We are working under the assumption that TMEA is picking this date to open the portal in an arbitrary fashion. Has anyone considered that in order to secure as many rooms that TMEA needs for the clinic, one that is always taking place during Valentine's Day weekend, that the hotels need them blocked off so many months in advance to make it happen? And the bookings can't be made super far in advance as hotels also have to block time for building maintenance and renovations. TMEA may have picked that date out of necessity; it's not as "black & white" as people not directly involved (like us) think it is.

And if I'm not mistaken the date for Rosh HaShanah is not the same year to year...it moves; the dates are close, but not the same. So, maybe, another date can be picked, but then you run the same risk that you hit someone else's holiday (and I'm sure one can be found if one looks hard enough), and we are right back where we started.