My Chanukah Miracle

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I t was Rosh Chodesh Elul when our general manager called us into his office. My suspicions were confirmed when he informed us that the company was closing and we were officially out of work. This was the second time for me in a relatively short period and it had taken me a year to find this job. I didn’t relish the thought of pounding the pavement once again but at least I hadn’t been fired due to poor performance. I’d receive severance pay to tide us over for a couple of months and I could apply for unemployment benefits. Nonetheless I was concerned for the future.

Despite my concerns I decided not to begin my job search right away but to dedicate the month of Elul to learning Torah. I felt I needed the additional merits more Torah learning would bring. Right after Succos though the search was on.

There is a famous saying at least among jobseekers that “looking for a job is a full-time job.” There’s so much to do including social networking applying for positions online and preparing one’s résumé. Not to mention all that goes into preparing for an interview.

Here in Eretz Yisrael one of the buzzwords (and not only among jobseekers) is “protektziya” essentially the age-old adage: “It’s not what you know but who you know.”