It’s been over a week since we landed in Israel. And what a week it was.
It started at 3:00 AM at the Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv. The sky was clear and the weather was warm and welcoming. So were my sister and her friend who came to pick us up from the airport. We were out pretty quickly, myself, my wife Dorit, two sleepy but very excited children, and ten pieces of luggage, totaling almost 250 kilograms. The state of Israel was kind enough to allow us all this overweight simply because we were returning Israeli citizens on Israel’s 60th year.
After two and a half years of being away, we were home.
Those of you who experienced remote assignments, relocations, and even the simple act of moving from one place to another will recognize this feeling right away: the feeling of euphoria. Everything looks great, the people are nice, the lines are shorter, the traffic is reasonable. Obviously, this feeling is temporary, simply because every place has its own shortcomings. But the bottom line is simple: this is home, and after being away for so long, home is beautiful.
It hit me when I went to vote for the Binyamina mayor and city council. I was standing there, waiting in line, when I saw a photo of the late Ehud Manor, a famous Israeli poet and composer. He was smiling in the photo, and the quote underneath it said (in Hebrew, and in a much nicer language):
“I want to tell you, and I want you to believe me, wherever I go and wherever I live, I am a Binyaminer”
By the same token, and with direct contradiction to whatever the cosmopolitan Amiram, who lived in various parts of the US, and in Beijing, I want to make it clear and I want you to believe me when I say:
Wherever I go, and wherever I settle, whatever I do and whoever I talk to, whatever passport I carry, and whatever language I speak. I am first and foremost, and will always be, an Israeli.
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