As a Jew, no place but Israel is home
Though I was born, raised and spent some of the happiest times of my life in the U.S., something felt unnatural about my return for a visit, writes Elie Klein.
By Elie Klein Tags: Israel newsLast month, I took a quick, five-day trip to the Unites States to visit my grandfather at the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital, an assisted living facility in North Miami Beach where he is (hopefully) recovering from several strokes.
While I was pleasantly surprised by the generosity shown to my grandfather by complete strangers (staff members and volunteers) and the extreme emotions exhibited by our family's usually unflappable patriarch, I was simply stunned by my own feelings toward the "Old Country." Though I was born, raised and spent some of the happiest times of my life in the U.S., something felt unnatural about my return.
As my flight from Tel Aviv touched down in Newark International Airport, a quick pit stop before I resumed my journey to Miami, I stretched my legs, took a glimpse out the window and felt?nothing. I was not emotional about being back within driving distance of my old neighborhood in NYC, and I did not yet feel pangs of homesickness for my Israeli life. I just went through the motions and followed my fellow passengers out of the plane and into the arrivals terminal. It was normal. After all, I had made this trip more times than I could remember. But as I wended my way through the airport, Newark's industrial parks came into full view through the terminal's massive windows and I shuddered. My body actually shook from head to toe.
While I'm fairly certain that viewing the Newark skyline triggers violent reactions in most well-adjusted individuals, it was clear that there was more to my response than an aversion to New Jersey's infamous pollutants. But it wasn't until I returned home to Israel that I realized what had occurred: I had actually been "rewired" in the 18 months since our young family made Aliyah, and I sparked and sputtered in response to what was now a foreign frequency. My Zionist body had blown a fuse.
Because I spent most of my time in America by my grandfather's side, my interactions with other human beings were kept to a minimum. Still, my brief encounters with taxi drivers, cashiers, airport security officers, flight attendants and other travelers made me uneasy. Not because I thought that they harbored any ill will toward me. Rather, I always caught them stopping mid-sentence to stare at my big, knit kippah and ponder why I chose to be so different. No, it wasn't paranoia. They were looking?just as they always had. I was simply no longer accustomed to it.
In the same vein, the abundant English-language signage in the airports and on the roadways, coupled with a complete lack of Kosher dining options just about everywhere I went, made me feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. Not because those were the intentions of the American businesses that commissioned those signs and chose to open non-Kosher establishments, but because I just wasn't used to it anymore.
What I discovered was that, for a Jew, living in Israel means allowing yourself to feel comfortable in your own skin. By its definition, Israeli nationalism, or "Zionism," means identifying with (and, if necessary, defending) the Land of Israel as the historical birthplace and spiritual, religious, and cultural soul of the Jewish people as well as the sovereign, Jewish national homeland. But it also means creating an environment in which Jews can simply (and unapologetically) live their lives - just like everyone else. No long-winded explanations to employers about the religious significance of your week-long vacation during busy season, no need to pack a lunch for a family trip to the fair, and no qualms about wearing a big, knit kippah. Ever.
As I waited to board my flight from Miami International Airport to Newark, the first leg of my journey back to Tel Aviv, I spotted only one other Israeli standing among the crowd gathered at the gate. Though we had never met before, we greeted each other like long lost friends. Smiling from ear to ear, we began to chat in Hebrew (our language) and breathed deep sighs of relief to finally be with someone else who "got it."
We were thrilled and grateful to be making our way back to a place where public television shows entertain our children with stories and songs about our land, our holidays, and our history; where supermarkets stocked their shelves with menorahs, seder plates, and sukkah decorations and planned their sales around our calendar; and where encounters with taxi drivers, cashiers, airport security officers, and flight attendants would inevitably end with a hearty and synchronized "Shabbat Shalom."
We couldn't wait to return home.
Elie Klein is an Aliyah enthusiast and non-profit public relations specialist living in Bet Shemesh. While living in New York, Elie served as the North American Director of the Jewish Agency for Israel's Na'ale/Elite Academy Program.
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Israel is the homeland of the Jews. Arabia is the homeland of the Arabs.
For an Ashkenazim (like myself), no place but Erez Ahkenaz is home
I prefer living in a country that is not based on a national religion, one where all people can live peacefully, where minorities are treated as people and not outsiders.
You are still relating to Israel as if you are at summer camp. This is a real country with real problems, diverse demographics and a precarious future. Stop cheerleading and start the real and painful process of Aliyah: living a bi-cultural existence the rest of your life; being perceived forever as a new immigrant because of your accent; huge cultural gaps with your children who do not share any of your childhood icons, narratives or landmarks. I would never live anywhere else (made Aliyah in '73)...and this is my only home. But the story of immigration and emigration is a complicated and multi-dimensional one and not an Aliyah Department poster of a generation ago....it is also a major source of stress (ranked #3 after the death of a loved one and divorce, if I remember my Psych 101 studies of 30 years ago correctly).
"No long-winded explanations to employers about the religious significance of your week-long vacation during busy season.." Yes I am sure that he had to make many such excuses when he was serving as: North American Director of the Jewish Agency for Israel's Na'ale/Elite Academy Program. This is a pure propaganda piece. I find it hard to beieve as well that a native New Yorker found a shortage of Kosher establishments to dine in- I am a gentile and could find plenty for him. This was a strange piece of propaganda written by a pr hack
Elie: As a Palestinian,no place but Palestine is home.
You sir are an ingrate and a turncoat, and I for one am glad that you have moved out of the USA to a foreign land.
This sentence says it all: "As I waited to board my flight from Miami International Airport to Newark, the first leg of my journey back to Tel Aviv, I spotted only one other Israeli standing among the crowd gathered at the gate. Though we had never met before, we greeted each other like long lost friends." Exactly. The problem precisely. Jews first, and only. The rest of the people waiting to board the plane? Nonexistent. The Zionists' worldview as practiced everywhere.
How many talkbackers live that life? How Many of you where a kipah, have a clearly Jewish name and keep kosher I have to say I agree with this article from an inverse pespective, when I go to israel I feel at home, when I am back home in Canada I sometimes feel like an outcast, hearing ads for bars and products that are of no use to me. It is not to say that I feel unwelcome in my home country f Canada, but I feel myself when I visit israel
"Rather, I always caught them stopping mid-sentence to stare at my big, knit kippah and ponder why I chose to be so different." Really? They stopped midsentence to stare at your kippah? I think you're a bit paranoid, my friend. You sound like you've never been to America before. It is a multi-ethnic country where the average cab driver in Miami is just as likely to give a ride to a women in a burka or a Buddist monk in a safron robe as an orthodox Jew with (gasp) a kippah sruga. You need to get out more. Hey, that other Israeli with whom you felt at home with on your travels, I don't suppose he was wearing a kippah as well, do you?
Silly stuff. I guess every newspaper must print some fluff, but this is pure drivel. Elie from Beit Shemesh, the Israeli that you felt at home with on your travels, was he also wearing a kippah sruga, or would you be just as comfortable if he was a chiloni from Ramat Aviv? The silly paragraph about how they stare at your kippah and judge you. How many years did you live in America? 35? You must have lived with quite a chip on your shoulder to crawl through all those years and your YU education and managed to live with all the presumed disparagement.... And your American wife from Baltimore. Her background doesn't even exist ba-Aretz... Grow up. America is multiethnic. It's great if you like Israel. I do too. But at least understand that your problem with America is your own and that your view of Israel is through rose colored dati glasses. America is doing fine without you, with many religions and ethnicities all rolled together. You don't have to visit if you don't want to.
I must say that I am shocked at the response to this piece. I recently took my very first trip to Israel at the age of 24. I never once felt "odd" or "different" because I am Jewish. For the first time ever I felt comfortable wearing a Kippah outside of my Temple. No one would be staring at me because I wasn't the "norm." As a Reform Jew living in the United States I can admit (even if I don't like it) that American Jews live in a Christian dominated society. At no time is this made more clearer than in December. During my trip to Israel I felt normal. However upon my return to the United States I noticed something. Or more correctly I DID something. I removed the Kippah, I didn't want to bring attention to myself. I didn't want stares at my head. Or statements like "Did you know Jesus was a Jew?" I mean come on!!! I was born in the United States, I love America and am glad that I am a citizen. However I loved being a Jew among other Jews in the state of Israel.
Given the number of Jews disagreeing with Mr. Klein's article, I think it would be fair to ask HaAretz to publish an article with the opposite point of view, ie, that Jews don't need to live in Israel to live full Jewish lives and they can feel at home in many other places in the world.
I had known how proud I was of being a Jew from the Diaspora for a long time. Having spent significant amount of time living in Israel (3+ years) and having no intention of immigrating, I knew there is no place like the U.S. for Liberal Jews. Now, living in Jerusalem for four months for work, I realize that: * from the 6 cities I've lived in (in three different countries), Jerusalem is the only one where I don't feel free to practice my Judaism; * I don't remember when I felt as embarrassed of being Jewish as I felt the day I visited the Jewish settlement in Hebron. Actually, I don't remember feeling ashamed of being Jewish outside of Israel; * I've never felt that my physical security was in danger because of my religion anywhere but in Israel; * As a Jew who proudly has his hamburger with cheese, it is in Jerusalem that I find it difficult to get where to eat; I could go on and on and on... but I think this is enough to proof how much of BS Mr. Klein's article is.
Klein has been in Israel for 18 months. One can only imagine what Palestinians feel who have lived there all their life. Or the recently dispossessed residents of Sheik Jarreh? Wonder what the big knit kippah that makes him feel so comfortable makes them feel like?
So, Mr. Elie Klein, have you renounced your American citizenship yet? Do you still hold an American passport? Who will you call if, God forbid, a war started here in Israel, and American citizens had to be evacuated to a safer place?
Re: "As a Jew, no place but Israel is home" Statements like that make life harder for people who practise Judiasm and have no intention of ever moving to Israel and becoming Israelis. It just brands them in the the countries they live in, as untrustworthy dual nationals with dual loyalty. We know Judaism puts a lot of emphasis on the holy land and the holy people, but it can be given an alegorical spin, and it was, in the 1885 Pittsburgh platform of reform Judaism.. http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/1885.htm "5. We consider ourselves no longer a nation, but a religious community, and therefore expect neither a return to Palestine..nor the restoration of any of the laws concerning the Jewish state." As another example, the Church of England has separated the religion from the territoriality and the nationalism. U.S. Episcopalians have no intention of moving to England and becoming Englishmen. And there are many other national religions that have done the same thing.
I am quite comfortable being a Jew in the United States, thank you. Far more comfortable than being a Palestinian in Israel, to where people such as you conveniently move, and instantly have more freedom than a typical Israeli Arab. By the way, did you keep your American passport, hypocrite?
this is the most sentimentalist nonsense. omg, i've lived in israel for less than two years, and now i'm so different that i feel uneasy in the country where i'm from. get a grip, buddy. you're just an israel nerd from america. that you didn't 'feel comfortable in your own skin' as a jew in new york is the most sorry, most ridiculous thing i can imagine for you. i'm seriously at a loss. more or less, this article is about you wanting to feel different. probably it's even a little about you wanting to be victimized by people staring at your differences.
How can you publish such a stupid aticle ??? These are the simplistic words of any illuminated fanatic who sees everything different from his "new life" as "monstruous". When he'll land in reality (if he ever does), he'll probably take the measure of his present foolishness.
As an observant and Zionist Jew living in New York who travels frequently to Israel to visit close family, I am amazed that Elie Klein felt uncomforable and unwelcome in the US. At no time in the entire history of the Jewish people have Jews lived in relative peace and prosperity in a more tolerant and welcoming society for more than 200 years than in the USA. While we are all aware that anti-semitism has existed, and to some extent continues to exist in this country, on the whole we as Jews enjoy a level of acceptance and, in fact admiration, from most Americans that is unprecedented in the history of diaspora Jews. In fact it is unlikely that Israel could have come into being and prospered as it has without the steadfast support of this country. Some "Hakarat Hatov" would be in order, I think.