Seven years ago, my family and I made Aliyah. Baruch Hashem, it was the best decision we ever made, but financially, the past few years have definitely been very challenging.

For the past month, I’ve been dealing with a government office regarding a voucher that covers 75% of the tuition for a course. I needed this assistance in order to be able to afford my daughter’s studies, and we qualified for this help by law.

Unfortunately, our case was handled by someone who, from our very first interaction, treated us extremely poorly.

My Hebrew is still not perfect. I try my best, and I can communicate, but sometimes, especially when I’m stressed or trying to explain something complicated, a word comes out in English without me even thinking about it.

One time, I accidentally spoke in English, and she screamed at me for it.

I wasn’t asking for special treatment. I was simply trying to navigate a complicated government process in a language that I am still learning.

The way we were spoken to and treated throughout the process left me feeling completely defeated. I honestly felt like perhaps she believed that Olim shouldn’t be receiving this kind of assistance.

At our last appointment, she even skipped our number. When I asked her about it, she told me that we hadn’t come. It had been less than 10 seconds.

By the end, I was so hurt and humiliated that instead of continuing to fight for the help we were entitled to, I gave up and took a loan from my credit card to pay for my daughter’s tuition.

And that loan is now another burden on top of the debts we are already carrying — another monthly payment, another financial weight, and honestly, something our family really didn’t need right now.

I was ready to write a formal complaint about her. I wanted her to know how badly she had made me feel, and I wanted someone to know what had happened.

But then I remembered that it is Elul.
So I decided to forgive her, in the merit of Charlotte. ❤️

Not because what happened was okay.

Not because I wasn’t hurt.

And definitely not because I suddenly think the way I was treated was acceptable.

I may still have the debt. I may still remember what happened. And I can’t change the fact that this whole experience added another financial burden to our family.

But Baruch Hashem, my daughter will be able to study something she loves.

And when I look at that, I feel incredibly blessed.

Maybe forgiveness isn’t about pretending someone didn’t hurt you. Maybe it’s about deciding that, despite what someone did to you, you don’t want their actions to continue taking something from you.

Sometimes forgiveness doesn’t change what happened.

It changes what we choose to carry forward.❤️🇮🇱