If I forget you, O Jerusalem…
This week the Israelis and Palestinians began the process of restarting peace talks which have been stalled throughout the presidency of George W. Bush. For the first time in seven years, there is a process - however you see it - through which the parties will be attempting to figure out how to live together. I have been surprised at the degree to which the Annapolis Conference has impacted me on an emotional level, my perusal of the coverage by Ha’aretz and Jerusalem Post bringing floods of hope, anxiety, sorrow, and joy. It hasn’t handicapped my ability to work or anything, but I have found myself deeply immersed in my own thoughts about the process several times over the last week. Tonight I figured out why my thoughts have been there constantly…
I spent an incredibly amazing two weeks in Israel in May, traveling by myself with Israelis on their buses and trains, meeting new friends, practicing my Hebrew and learning some Arabic. It was a great time. I love every inch of that soil, from the tree-covered northern hills, to the dusty and endless rock of the Negev, from the Jordan Valley to the Mediterranean, and everything in between. But the most moving part of my trip was Jerusalem. I spent four days living in the Old City, near the Jaffa Gate. I made Mincha prayers at the Kotel each day, lived on borekas for breakfast, fruit and Turkish coffee for lunch, and felafal or shwarma for supper, and walked throughout the Muslim, Christian, Armenian, and Jewish Quarters. I met Jews, Muslims, and Christians of all stripes, had countless discussions with people who live in Jerusalem, or who hope to one day, and I soaked in the history. If my trip was like a wedding, being in ‘Ir HaKodesh was like lifting the veil of the bride and seeing her beauty. I fell in love with Israel, but Jerusalem took my breath away.
Being in Israel sealed something deep down inside, proved for me the truth of my soul’s Jewishness, and the rightness of my decision to convert. I felt that pull in the holy city of Tzefat, the cliffs of Rosh HaNiqra, the shores of the Kinneret and the Mediterranean, on the floor of Machtesh Ramon, the beaches of Eilat, and the synagogue ruins on Masada. But it was in Jerusalem that these individual moments came together and were both confirmed and overshadowed by the power of that place. My heart is, and forever will be, in the East….. Libi b’Mizrach. I will live as a Jew in the U.S., but I will always long to live a Jewish life in the Jewish State, near Jerusalem, and, B’Ezrat Hashem, one day I will.
So as the Annapolis Conference ushered in a new push toward peace between our Israeli brothers and sisters and our Palestinian cousins, it was impossible for me to not feel that pull on my heart a little bit more. I want peace, security, and prosperity for both peoples, and for all of these to be sustainable. I have hope for this, and believe it can happen. But my heart aches for the chance that things may not work out as we all hope they do, for my people living there if - G-d forbid - this is the case. And for Jerusalem, I wait. I wait to see how she can be shared, hoping that in the process she is not harmed. I long to walk those streets again, to see the golden stones reflecting the sun’s light, to feel the warm smoothness of the Kotel’s ancient stones, this time during a time of profound peace. I hope that the City of Peace will know the peace which has seemed so elusive to her throughout her history, throughout our history.
I will be following the bimonthly talks which where launched at Annapolis, with the constant prayer that Jerusalem and its people know life, health, and peace, and that the process will be the beginning of a long and beautiful future between the Israelis and Palestinians.
kol tuv,
Yair
Amen, brother.
Nice post! It definitely shows that you have what I would call a true “heart connection” to the homeland. But I’ve got to say I’m just not feeling it. At least certainly not the way you are, or even anywhere near it.
I’m not sure what’s up with that, so I think that I might, need to spend some time trying to figure out, why I might be feeling this way.
Yankel -
Thanks! Your mouth to G-d’s “ears”
Avi -
Going there helps. For many people, Israel is an abstraction until the first time they go, and then it hits them like a ton of bricks. I have always been very interested in the history, geography, and cultures of the Middle East, and Israel in particular as the homeland of our People, so that helps too. I don’t think it necessarily means anything when other Jews don’t feel this connection as strongly, it’s just different. Israel, Israelis, and Hebrew are an enormous component of my identity as a Jew, but that certainly is not the case for all of us, and that is probably fine.
Shabbat Shalom!
Yair
What a beautiful post. Since I went to Israel as a kid, I have felt connected to it; and this connection is what eventually brought me to Judaism. I keep up daily on any news I can get out of the homeland, and try to augment my studies of Siddur Hebrew with Modern. Although I have never been to Israel as a Jew, I hope to go there on my own next year and explore the country and also my own relationship to it.
Kol Tuv,
Sam
Hey guys, I thought some of you might like this article (Why Annapolis Worked) from the forward. It seems to optimistic about what was accomplished.
Anyhow I just thought I would share.
Be well.
PS Sam do you still want to do that post on the “Mitzvah Initiative”? If so please email me so we can set it up. Also if you have changed your mind thats ok to, but please let me know. This way I can stop bugging you about it.
Well, if someone things that the Anapolis conference accomplished anything, that is indeed optimistic.
I don’t know about the American Jews who were opposed to the talks, but the majority of us in Israel have very little faith in Olmert and none whatsoever in Abbas. The painful concessions we’ve made in the hope of peace with the Palestinians for the last 15 years not only have not gotten us peace, they’ve resulted in more war and the killing of civilians. (Honestly, would any Americans believe that by emptying San Quentin, there would be less crime?)
Thank you for following the news carefully, and for visiting. While living here may not be for everyone, it is the heart and soul of the Jewish people, and your connection to us and the Land is one of the things that keeps Am Yisrael whole.
Hi Shimshonit,
I appreciate your comments about Olmert and Abbas… I see very little reason to trust either of them either. And as an American Jew I certainly understand that until I decide to make aliyah, my opinion is at best to be taken under advisement; Israelis who must live with the consequences of the talks - or whatever comes out of Annapolis - are the only Jews who have anything to say definitively about the road Medinat Yisrael must take. On the other hand, as a lover of my People and our Holy Land, I worry strongly about the future, the traction a “One State Solution” could gain if this attempt fails. I am not convinced Avigdor Lieberman’s and Rav Benny Elon’s version of that idea is the one that would win out.
But most of all I worry about my Jewish Israeli brothers and sisters, both the ones with whom I am friends, and those with whom my only connection is that of being a Jew. I worry that the crazed hatred of a handful of unruly settlers only adds fuel to the fire and it brings increased danger to the majority of Israelis who just want the conflict to end.
Some day I would love to live in Israel, and I will certainly be back as often as I am able to come. I truly left a part of my heart there, totally fell in love with the place, my people, and all of the little things that make Israel special…. sunsets on the beach at Nahariya, the Meron mountains, Shabbat dinner under the stars in Shlomi, that dusty smell in the Negev, the way the Jordanian mountains glow red at sunset when looking across from Eilat, … and my G-d…. SHWARMA!!! But Israelis are what I miss most, and G-d willing, one day I will be one!
kol tuv, and thanks for your comments!
Yair
Yair,
I agree with most of your response. Lieberman’s and Alon’s plans for solutions do not enjoy widespread support here either.
The one thing I take exception to is your concern about “the crazed hatred of a handful of unruly settlers” which “only adds fuel to the fire and … brings increased danger to the majority of Israelis who just want the conflict to end.” I think people who haven’t been to the West Bank (and the now Judenrein Gaza Strip) think there are two Israels: the one inside the Green Line and the one outside it. I had the same impression before living here and spending time on both sides.
I have a different view now. I have visited settlements like Ma’aleh Adumim that has over 40,000 souls and a mall; Efrat with about 8,000 surrounded by vineyards; and Pnei Kedem, a cluster of caravans in the Judean Hills that comprises about 18 families (though it hosts a kite festival every Sukkot, and then it’s overrun by thousands of visitors). I’ve also met a couple of refugees from now-defunct Gush Katif in Gaza. These settlers are not crazy, hateful, or unruly. They are caring, warm, normal people who live in settlements to be near Jewish holy and historical places, because the air there is cleaner, because it’s more affordable than the major population centers, and because they want their children to grow up safe with a love of the Land of Israel. No one who saw footage of the withdrawal from Gaza can call these people unruly–the soldiers were crying, the only demonstrations were peaceful, and in the end the operation was completed without a shot being fired.
I think many Israelis would agree with you (and most of the rest of the world) that the settlements represent an obstacle to peace in the region. But I think that view is wrong. (And most of those Israelis have never crossed the Green Line themselves.) When these lands were controlled by our neighbors and there were no settlements anywhere, Jews were still murdered and wars were still declared. When Barak offered Arafat a state with every component except what would clearly spell the destruction of the State of Israel, the Palestinians turned around and declared war on us again. There are many in this country (including rabbis and people in the territories) who believe that if we could actually achieve peace by evacuating the settlements, we’d do it in a few days. But no one here believes that. The faithlessness of the Arabs and their agreements with us have made their claims about the settlements ring hollow. We are tired of painful concessions being reciprocated by bloodshed.
No, my friend, peace is sadly elusive here. Perhaps Golda Meir summed it up best when she said, “Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.”
BTW, for a fabulous blog on life in Israel and the world behind the Green Line, you might want to check out the following: http://bogieworks.blogs.com/treppenwitz/
Please excuse the rant, and (if you’ve made it this far) thanks for your patience. Yom tov.
Shimshonit,
I just wanted to clarify that “the crazed hatred of a handful of unruly settlers” didn’t apply to EVERY person living in YeShA, but the handful of them who beat Arabs, hack down Arab olive trees, and harass normal Palestinians just try to scratch out a living. We both know the folks I’m talking about, and I certainly didn’t mean to imply that every settler fits in that category. Indeed, it is a very small number who do. But unfortunately for everyone, it only takes a few to ruin things for many people. And certainly the Palestinians have never done what they need to to guarantee Israel’s security, which is, of course, a precondition for any peace agreement.
On my trip I met lots of Palestinians in East Jerusalem who told me openly over a cup of Turkish coffee or a nargala that they WANT to live peacefully with Israelis. I have enough friends in Israel to know that this is also the case there. Some path must be found around the fundamentalism on both sides to the way for peace. As you mentioned in your original comments though, Olmert and Abass have NOT shown that they are leaders with the sight or fortitude to do so… may they prove us wrong.
kol tuv, v’Hanukkah Sameach!
Yair
Thanks for clarifying your point, though I’m not sure I know which folks you’re talking about. When you say, “But unfortunately for everyone, it only takes a few to ruin things for many people, ” what is it that is being ruined? Is it just a handful of Jews ruining it, or is the situation really more complicated than that? Are you referring to specific incidents with hard evidence, or is it the usual vague, unsubstantiated reports which float around about extremist settlers? My Internet research, sparked by your comments, turned up lots of accusations and very little evidence. Some even turned up stories (with hard evidence and video footage) of Arabs cutting down their own olive trees, blaming settlers, and filing claims for compensation from the Israeli government.
You sound like a generous person and a conscientious Jew. I don’t mean to badger you or to be unpleasant, but I think this discussion is appropriate in a public forum, and an issue of shmirat halashon as well. I welcome your comments.
Chanukah sameach.
The “few” to which I was referring are the ones who are documented cutting trees and harassing Arabs. Rabbi Arik Ascherman and Rabbis for Human Rights have done much work to call attention to the fact that the shameful incitement does not flow in only one direction. This is the segment of the settler population who is very fringe, the ones who sympathize and identify with the teachings of Meir Kahane - the sub-humanity of Arabs part of his teachings. I am not saying the struggle is their fault alone; it takes two to tango, as the saying goes. But neither the militantly anti-Arab contingent among the settlers, nor the militants among the Palestinians, can blame only the other for perpetuating the kinds of language and violence that, in turn, perpetuate the overall inability of either side to resolve the conflict. Such actions certainly do not justify violence against other civilians, and nobody “deserves” to be killed by snipers, suicide bombers, or by shrapnel from an exploding car filled with terrorists and hit by an IAF rocket.
As far as the fraud you mentioned…. Palestinians hacking down their own trees and filing claims… it brings up a couple of points. First, the Israeli government would have no mechanism for receiving such complaints if there weren’t legitimate cases popping up to necessitate it. A case of fraud has to blend in with other real ones to work :)! And I have no doubt some unscrupulous Palestinians are willing to do this and blame the settlers. Second, one wonders if any of those cases happen because the farmers are unable to transport their harvest for sale due to the separation fence, and just decide they need to cash out? I am not blaming Israelis for these fraud cases, just wondering if things are not so cut and dried in every single example of such fraud.
Finally, I am certainly not feeling badgered at all, and I welcome this discussion. You don’t sound unpleasant!! It is an important issue, and it needs to be discussed; those of us in the Diaspora can only carry the discussion so far based on our trips to Israel; we need Israelis to join us in the conversations too, so all of us take something positive away. Iron sharpens iron. I hope I have not sounded too eager to blame Israel; on the contrary, my heart aches for the pain my people in Israel face in connection with the conflict(s) in the region, and I routinely find myself flying to Israel’s defense at the university where I work. But as a person wants only the best for his or her siblings, I want Israel to be all it can be, as I am sure Israelis want for American Jews. We are family, and no discussion about actions or values, even a heated one, can be seen as coming from anywhere but loving concern and hope for the best. American Jews and Israelis are like two brothers who may disagree with some frequency between the two of them, but if anyone from the outside comes against one, the other is there arm in arm, no questions asked, ready to fight tooth and nail to protect the other. We are one people.
Hanukkah Sameach!
Yair