By Eliana Klein
Unfortunately, as the well-known saying goes, “All good things must come to an end.” So, although we are all beyond grateful for the three years that our wonderful in-laws were zoche to live in and enjoy the beautiful garden apartment they rented soon after their aliyah, their landlord ultimately decided to take advantage of the robust housing market and put it up for sale.
It did not take long before the law of supply and demand and the realtors’ magic formula of “Location, location, location” proved themselves once again, and the property was sold for a hefty profit. Alas, the lovely landlord’s good fortune meant that the proverbial clock simultaneously started ticking for my in-laws to commence the search for another rental.
Needless to say, the very same dearth of apartments and sellers’ market that fetched their landlord such a hefty price, meant that rentals were exceedingly few and far between, and listed for obscene price tags. Ever the uber-mensch, their balabus gave them several months to stay on, but between the war and consequent building slowdown, their options were slim indeed.
The rental had come partially furnished, which proved to be an asset when they first arrived. But, as they bought and ‘inherited’ nicer items, the extra furniture metamorphosed into somewhat of a nuisance instead. Fortunately, they had ample storage space, including a large outdoor shed, so they were able to transfer the extra dining room table and chairs and other unnecessary pieces there and promptly forget about them.
However, as their moving date approached, they suddenly remembered all the furniture they had stored in the shed and machsan a couple of years earlier. They had no desire to take those pieces with them, but were at a loss as to what to do. Needless to say, they already had their hands full enough with all the house-hunting, sorting, and packing.
What most people would have done is to leave all those items behind, to become the next guy’s problem. But my incredible in-laws are definitely not most people. Despite being busy with family, work, and their imminent move, they genuinely cared about matching up the discarded furniture with people who could benefit from it. You know: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and all that. So now they had another time-consuming activity to add to their already overly full list.
First we called the city sanitation department to find out the weekly schedule for bulk pick-up. As soon as that miraculously fell on their targeted moving day, we
