Twenty-five years ago the thought of yeridah, emigrating from Israel, was an all-consuming end-all-be-all. It was a trying time in the country, as the economy was in a dismal state of triple-digit inflation and barely perceptible GDP growth. At the same time, the high-tech industry was taking off in the United States and companies like Digital, National Semiconductor, and AMD were growing rapidly and doling out plenty of work visas to qualified Israeli graduates from the Technion. Lured by company cars and comfortable salaries, eligible Israelis made the hard decision to uproot their families for greener economic pastures. This was before the Internet, “globalization” and cell phones, when phone calls to family members outside of Israelwere measured in dollars per minute and required the logistical consideration of having both parties available and present near a landline.
An Israeli in New York walks into an elevator and overhears a couple of Israelis speaking Hebrew. “Yordim?” he asks. “Not at all,” they quickly reply, “We are here temporarily.”
When I crowd onto the bus in Jerusalem, I wish that I had enough money to afford the gas to drive my own car instead. Hope is on the way—thanks to an Israeli entrepreneur, Shai Agassi, and his Project Better Place (PBP), I could soon realize my driving fantasy if the electric car makes its scheduled debut on the Israeli market in 2011.
I was at a friend’s house last week when my favorite of all conversations started: Israel. We discussed birthright, our last visit, the annoying feeling your skin gets after the Dead Sea, and if it was necessary to spend the whole night sleeping in a Bedouin tent. Only my husband, the host and I were Jewish, but our gentile friends enjoyed the diversity in conversation.
At a recent major student conference on Israel, a placard detailing the conference’s aims included two bullet points: “Focus on quick facts and points/counterpoints about current issues in the Middle East,” followed by, “Focus on improving your debate skills.”
Neither a political activist nor one to join in any protests, in September of 2006, I found myself, a Christian among mostly Jews, participating in a protest at the UN against the president of Iran. We held signs that read “Christians United for Israel” and we wanted the Jewish people to know that Christians would not remain silent to murderous threats spoken uncontested amongst world leaders. A Jewish man approached us with tears in his eyes and thanked us, comforted that Jews were not alone.
When I boarded the plane in January 2007 for my first trip to Israel, I never could have anticipated how the experience would turn my world upside down. As a participant of Birthright Israel, I discovered that it is my birthright as a Jew to have a home in Israel, our Israel. I was head over heels in love with my new home so much so that I returned there in August. I participated in the first Birthright Israelalumni trip to Israel, coordinated by the Jewish Enrichment Center inNew York, followed by the Galilee Fellowship program run by Livnot U’Lehibanot.
