Tough love and more.

Someone asked me what I love about Israel. I was speechless.

It’s not that I don’t love anything about Israel. It’s not that I don’t love Israel at all.

I think what it is… When people ask me where in Israel I live, I say Jerusalem. And then I groan as their faces glow up and they dreamily respond how amazing that is and how much they’d love to live in Jerusalem. My groaning is masked by a stoic face (at least I hope) and I respond – mostly in my own head – yeah, well, sometimes it’s better to stay away from what you love.

Jerusalem becomes unholy once you actually live in it. And not just because it becomes ‘everyday’ which is a lot of what unholy means. It’s also because you actually get to know it; the dirt in the streets in the form of miniskirts, the two-legged animals that roam around. It’s a holy place if you don’t make it the place where you eat, sleep and shit.

Maybe that’s why diaspora is actually subconsciously appealing at times. Israel is becoming what Jerusalem has become for me. As the ideology melts from the forefront of my reasoning, I’m left cold and slightly discomforted with the land before me. This is Israel: the dirt, the smiles; the warmth, the doubt. The further away from it I am, the more appealing it becomes. Another Jewish paradox. Another love-hate relationship.

As funny as this sounds, it’s true for me: As hard as it is for me to hate Israel, is as hard as it is sometimes to love it.


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  1. amechad Avatar
    amechad

    Ah, but as I always say, it may be dirty and screwed up but it’s ours. That also means, it’s our responsibility to fix things and make it better — and that requires living here.

    OTOH, From my 10th floor office tower (of course if I wasn’t in Israel, I wouldn’t be at work today – how odd!) overlooking Gan HaAtzmaut, there’s something serene and nice about J’lem. Of course, ask me if I think this when I walk outside

  2. Jacob Da Jew Avatar
    Jacob Da Jew

    I’m with you on this one. My parents made Aliyah when I was young and i moved back to the States when I was 18. They live in Mekor Baruch, Jerusalem.

    I like living here. I’m not dreamy and all about living in IL.

  3. Mel Balsamo Avatar
    Mel Balsamo

    well it still is home, ain’t it? It may be struggling for now but it still has hopes of getting back on its feet. If everyone is feeling the way that you are now, then, surely Jerusalem will crumble down to ruins.

    Mel Balsamo
    JRomances.com

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