6 Years and Counting...

On Dec 9th 2009 I celebrated my 6th "aliyaversary". I suppose it's not monumental or even a round number, but seeing as I was in New York for my 5th, the 6th is much more meaningful. It is still an anomaly of sorts to celebrate the date of immigration to another country and goes to show the loaded ideology attached to this story.

Of course the Israel today, and my experience/life here, is not the same Israel that I romantically fell in love with and idealized as a high school and university student over a decade ago. It is however my home and I have committed myself to her.

The Difference Between Love and Like...

No, this is not the opener of an off-color joke, but a real issue that I (along with many others) struggle with on an almost daily basis. I am compelled to defend Israel against the likes of terrorists, Israel-bashers, Goldstones, Jay Michaelsons, and the like - yet often something annoying transpires leaving a friend or loved one to proclaim "Uch, I hate Israel!" While I realize that sayings such as these are rarely literal, I can't imagine getting stuck in traffic in Chicago and screaming out "I hate America!"

Now, we have real problems here. The education system is screwed up, real-estate prices are getting out of control, we have a growing environmental crisis, the social-Jewish spectrum is more divisive than inclusive, and oh yeah, that pesky conflict with the Palestinians.

On the rare occasion I am even embarrassed to associate myself with the Jewish establishment. [Like, for instance, with a recent ruling in favor of extreme right-wing Jews in the case of a disputed residence in the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarah in East Jerusalem.]

However...

...there are lots of things that I see on a daily basis for which I am proud, and which help to reaffirm my decision to live here. For so many the choice to live here is conditional. No more are the days and sentiments of Yosef Trumpeldor ("Wherever a nail is needed - I will be that nail; Wherever a hammer - I will be a hammer") where no matter what happens here there truly is no other place.