I don’t want to talk about it right now though.
What I will say is… the returning home is always something. Every time, it’s a weird breath of relief. As uncomfortable (on a technical level) as I may feel here in Israel as an immigrant, it’s a discomfort I’m naturally comfortable with because it locks into my DNA despite differences.
A lot of people talk about leaving Israel these days… I don’t begrudge them.
My first time traveling abroad since October 7th… only made me more relieved coming home.
Despite being in a fairly Israel-friendly environment (Florida) I felt a weird filter of self consciousness and a non-belonging (of my own making, for sure. People are polite). Coming home, seeing the signs in Hebrew (and you know what, Arabic and Russian too), walking by a stranger and knowing that at minimum, most likely, we share some really (really) basic core values…
It kind of makes you really get why diaspora communities are the way they are while making their new lives away from their tight knit, homogenous homelands. I imagine that most immigrant groups from more homogeneous or shared-core-value countries espouse this vibe.
All that, running in my head while rolling my carry-on down the corridor and staring down through the glass windows into Departures.
… And then, I’m watching suitcases float by me, I’m standing back, thinking, “what’s with these assholes” while watching a kiddush hoarde clamber past each other at the baggage carousel.
And laugh. That’s where the DNA comes in.
Whadya got: