I've never been a big fan of Israelis in the US who have been there for years and yet only keep one day. I've always kinda assumed that they were pushing the limits of halachic credibility trying to find a leniency to only keep one day of Yom Tov. Here I am now in Israel, and since I'm only here for a few months, Rabbi Raccah told me to keep two days of Shavuot. As has been my habit, I asked to be set up for as many meals out of the Yeshiva as I could, and so me and so I got set up with a chutznik family (along with a few other bachurim from the yeshiva) for second day lunch. This family, as it turns out has been here for 8 years, never really intending to stay this long. They're making plans now to move somewhere in the US to take a kiruv type job, but since they've always intended to leave soon, they've never kept one day Yom Tov. I asked them whether the fact that they've been here 8 years now should factor into the equation. They've asked, and apparently it does not. So I have to revise my perspective on how this works, because apparently there are some legitimate poskim that have some pretty wierd sounding shitas on the issue.

I think this is now the wierdest halacha I've ever seen. Even wierder than the date line issues in Japan (which I've experienced myself).

People keep telling me "Rav Ovadia says that if you'd marry an Israeli girl and stay here, then you can keep one day of Yom Tov." I've examined the issue, and that's only part of the equation. The crux of the issue is what happens if you have an open ended stay. R' Ovadia presents this case specifically geared to young yeshvia bachurim doing their first year away from their parents. It's a test of independance -- is the bachur independant of his parents (in which case he keeps one day) or still heavely dependant on family for decision making (in which case he keeps two). The litmus test is whether he could concievably marry an Israeli girl and stay in Israel. But for everyone else, you have to rely on other factors, like whether you have a return ticket booked, and the length of the intended stay.

Sometimes, on sepharadi halachic issues, people look at me like I have 3 eyes. On Shavuot morning (the 1st day), most of the yeshiva left at 4am to go to the Kotel and daven netz. We went in through Sha'ar Sh'chem (the Damacus Gate), which leads directly through the muslim quarter. Usually, Jews avoid the muslim quarter, but with thousands of Jews pouring through the gate, the Israeli police were heavily patroling the route to the Kotel to avoid problems. Apparently there are many people who don't know that it's also generally safe to leave through Sha'ar Sh'chem after Kabbalat Shabbat, because as we reached the gate there were a large group of people dancing very energetically at the prospect of going through the gate, and singing "Se'u sh'arim rasheichem". As I commented to a friend that the basic halacha is that it's assur to dance on Shabbat and Yom Tov (see Orach Chaim 339:3), he looked at me like "what are you talking about." He did later concede that I was probably right.

I wish I could speak to the experience of saying Musaf ("Umipnei chataeinu galinu me'artzeinu -- Because of our sins, we have been exiled from our land") while davening at the Kotel, but it is hard to have that kind of awareness when you've been up all night.

I will say that the Kotel was packed, all the way back to the entrances, and that after seeing that, and the parade of people into the kotel, I can only imagine the same kind of crowd a thousand times larger when the Beit HaMikdash stood and we were all chayav to bring the korban chagiga and the olat re'iah.

May we be blessed to perform the mitzvah of the pilgramage to the Beit HaMikdash speedily in our days. Amen.