Some things I love about living in Israel

P. David Hornik
25 March '11

http://pdavidhornik.typepad.com/pdavidhornik/2011/03/some-things-i-love-about-living-in-israel.html

1. Learning a new language. I moved here at 30, knowing very little Hebrew. There’s something hugely elating about gradually learning a different language in midlife; finding out how a language is a world, something I didn’t really understand when I knew only one language. There are many beautiful Israeli songs and it’s quite a thing to hear them and understand the words. I became a translator here, an activity I greatly enjoy.

2. Being in the Land of Israel. Though a mostly nonobservant Jew, the Land of Israel archetype lies very deep in me. It’s all around me, all the time. It’s a varied, beautiful, and sacred land; it exudes sacredness. It’s fused with the Jewish calendar, the Jewish holidays, in a way that can only be experienced here. I even know the names of some of its birds and flowers.

3. Always having something to write about. It’s possible to write about Israel from abroad and there are some people who do it very well; but writing about Israel in Israel has special valence, immediacy, and intensity.

4. The “we-ness.” It’s a small country, and the sense of collective experiences and feelings is intense. Yes, there are divisions as in any society; I'd say that the more extreme Left is outside of the “we,” inimical to it, in many regards. Also, many of the collective experiences, and the feelings instilled by these, are of course harsh ones. Still, overall, the “we-ness” is a great thing. It's by no means unique to Israel but I'm sure it's particularly strong here.

5. Jerusalem is here. I used to live in it, don't anymore, but whenever I think of its name (Jerusalem, Yerushalayim), there's a heart-fluttering sensation. It becomes the center of one's affections. Perhaps it can be that, too, outside of Israel, but it's different when one has known its stones and pine trees for years. To me, it exudes holiness with the same undeniable, indeed sensous immediacy that its stones exude soft light.

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