The first time I watched Adi Ashkenazi was when she did a bit on the chevre: what it is, where you find one, what it’s like to be a part of one.
A chevre (חברה) is your group, company, your mates, whatever little society you are a part of. It might be the kids you grew up with or your college buddies or the work mates you grab a beer with. It’s a group of people with whom you feel secure; pick up a phone and make plans, feel complete.
Defining it is easier than finding it. Especially when you move yourself across an ocean to a place where you start out knowing less people than fingers on one hand. Especially when you’re not an easy sell to start (I don’t respond to money or cuddling).
Aliyah can feel pretty lonely at times. It’s really not easy or simple to find new friends (in only a year or two) who even come close to the decades-long friendships you had back across that ocean.
But I’m not the only one feeling the lacking. Making aliyah can provide anyone with the same emotions and thoughts you had when you started grade school. There you are, doing it all over again, in your 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond.
There are three things from my experience that I tell people they need to attempt success at this game: creativity, open-mindness and patience. Finding the new chevre is definitely one of the major areas where all three are required.
Whadya got: