hol hamo'ed

And the Succot holiday week drags on. The intervening weekdays between the bookending major holy days, both in Succot and Pesach are called "hol hamo'ed". For us secular types, it's just one long, lethargic week ... nice if you're working to get off earlier than usual, but if you're between jobs it's just one more thing between you and some action. The malls are packed with families who have nothing better to do. My mother-in-law came today from Tel Aviv to spend some time with the kid, giving me the freedom to go to the gym (located at the mall, where the usually empty parking lot was bumper-to-bumper); then she took us out to lunch before catching the number 47 bus back. This is a country where taking a bus is no casual thing -- I don't want to do it -- but she's a no-nonsense sort of woman who, at 70, has seen too many hardships to take this risk very seriously.