There are always hidden costs
when taking a trip, or moving to a new country.
There is always OBTW’s –“Oh
By The Way” (incidentals that were unforeseen).
People are human and make
mistakes.
People at Nefesh B Nefesh go
on vacation and your file sits on their desk.
People forget to respond to
your email because they are in a different time zone.
People quit their job and you
get passed on to a “new” person who doesn’t know what they are doing.
People call out sick.
People give you one answer
and then change it later.
Okay I accept this.
Apartments that were rented
four months in advance have pipes break and leak all over your new home.
There is black mold.
Ruined plaster and peeling
paint with a horrid smell await you.
There is a landlord that has
never had a tenant ask him to fix anything because he is a slumlord and his
clientele has no standards.
He looks at you with
curiosity because he knows you are an American Jew and he thinks you have
class, dignity and poise. You are an enigma to him and he doesn’t understand
why you would lower yourself to live beneath your accustomed living
requirements.
This was my choice.
No one made me do it.
I knew it was a dump.
I thought I could fix it up
and perhaps even purchase it- I’d restore it to a beautiful icon of old
Jerusalem stone.
This is not going to happen.
I cannot piss away the money
I have reserved for this expedition.
Is that was this is? An
expedition?
No. This is my home. This is
my life. These are my people and I am not going anywhere.
Why the does a privileged
American Jew, a woman of status in her community, an academic in Judaic
studies, an arts patron, living in a pampered existence leave it all behind for
a piece of crap?
Because this is what I am
suppose to do with my life.
I am supposed to to return to
myself. I am not discovering a new Kara- this is the Kara I have always been deep down.
Sure, I am an aesthetic snob;
it is more of a philosophical lifestyle that embraces modernism as a
minimalist, thus creating a tranquil space free of clutter, knick-knacks and
opulence. Simplicity is true beauty, unadorned, clean, stark, and white…
I do not need money for this.
That would be the point
entirely.
As a Buddhist I learned that
the root of all human suffering is attachment to the impermanent. It is the
expectation of a particular outcome that destroys us all in the end.
I want to strip all that I am
away and get down to the bare nakedness of my soul. The only way to do that is
to free myself of the trappings.
But what does Israel have to
do with this? Couldn’t I have pulled an Elizabeth what’s her name- Eat, Pray
Love type thing? Couldn’t I have gone to an Ashram in India or something for a
few months and achieved this?
No.
This is about my identity.
This is about accepting and
embracing my Jewishness.
Couldn’t I do that in the
U.S.? I am an American Jew like so many others.
No. Not going to cut it.
I want to become the essence
of everything it means to be a Jew.
This includes living in the
land of my ancestors in our ancient home.
This means becoming Israeli.
This means acknowledging through actions that Israel is holding the door open
for us. The Jewish state was created for whom? For us, for Jews. I want my Jews
to understand and accept that this is a very old love story. It is the
realization of the connection between a peoplehood and their land. I am part of
that nation; I am part of that land. I am
Israel.
Israel needs her Jews. Israel
has a battle to fight. It is the same one she has been fighting since the
beginning. This place is the beginning of
everything. The only way for Israel to be “a light unto the nations” is for
her Jews to return home. We must as a peoplehood embrace one common thing we
all share: Identity.
I don’t care about politics
or religion.
I denounce sectarianism.
I denounce denominationalism.
I don’t give a damn if you
are secular or religious.
Stop being so myopic. Judaism
is one facet of our peoplehood. It is the religion of the Jewish people. Some
choose to practice it as such; some observe tradition as a means to honor our
culture.
Yet there is one thing we can
all agree on: Identity.
We have a shared history.
We have a shared tradition.
We have a unique culture.
We have our own language.
Dear listeners:
This is the litmus test that
defines what a peoplehood is.
If you are a Jew, you are a
part of this.
When I am in the presence of
a Jew who understands this- the string that runs through me begins to vibrate.
That vibration is intensified
when I am standing on this land.
Why? It is because there is a
common thread that runs through Israel and it runs through every Jew; it runs
through me.
I am here because I am the
blood of Jacob.
I am the daughter of Queen
Esther.
I am the remnant of the
Hasmonean Dynasty.
I am the descendant of
Maccabees.
I am the living, breathing
existence of an unbroken chain defined by a covenant and an ancient textbook.
I am the trace of Sinai.
I am here to push every Jew
on the Aliyah fence over.
If you want Israel to thrive,
it needs you to participate.
Invest in Israel. Invest in
the land. Invest in her future.
I am a nationalistic Jew.
I am a Zionist Jew.
I am a proud Jew.
I will never be afraid of my
own home.
I will never be afraid of our
enemies.
Israel is forever.
Be part of it.
Be Israel.
I will help you break the
secret Aliyah code.
