Friday 8 June 2012

Back Home from the Adventure

Thinking how lucky I am” was the blog post I wrote on March 5 and is the one out of forty five which got the highest readership. Sitting at home now, about a week after coming back, I don’t think that it is a coincidence: I am so incredibly lucky to have had the chance to experience such an intense and interesting and validating experience, and so lucky to have Rafi be so incredibly supportive. I thank G-d every day for this, and more.

As I clean up my desktop of all the notes I was leaving myself with regards of the trip, I came across the doc where I was jotting down blog topic ideas, and realized how much I did not capture.

There were so many interesting people I met who had important things to say that I did not profile; so many big and little observations about the differences and similarities between Israelis and Jews in the Diaspora as well as with people in general; so many restaurants I did not list (OK, not too many of those); so many newspaper articles I read and which helped me understand a little bit more of what was going on. Plus I only captured 1% of the exhilarating intensity of the can-do/let's-do business atmosphere there... So many things I experienced that I did not get a chance to blog about.

It was truly the experience of a lifetime.

I often think that non-Jews see Jews as a monolithic when we definitely are not, and now I realize that we do the same when we think of Israel.

In reality, I experienced how Israel is made up of so many internal rifts and fractures that it  remains a true miracle how the country comes together - especially in times of crisis. As several people I met put it: "We were always 12 Tribes."

But they do come together and are welcoming of new people. While I was there, I felt completely engaged with the zeitgeist and that is the gift I will always cherish.

One of the most important things I was told was that even after three months in Israel, trying to be as much as possible a 'local' and not a tourist, I remain "naive about Israel."

I have been thinking hard about this since then and I decided it is a compliment.

I love the idea of Israel and all it stands for; I love the reality of the complexity of the country; I love the people (including the staff and processes at the Post Office and at Arkia Airlines); I love the sunshine.  After three months, the little Stars of David in my eyes may have begun to fade a bit and take on a more realistic shape, but the experienced only helped me believe more and more intensely.

How lucky and grateful I am -- indeed!






2 comments:

  1. Hi Raquel,
    I saw your professional blog at Hacker News which led me to this personal blog and somehow i found myself reading the entire posts (would you believe it?) for the last 3 days.
    It was interesting to see how the other side see Israel (You are not exactly the other side since you are a Jew and you have some pre-knowledge).

    That's it, just dropping a note.

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    Replies
    1. Hod,

      Thank you so much for the feedback! I am back home in Canada now for over a month and you have "taken me back" one more time to this most incredible and wonderful experience.

      You are right that I am *not exactly* the other side but, like a Rubik's Cube square on a side, I guess I represent one more face to what we are as Am Israel.

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