeks ago. However, the first date that worked for everyone was last Friday).
From the cemetery, everyone came back to us, neatly picking their way between
the activity floormats, teething rings, toys and games. It was a lovely
opportunity for Ollie’s great-aunt and uncle and first cousins once removed to
meet him. They were all suitably captivated, and he was his usual smiling and
placid self, as, indeed, was Raphael. Tao is at a considerably more discerning
age, but also enjoyed himself.

After the extended family left, Tslil took a rapid flow
COVID test and tested positive, to nobody’s particular surprise. So, while she
stayed in her bedroom upstairs, and Micha’el and all ferried Ollie and food and
drink to her and Ollie and empty cups and plates from her, we (two aunts and
two grandparents) kept Tao occupied and entertained and fed and watered, with
Micha’el and a very poorly-feeling Tslil stepping in at those critical points
where even an adored Nana is no substitute for Ima, or even Abba.

The joy of having everyone with us for Shabbat was,
naturally, less than complete, with Tslil suffering alone upstairs. However, it
was wonderful to see Raphael watching Tao’s every move in adoration, and Ollie
watching Raphael’s every move similarly. By the time Esther and Maayan were
packing up, Raphael and Ollie had bonded beautifully.

To look at them now, they seem so disparate in size, abilities
and age (eight months and four months); we have to keep reminding ourselves
that, in a matter of a year or so, that gap will shrink into insignificance and
they will, we hope, grow up feeling close to each other. Even if they live
geographically apart, we will have to make every effort to bring them together
as often as possible.

It was also wonderful, as always, to be together with our
children and their spouses: to watch Esther and Micha’el ganging up on Bernice,
so that I could take a break; to see them enjoying their own, and each other’s,
children together. Shabbat was over too quickly, but it was a lovely day.

Now, as I write this, it is Sunday. Tslil is feeling a bit
more human, but it looks very much as though Ollie may have COVID, and he is
not at all happy. To round off an eventful week, after Esther and family had a
long drive home yesterday, we learnt today that Maayan has also tested positive
for COVID. While she does not seem to have terrible symptoms, she is suffering
badly from seasonal allergies, so she really didn’t need this in addition.

An update on Monday: Tslil seems to be more or less over
her COVID, but Ollie had a terrible night last night with an awful cold and
coughing, and Tslil and Micha’el got very little sleep. Tao, today, has been
wiped out; after an early start and a brief outing to the park with Grandpa, he
has spent most of the rest of the day sleeping.

If I say that this has been a wonderful week, I will not be
lying. If I say that we had all hoped for an even more wonderful, and less
stressful, week, I will, again, not be lying. What we are all praying is that
this string of illness will soon be behind them all, and we, and they, will be
able to enjoy the rest of their stay with no qualifications.

If I tell you that I haven’t managed to take a single
photograph since they arrived, you may not believe me, but it’s the truth. So
here’s a photo taken when Raphael was eagerly looking forward to meeting his
cousins for the first time.