Could it be that Israel is so misunderstood because the "culture codes" other people have for Israel do not match the code Israelis have for our country?
This is my opinion so please forgive me, but for me Israel is something I have longed for all my life, though I have never been "home". It is the only place on earth where not only being a Jew is normal but everyone you meet is Jewish. From the fireman, to the policeman, to the man who picks up your trash. Even prisoners are Jewish, how wonderful. Israel is beyond everything anyone who is not Jewish could comprehend. Where else but in Israel can you walk down a street knowing the King David walked here also. This is my home my ancestors bled for this land and are buried here. No where else can a Jew walk and know this is my home, my land. And if it would come to pass to die here even at the actions of a terrorist you know you died free as a Jew and Israel will still be here. There is no sweeter land anywhere. For a Jew to walk this land is to walk in the footsteps of a people who share everything love, language, passion, and a love for G-D. To love without knowing G-D's name, or what G-D looks like or anything else of G-D. We talk with G-D directly we do not need an emissary, a go between. We have G-D's ear when ever we want. And how good it is to be able to talk to G-D in Jerusalem, G-D's city, knowing that nowhere else on earth can you be any closer to G-D then here. Am Yisrael Chi. Shalom Dan
Dear Forest Rain, I have read your posts for several years. I read along and then, unexpectedly, I find that I have tears in my eyes. You have a gift for sharing simple truths in a way that goes right to the heart. I'm really pleased to see your work on Substack. Kol hakavod!
I've been a Zionist for a long time now and although there are a variety of reasons for this the primary reason was my friendship with three young Jews who shared part of their lives with me back in the early sixties. Apart from us having fun and hanging out together, having them teach me how to dance the Horah and sing Hava Nagila at the Zionist Youth Club in North Manchester are among my fondest memories from that time. I also smile with pride when I recall how Mosh, Shosh and Carmen and the Israeli youth worker, Dov declared that I was an "Honorary Zionist" one Friday evening. But more importantly, my three friends taught me about the longing in their hearts to make aliyah and go home. They talked incessantly about Israel. Israel was their future. Israel was their life. Our time together was too short and sadly we lost touch before the Six Day War in 1967, and although I have worried about what might have become of them from time to time, I have consoled myself with the knowledge that they all were living their dream, fulfilling their purpose at home in their beloved Israel. I fervently hope they have passed those values onto their own sabra children and grandchildren. So I understand, at least a little, what you mean when you say Israel is the only place on earth you call your home.
Thank you for this tribute to, and explanation of, Israel’s unique ‘culture’. As I get older and notice, with some shame, my own preconceptions regarding ‘others’, I do not expect most of the non-Jewish world ever to warm to that culture, but I appreciate its existence in the deepest possible way, and welcome words such as yours that light it from within.
Enjoyed the essay very much. I think your point really hit "home" and made me understand why things have changed for me after Oct 7th and its aftermath. I am a dual citizen of both Canada and the US and was very patriotic to both. I considered both my home and though I never was in Israel, I felt Israel was my far away home due to my Jewish heritage.
Had I have read your essay before Oct 7th, I would have said to you that I am very lucky cuz I have three places that I call home and love all three.
Something has changed for me since Oct 7th but I could not quit explain but I think I can now. I may love three countries but only one is my true home. Only one will accept me in good times as well as terrible times. Only one country will be there for me and offer me protection and love.
Its true what Dorothy said ...... There is no place like HOME.
Don’t get too upset about that number. It includes people who are going away for a few years for work or study, but are coming back. Especially dual citizens, who always have the option, will “take a break” for personal or family reasons. My wife and I have done it a couple of times. We’re still here.
Long time fan of Clotaire Rapaille -- so no argument. But this provides a bit of illumination around the problem. Yes, Americans [like so many other cultures/peoples] assume that the rest of the world thinks the way they do. But the core problem is a lack of shared values. There is a conflict between cultures that believe all is fated and it is useless to struggle against fate vs those who believe in struggling to find new solutions to problems. There are cultures where people believe they are living in the best possible world and those that see areas of improvement. There are cultures that believe in violence as a way of life and those that abhor violence. Israel finds itself caught between a Liberal West with one set of values and which judges based on those values and on the other side the Islamic world with a different set of values. Rapaille illuminates a bit about the 'what' of different values but the real issue is the 'how' to address the disparate values.
I was sitting with some like minded gentile friends & we were talking about all the problems in America(guns, healthcare,etc)when I said "you know Im the only one here who has somewhere I can go to& I won't even need a ''green card"-home
Articles like this remind me of the rhapsodising of the Japanese Kokutai authors, the Southern Agrarians and the German Romantics. Race and land mysticism is a common trait among cultures under threat or perceived to be so. Such movements have the capacity to inspire great art but also to provoke provincialism. After all, if the leaves on your particular tree have a colour only certain eyes can see, what is the point of trying to convey that colour to outsiders or to look at any other tree that can be seen by ordinary eyes?
Isreal can be a great nation without portraying nosiness and bad manners as symbols of a universal family (do family charge each other for lifts?) Other nations are capable of looking after victims of war and disaster. What immigrant doesn’t long for familiar smells and sounds? Might I suggest that when you get to the stage of portraying immigrants settling together and selling food from home as a unique Israeli trait that you’ve gone off the deep end?
Thank you. "Perhaps if we explained that to the world, we would be better understood." Israel, if it has a few thousand years history; and, or if you are referring to it as 'the modern State of..."; are those connected to 'Jewish'? Is the 'world' to understand Israel as also Jewish or not? I imagine that Israel old, new, Jewish, secular etc. is a phenomenon within the huge story of Humanity. I imagine that Jewish as a Culture (inclusive of its actual Cultural Practices) is a phenomenon. Israel's modern excellence is drastically different from any other modern, Western, nation. Jewish is a totally different Culture than any of the nations in which Jewish persons are resident. Personally, it seems to me that evidence (i.e. daily news for decades) indicates that Israel is not a 'normal' nation and not a 'normal' society. There is not one single thing in Jewish that is simple. Nothing about Israel is simple. The premise of understanding Israel and/or Jewish is not a welcome mat. Without the full historical perspective not only will no one "better understand" but neither will Israelis nor Jewish persons. Especially if there is actually no will to understand that Israel and/or Jewish.... is as 'the Bible tells me so' (antiquated American saying of non-Jewish children) .. so the Torah tells and explains that 'the Jewish People' are a separate nation. Separate as in "different" from all other nations. One can deny that from now until Eternity, but, it sure looks like the Torah may have got that one point correct for starters. But if Israelis and Jewish person live their lives refuting the obvious .... then it is quite unlikely "we would be better understood". Pardon me, but, on Simcha Torah, Oct 7, 2023... everything changed. But quite understandably many have refused to get what I call "The BIG Lesson" i.e. facing the daunting lessons appearing endlessly since that turning point date and event(s).
This is my opinion so please forgive me, but for me Israel is something I have longed for all my life, though I have never been "home". It is the only place on earth where not only being a Jew is normal but everyone you meet is Jewish. From the fireman, to the policeman, to the man who picks up your trash. Even prisoners are Jewish, how wonderful. Israel is beyond everything anyone who is not Jewish could comprehend. Where else but in Israel can you walk down a street knowing the King David walked here also. This is my home my ancestors bled for this land and are buried here. No where else can a Jew walk and know this is my home, my land. And if it would come to pass to die here even at the actions of a terrorist you know you died free as a Jew and Israel will still be here. There is no sweeter land anywhere. For a Jew to walk this land is to walk in the footsteps of a people who share everything love, language, passion, and a love for G-D. To love without knowing G-D's name, or what G-D looks like or anything else of G-D. We talk with G-D directly we do not need an emissary, a go between. We have G-D's ear when ever we want. And how good it is to be able to talk to G-D in Jerusalem, G-D's city, knowing that nowhere else on earth can you be any closer to G-D then here. Am Yisrael Chi. Shalom Dan
Dear Forest Rain, I have read your posts for several years. I read along and then, unexpectedly, I find that I have tears in my eyes. You have a gift for sharing simple truths in a way that goes right to the heart. I'm really pleased to see your work on Substack. Kol hakavod!
Thank you for those very kind words!
I've been a Zionist for a long time now and although there are a variety of reasons for this the primary reason was my friendship with three young Jews who shared part of their lives with me back in the early sixties. Apart from us having fun and hanging out together, having them teach me how to dance the Horah and sing Hava Nagila at the Zionist Youth Club in North Manchester are among my fondest memories from that time. I also smile with pride when I recall how Mosh, Shosh and Carmen and the Israeli youth worker, Dov declared that I was an "Honorary Zionist" one Friday evening. But more importantly, my three friends taught me about the longing in their hearts to make aliyah and go home. They talked incessantly about Israel. Israel was their future. Israel was their life. Our time together was too short and sadly we lost touch before the Six Day War in 1967, and although I have worried about what might have become of them from time to time, I have consoled myself with the knowledge that they all were living their dream, fulfilling their purpose at home in their beloved Israel. I fervently hope they have passed those values onto their own sabra children and grandchildren. So I understand, at least a little, what you mean when you say Israel is the only place on earth you call your home.
Am Yisrael Chai!
Thank you for this tribute to, and explanation of, Israel’s unique ‘culture’. As I get older and notice, with some shame, my own preconceptions regarding ‘others’, I do not expect most of the non-Jewish world ever to warm to that culture, but I appreciate its existence in the deepest possible way, and welcome words such as yours that light it from within.
Enjoyed the essay very much. I think your point really hit "home" and made me understand why things have changed for me after Oct 7th and its aftermath. I am a dual citizen of both Canada and the US and was very patriotic to both. I considered both my home and though I never was in Israel, I felt Israel was my far away home due to my Jewish heritage.
Had I have read your essay before Oct 7th, I would have said to you that I am very lucky cuz I have three places that I call home and love all three.
Something has changed for me since Oct 7th but I could not quit explain but I think I can now. I may love three countries but only one is my true home. Only one will accept me in good times as well as terrible times. Only one country will be there for me and offer me protection and love.
Its true what Dorothy said ...... There is no place like HOME.
papa j
You nailed it. We are not strangers with each other; naturally warm and intrusive.
Brilliant article which clearly explains the unique meaning of Israel as HOME.
Excellent essay.
When I visited Israel in 1998 I could tell that we are family. It’s a type of relationship that doesn’t have a lot to do with liking or not liking.
But sad to see that according to this morning’s essay 82,700 people left home in 2024.
Don’t get too upset about that number. It includes people who are going away for a few years for work or study, but are coming back. Especially dual citizens, who always have the option, will “take a break” for personal or family reasons. My wife and I have done it a couple of times. We’re still here.
I read that somewhere, too. Sad, hard to think about…
Long time fan of Clotaire Rapaille -- so no argument. But this provides a bit of illumination around the problem. Yes, Americans [like so many other cultures/peoples] assume that the rest of the world thinks the way they do. But the core problem is a lack of shared values. There is a conflict between cultures that believe all is fated and it is useless to struggle against fate vs those who believe in struggling to find new solutions to problems. There are cultures where people believe they are living in the best possible world and those that see areas of improvement. There are cultures that believe in violence as a way of life and those that abhor violence. Israel finds itself caught between a Liberal West with one set of values and which judges based on those values and on the other side the Islamic world with a different set of values. Rapaille illuminates a bit about the 'what' of different values but the real issue is the 'how' to address the disparate values.
I was sitting with some like minded gentile friends & we were talking about all the problems in America(guns, healthcare,etc)when I said "you know Im the only one here who has somewhere I can go to& I won't even need a ''green card"-home
Superb analysis of the Jewish relationship with Israel.
Love this article
Articles like this remind me of the rhapsodising of the Japanese Kokutai authors, the Southern Agrarians and the German Romantics. Race and land mysticism is a common trait among cultures under threat or perceived to be so. Such movements have the capacity to inspire great art but also to provoke provincialism. After all, if the leaves on your particular tree have a colour only certain eyes can see, what is the point of trying to convey that colour to outsiders or to look at any other tree that can be seen by ordinary eyes?
Isreal can be a great nation without portraying nosiness and bad manners as symbols of a universal family (do family charge each other for lifts?) Other nations are capable of looking after victims of war and disaster. What immigrant doesn’t long for familiar smells and sounds? Might I suggest that when you get to the stage of portraying immigrants settling together and selling food from home as a unique Israeli trait that you’ve gone off the deep end?
Thank you. "Perhaps if we explained that to the world, we would be better understood." Israel, if it has a few thousand years history; and, or if you are referring to it as 'the modern State of..."; are those connected to 'Jewish'? Is the 'world' to understand Israel as also Jewish or not? I imagine that Israel old, new, Jewish, secular etc. is a phenomenon within the huge story of Humanity. I imagine that Jewish as a Culture (inclusive of its actual Cultural Practices) is a phenomenon. Israel's modern excellence is drastically different from any other modern, Western, nation. Jewish is a totally different Culture than any of the nations in which Jewish persons are resident. Personally, it seems to me that evidence (i.e. daily news for decades) indicates that Israel is not a 'normal' nation and not a 'normal' society. There is not one single thing in Jewish that is simple. Nothing about Israel is simple. The premise of understanding Israel and/or Jewish is not a welcome mat. Without the full historical perspective not only will no one "better understand" but neither will Israelis nor Jewish persons. Especially if there is actually no will to understand that Israel and/or Jewish.... is as 'the Bible tells me so' (antiquated American saying of non-Jewish children) .. so the Torah tells and explains that 'the Jewish People' are a separate nation. Separate as in "different" from all other nations. One can deny that from now until Eternity, but, it sure looks like the Torah may have got that one point correct for starters. But if Israelis and Jewish person live their lives refuting the obvious .... then it is quite unlikely "we would be better understood". Pardon me, but, on Simcha Torah, Oct 7, 2023... everything changed. But quite understandably many have refused to get what I call "The BIG Lesson" i.e. facing the daunting lessons appearing endlessly since that turning point date and event(s).