Thank God, we have the tremendous merit to be in the Holy Land for Pesach this year. It's always interesting for us as
b'nei chutz la'Aretz (or
chutznikim, as we are colloquially referred to by everybody), those who do not reside in the Land, but still maintain the two-day
chag while visiting the Holy Land during the holiday seasons. This is even more the case when one is staying with people who are only observing one day of
yom tov; the first time we held our second
seder my folks couldn't resist taking pictures as we sat around the table and went through the
haggadah.
An interesting thought occured to me yesterday: this year, the
chutz la'Aretz's last day of Pesach falls out on
Shabbos Kodesh, a regular
Shabbos for those who live in the Holy Land. While the
chutznikim have a special
kriyat haTorah in honor of
Acharon shel Pesach, Israelis will read
Parshat Shmini. For the next few weeks,
Eretz Yisrael and the rest of the world will be out of sync in terms of weekly Torah portions, until
Chutz la'Aretz reads a double portion (either
Tazria-Metzora or
Acharei Mot-Kedoshim) one
Shabbos.
For a
chutznik who returns to the Diaspora before the
Shabbos following the holidays, this is not an issue; he will hear
Shmini that
Shabbos. However, a
chutznik who stays an extra week in the Holy Land - over the course of the following
Shabbos - runs the risk of missing a
sedra, because the
Shabbos after the
chag they will read the portion beyond the one he has yet to hear (i.e. because they are a week ahead)!
This is my issue this year. God willing, we will be remaining in the Holy Land another whole week until after the Holy Land's
Shabbos Tazria.
After asking around and thinking about the issue ourselves, we decided our best course of action would be to visit an Israeli
minyan on
Shabbos/Acharon shel Pesach to hear the portion of
Shmini. Following that, I would continue on to a "
chutz minyan" to make sure I fulfill my
chutznik duties.
For a
chutznik in the Holy Land, this is a fairly straightforward way of circumventing a potential problem. The question is, what does a
chutznik (or for that matter, a resident of the Holy Land who was abroad over the course of the
chag) who is ascending from the Diaspora the week following the
chag do that
Shabbos in the Holy Land?
Any ideas?
