A Good Year To All

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish anyone reading this a happy, healthy, New Year, 5764. May we all be inscribed in the sefer hachaim (Book of Life). Speaking of Rosh Hashana, I'll be spending it this year in yeshiva as usual. Ever since I started Grade 9 (long time ago already), I've been there every year except two (one year when I was in Israel and the first year of my marriage). By now, I'm very, very used to it. Normally, the average Rosh Hashana morning davening (prayer services) takes around 4-5 hours. Yeshiva takes, on average, around 7 hours. And, that is without a drasha (sermon) or a break! But as mentioned, I'm used to it and I also enjoy it as well. Part of me starts thinking back to when I was a kid in elementary school. The Passover seder lasts late into the night, many times well past midnight. Next time we were together in school, the lateness of the seder gave the kids some "bragging rights". Typical conversation: "When did your seder last until?" "12:30 in the morning!" "12:30? That's it? We stayed up until 1!" Passerby overhears and interjects: "1? That's nothing. We stayed up until 2!" "No way." "Don't believe me? Ask my dad!" And so on... Of course, it is not the quantity that matters, or how long something takes, but the quality.