Much like our ancestors, we packed everything we had very quickly in order to leave in the middle of the night with everything we own on our backs. Only, instead of leaving Egypt, we were leaving Israel. Somewhat contrary to what Jews are supposed to do.
But then again, if El Al didn’t schedule 7:15 am flights with a recommended three hour early airport arrival – then we wouldn’t have had to do this.
Nonetheless, our journey takes us onward and our time in Israel was up. If I haven’t mentioned it previous posts, let me make it emphatically clear that we’re exhausted. Israel has been amazing, but it has left us tired and ragged. All day long yesterday, Emily and I kept saying to one another – “Why am I SO tired?!” I’m rarely physically exhausted like this. It’s the feeling that makes me want to lie around the house all day. So, we’re going to Patmos to get a studio and lie around all day.
Just like Israel gave us more to do and made us work harder to do it, I leave with more thoughts and reflections on our stay here than anywhere else so far.
First, we’ve encountered more Americans here than anywhere else. Someone joked about Israel being nicknamed the “51st State”. Maybe…. but it seems to be if that’s the case it’s because half the Jews of Los Angeles and New York are here visiting. In Jerusalem we couldn’t walk ten feet without bumping into an American.
Honestly, this has been very unusual for me – not just in this trip, but in any. I’ve never been anywhere in which Americans outnumbered the other tourists. It looks like Israeli-American relations are doing very well on the human level.
Americans, naturally bring us to the topic of SUV’s. We saw perhaps three or four SUV’s in our entire two weeks. Emily asked with large orthodox families, how are they getting them around? My guess is walking, public transportation and cars.
The average non-orthodox family has three children. Israel is living proof that a family of five can successfully and safely be raised in moderate to small sedans. I might even wager that the safety features of many of the cars are better than some of our big ol’ SUV’s.
And what choice do Israelis have but to make it work? With gas prices at about $4.50 a gallon – as it is in so much of the world – big SUV’s are not affordable or sustainable.
Gas prices bring us to Arabs. This visit to Israel, we were out and about navigating the country on our own. It turns out that when you’re not on the guided tour, there are actually a lot of Arabs here. Mostly, I liked them. They are Israeli citizens who seemed to be positive people running businesses, leading lives and benefitting from their country. Moreover, Israel’s Arabs are still on their land.
So often our media talks about the Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza with whom Israel is at odds. Let’s also remember that those people – or their parents and grandparents left these lands despite offers of citizenship and participation in the society. The people I met were the ones who stayed – and they’re a lot better off from what I can tell.
At the same time, we can also recognize that Israeli Arabs are largely second class citizens. They lack a majority and always will. Israel will continue to be for and about Jews. Some people I talked with have qualms about it – feeling very mixed about the contradictions in how Israel’s Arab citizens live. As one told me, “It’s not an easy issue.”
Fair enough.
But what is an easy issue is that Israelis love the Arabs’ food. Arab hummus restaurants, steak restaurants, spice shops and bakeries are often flooded by Jews. Why? Because their stuff tastes great.
This leads me to the biggest surprise of all this trip. I hereby declare Israel the best baklava country of our travels to date. Going into it, I was sure it would be Greece. It just had to be. I didn’t even think there was baklava in Israel. How wrong I was. There are some very talented Arab Israelis whose contributions to the baklava eating world should be recognized and praised. Bravo. Bravo.
Speaking of sweetness, the gap between the Israel on TV and the Israel of reality is pretty huge. The main thing being that from CNN, you would assume this is a country in a constant state of emergency and fear. In reality, it’s a very relaxed place with a tangible warmth and ease. People walk down the streets secure and happy.
That’s not to say there aren’t real political problems. But the average civilian doesn’t feel them day to day. And the society does not live in fear, anger or aggression.
From my contacts and observations, Israelis are more or less optimistic realists – a mixture of skeptical and hopeful. They feel they’re in it alone, but that peace and growth is possible. They don’t necessarily trust the world – but they trust each other. They have faith that things can and will be better for Israel, even though they lack consensus about the definitions and approaches to achieve the secure peace they so desperately want.
They also seem to value what they have in the way that only people who work hard and earn it can.
In the end, this has been a truly positive experience. Not so much of a life changing one, as an affirming one. To my surprise, Israel has not tugged at my heartstrings making me want to come back and live among all Jews as it does for so many people. Israel has made me feel good about being an American Jew – someone who holds onto and cherishes traditions which often get washed away here.
My great grandparents gave me their traditions, their understanding of Judaism as it had been given to them, my Jewish identity – and a passport that says United States of America on it. They worked very hard to do all of these things. I am very grateful for all of it and can do my best to honor them by using all of their gifts well, living life fully and passing it along.
Lastly, a special thanks to Ziv and Hila who not only housed us for two weeks in their fantastic apartment, but who made us feel at home and who shared in good times and friendship. What could be better?
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