Monday, January 09, 2006
Some Thoughts On Israel
A couple of interesting thoughts.
Last week our friend Jameel found that many of the who did the Meme4 wished that many of us wanted to be in Israel as one our 4 places.
To me this is hardly a surprise. After all, do we not say regularly “Next Year In Jerusalem.” Is this not the ultimate goal of generations of our ancestors? I have felt drawn to Israel since I was young.
I will give a little insight in to the workings of the lump of goo between my ears. For several years after my father passed away (At age 7), I had the same recurring nightmare. (I really had several, but this is the only one that is really topical interest.) The nightmare went like this:
I would be playing with a group of friends in the yard of our townhouse. (Where I was living at the time.) All of the sudden there was a massive earthquake. My friends and I started running. Everywhere we went in the world the earth quake was there. We kept running and running away from the cracking of the earth behind us. In our running we reach Israel. The earthquake and cracking of the earth following behind us stops right at the border of Israel. In my mind, even as a child, Israel represented a safety net, a shield from the other problems in the world.
I always think about that dream/nightmare. It was always very scary as a child, but it was also oddly reassuring as I always new that Israel, and by extension Judaism, was a refuge for me. I haven’t always been as focused on the refuge as I should be but I really think of Israel that way. And I suspect that I am not alone in feeling that way in the post Independence generations. I think many in the pre-independence generations do not see it that way because they existed before that time.
I love the US and am grateful every day that I was born in the US. I do believe that the US is the only real friend that Israel has, but I am not always sure that the US knows what that means to both Israel and to those of us who live outside of Israel. I would also like to add that Israel is my homeland. I think it sometimes confuses my wife how seriously I can take the events in Israel being that I don’t live there and have never been there, but that is how I am
Last week our friend Jameel found that many of the who did the Meme4 wished that many of us wanted to be in Israel as one our 4 places.
To me this is hardly a surprise. After all, do we not say regularly “Next Year In Jerusalem.” Is this not the ultimate goal of generations of our ancestors? I have felt drawn to Israel since I was young.
I will give a little insight in to the workings of the lump of goo between my ears. For several years after my father passed away (At age 7), I had the same recurring nightmare. (I really had several, but this is the only one that is really topical interest.) The nightmare went like this:
I would be playing with a group of friends in the yard of our townhouse. (Where I was living at the time.) All of the sudden there was a massive earthquake. My friends and I started running. Everywhere we went in the world the earth quake was there. We kept running and running away from the cracking of the earth behind us. In our running we reach Israel. The earthquake and cracking of the earth following behind us stops right at the border of Israel. In my mind, even as a child, Israel represented a safety net, a shield from the other problems in the world.
I always think about that dream/nightmare. It was always very scary as a child, but it was also oddly reassuring as I always new that Israel, and by extension Judaism, was a refuge for me. I haven’t always been as focused on the refuge as I should be but I really think of Israel that way. And I suspect that I am not alone in feeling that way in the post Independence generations. I think many in the pre-independence generations do not see it that way because they existed before that time.
I love the US and am grateful every day that I was born in the US. I do believe that the US is the only real friend that Israel has, but I am not always sure that the US knows what that means to both Israel and to those of us who live outside of Israel. I would also like to add that Israel is my homeland. I think it sometimes confuses my wife how seriously I can take the events in Israel being that I don’t live there and have never been there, but that is how I am
// posted by Little Wolf @ Monday, January 09, 2006 
Comments:
<< Home
Little Wolf: I loved your posting!
Its getting harder and harder for me not to post some of my aliya yearning stories...since I'm inspired every time I rethink of them. As I type this, in my slightly messy study...(OK, bombshelter and library) there's a picture of my great grandfather on the wall. He lived in the US and loved Eretz Yisrael with all his heart. He even purchased land in Jerusalem and spent years paying it off. He died before realizing his dream.
I'm honored to be the first of his great grandchildren to return home. Since moving here, 5 others have as well. Now if only I could get my other 60 second cousins and first cousins and siblings to move here as well...
Its getting harder and harder for me not to post some of my aliya yearning stories...since I'm inspired every time I rethink of them. As I type this, in my slightly messy study...(OK, bombshelter and library) there's a picture of my great grandfather on the wall. He lived in the US and loved Eretz Yisrael with all his heart. He even purchased land in Jerusalem and spent years paying it off. He died before realizing his dream.
I'm honored to be the first of his great grandchildren to return home. Since moving here, 5 others have as well. Now if only I could get my other 60 second cousins and first cousins and siblings to move here as well...
Thank you, I have to say that your post sort of got it going. I just really think that many of us really think of Israel that way, especially the post-independence generation. I think perhaps the problem is an extreme level of comfort that people have with keeping things the same, or maybe the reverse is true, perhaps it is the fear of change that keeps people where they are.
Post a Comment
<< Home
