Even when I’m not in Israel, I feel a strong connection to
the Holyland. I don’t know exactly where my connection stems from. Is it
because I’m an Israeli citizen? Is it because I’m Jewish? Maybe there is no
concrete answer. All I know is that when I am here, in Israel, I feel complete.
And although I wasn’t born in Israel, I consider it my home. Whenever I stepped
off the plane at Ben Gurion Airport I feel the energy of Israel surge through
me. To know that I am in a land where my beautiful religion and culture was
born and where my family found refuge after fleeing from Iraq 60 years ago and
to know that I am in a land where I am welcome makes me feel safe and optimistic.
Many people would probably find the idea of someone feeling
safe in Israel, a country surrounded by hostile neighbors and under constant threat
of war, to be a strange concept. But any country brought together by a small
and mighty group of people who defied all odds and grew into a strong, diverse,
and liberal democracy and a home for Jews anywhere and everywhere, makes me
feel safe.
D. M.