By Ayala Feigenbaum. It’s 1:45 AM.

I look around at the boxes that I pushed off the sofa so I can sit down and breathe.

My whole dining room is covered with boxes. No one said moving is easy when you have your kids home and sirens going off as you are unpacking.

Maybe one day I will write a guide,” How to unpack between sirens for dummies”.

I look at the pile of boxes, wondering how I will get this all unpacked by Pesach.

I guess I can always stack them into a pyramid and use them as decor for the seder.

My phone vibrates, I look down and see a text, “Just wondering how you are doing” from a cousin in the USA.

And somehow, this incoming text and heartwarming message give me more energy than coffee, and I find the koach to get up and keep on unpacking.

If you live around the globe and have family/ friends/ distant relatives/ in Israel, now would be the time to reach out.

You don’t have to offer to Wolt them a 5-course dinner. (Though that would be nice).

A plain ” Thinking of you” does wonders for someone who was woken up at night and then needs to spend the day at home babysitting a bunch of bored, hungry, overtired kids.

So don’t overthink this.

Send a text.

Or call. Yes, pick up the phone and call.

You will be surprised how happy 5 minutes of your time can make someone.

And if you are feeling very nice after you call /text /email / fax someone, then do another nice thing:
Book tickets to Israel for the summer.

When you think of war, you think of sirens, missiles, and shrapnel.

You don’t think of the enormous financial losses people are enduring now.

The hotels, Airbnbs, and all the tourist-related fields are suffering now, and so are stores that placed their enormous Pesach orders way before this war started and didn’t know people would not be in the mood to shop now.

I went to a frum shopping center last week.

Usually, between Purim and Pesach, you can’t even find parking.

But there was too much parking.

And too few people in the stores.

I saw the anguish in the store owner’s eyes and had nothing much to offer or say.

I’m not a store owner, and I can’t begin to imagine the stress of having loads of goods and an empty store.

People here just aren’t up for going out and shopping.

So if you are planning a nice summer vacation, perhaps in the Bahamas, Caribbean, or Tehran, please consider coming to EY and giving your fellow Jews a boost.

Come spend money here. Max out your Credit card and say “Leshem Yichud” before you do it.

And if you are feeling really, really nice, you can come to me after you are done maxing out your credit card in Mamilla, and help me unpack some moving boxes…:)

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