Back to school

September 1, 2008 by Jessica · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General, History and Culture, Israeliness

It’s September 1, which means it’s the first day of school in Israel, and shockingly, there are no striking teachers this year. With no school-age kids in the house this morning — my stepdaughters are at their mother’s today — we awaken to the cheery tunes of Chassidic melodies playing on the loudspeaker from one of the two schools across the street, welcoming students to another new year. But that’s one of the local religious schools; the secular school next door plays modern Israeli tunes. And both of them invariably forget to turn off their recordings on the weekend.

But no matter, for now, we’re celebrating the end of vacation. The signs of a new school year have been everywhere for the last month; enormous, colorful backpacks on display at every mall — including a Beitar Jerusalem soccer team stand at the mall, which included knapsacks and book covers — stands full of every kind of pencil, eraser, pencil sharpener, notebook, binder, and pen-and-pencil case, and during the last week, my sixth grade and 12th grade stepdaughters have been at school, preparing ceremonies for the younger grades.

Sure, they don’t really feel like saying goodbye to the end of summer vacation. But some part of them, I think, is secretly excited to check out a new year and see what it will bring. They’ll both be saying goodbye to their schools this year; Aiden, the sixth grader, will be heading to a new middle/high school next year and Amira, the 12th grader, will be looking at army preparatory programs for next year.

As for us, the parents and adults in their lives, it’s a mixed blessing. We’re back to getting up at 6:30 am, helping with lunch, breakfast and braids, carpools, and homework in the afternoon. No more late nights, afternoons at the pool and that general summer easing of time and schedules. Then again, the high holidays are in another four weeks — which means Sukkot vacation isn’t far behind.

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