A Backwards Experience

Israel has a certain mysterious quality to it that I’m discovering much later in the game than expected. I’ve heard from most Jews that the first time they arrive in Israel they are profoundly moved in some way. Some people find themselves weeping at the realization that they are actually as close as they are to the ancient Temple, others find themselves swept away by the life that pulses though Tel-Aviv on a Friday night. The land, with its history of heroic perseverance and spirituality, and the culture that is so rich with Jewish heritage that its practically overflowing at the seams with hummus and Israeli folk music – this place has the power to rip people out of their normal reality and into a head space of complete and stupid ecstasy. People leave for a 10 day high-speed trip around the country and, when they arrive back home to Toronto or Montreal or New York, they spend the next year-and-a-half going off like maniac about how Israel is the best thing that ever happened to them and they’re making plans to make Aliyah. Really… I’ve seen it happen.

For those of us who have not accompanied these people on their journeys, we’re kind of at a loss of what to say. “Yes,” we tell them, “I can see that you’ve found the one thing in your life that makes you tick. Yes, I understand (to the best of my ability) that you’ve had a profoundly life-changing experience that has made you re-consider your choices and your lifestyle and your religion. And yes, I hear that you want to marry an Israeli man…” We understand the brevity of the experience for our friend, but we have no idea what to say. What exactly is this experience they’ve had, and why are they not just moving to Israel?

So I’ve been to Israel four times in my life, and I never had this experience. Not really. The first time I came here, I was forced by my family to miss my best friend’s bat mitzvah (how could they have done that to me!?!) and found myself resenting almost every minute of our travels. The second time I visited I was part of a delegation of counselors from the Jewish camp system in Quebec, and the trip was a real bummer. We spent most of our time doing only mildly-educational activities on hills and in parks overlooking majestic historical sites… instead of experiencing the sites themselves. The third time I came to take part in an international leadership convention and my experience was a little better, but a long summer at camp left me feeling exhausted and not really all that there. And the last time I was here was a year and a half ago, and I found myself regarding the entire country with an air of cynicism and frustration – why did it seam like Israel was divided into a hundred exclusive sects and that I didn’t fit into any of them?

So, while most people experience the brilliance of Israel in their first 10 days, and then it takes them years of subsequent visits or years spent living here to recognize all the issues and imperfections of the place, for me it seems to have been exactly the opposite. I spent my first 4 visits experiencing only the issues and the frustrations, and it was only on my 5th visit (which began 2 weeks ago) that I really discovered Israel’s brilliance. And what a brilliant place. It’s a totally different plane of existence.

So how to describe this plane…
My experience this time around has been as follows: people live simpler, realer lives here. People live with a spiritual consciousness in their every-day comings and goings. They structure their world around meaningful things… family, picking fruit, learning and celebrating… and work is something you do to support those meaningful things in your life, not something you do for the sake of itself. And for me, surprisingly, this is a profound change of perspective. Where I come from, work is something meaningful in the most serious of ways. Work is something you build up to with many years of studying and perhaps several university degrees. It’s something you’re always looking forward to, even when you’ve gotten there… the possibilities of raises and upward movement and increases in responsibility are what drive you to keep working. And sacrifices are perfectly acceptable, even in the realms of all those things that are really the point – family, picking fruit, learning and celebrating. Here, the point is to live a spiritually whole and meaningful life, and work is a means to an end. This is HUGE. Or at least, it has been for me. To think… being connected to God is the point of things… who would have thought?

Now I should point out that this description is definitely not indicative of the entire Israeli population. But it’s a real and present reality for many. And it’s been the theme of my experience here. Being in the presence of so many connected people glowing with joy at simply being alive – it’s been at the very least incredibly moving and more often than not inspiring and contagious.

So I have had my “mysterious and moving Israel experience”, albeit later in the game than most. Though at this point the inital euphoria has worn off a bit, there’s still something special sitting with me, and I’m looking forward to taking that home with me and seeing what happens with it. Who knows… maybe I’ll be back in Israel sooner rather than later, or maybe I’ll just find myself living differently at home. I know one thing for sure – I will learn how to make yogurt. In my mind, this is the first key to simple and beautiful living .

As it stands now, I’ll be arriving back to Toronto in the next few days (just in time to catch the last of the snow). While I was supposed to back-track through Istanbul anbd Mumbai to catch the tail end of my return flight to Toronto, there were some glitches in the airport that meant I couldn’t get back into India (to put it simply), and instead I’ll be catching a direct flight home from Tel-Aviv. It was a hectic few hours at Ben Gurion, but all is well. The full story is yet to come. I’m hoping to post some follow-up thoughts to set the record straight for the last few days of my trip once I get home to Toronto.

And then, onto the next leg of the journey – namely, the rest of my life.

To all of you who have been following my rants, thank you.
I’m hoping to see you all soon!

B’ahava,
Hava

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