RABBI WEIN ON PASSPORTS

My Israeli passport has run its course, all of its pages are full with the entry and exit stamps so lovingly applied at Ben Gurion airport, and therefore I am forced to obtain a new passport. In the process of applying for this new passport I took time to leaf through the pages of my previous passport. In so doing a flood of memories overcame me. I remembered trips that I took, places that I visited, loved ones who accompanied me and projects undertaken that were fulfilled and unfulfilled. In short, an entire decade of my life flashed before my eyes and came to the forefront of my memory. I never previously thought of passports as being an emotional document but I found my review of the pages of my now full passport to be a deeply moving event.