That Land, That Place, That World

There is a Hebrew poem by a well-known Jewish poet, Shaul Tschernichovsky. It is called אומרים ישנה ארץ"” (They say there is a Land). In it, Tschernichovsky describes a Land bathed in sunshine, A Land where all that each hoped and wished for will come true (“ארץ אשר בה יתקיים כל אשר איש קיווה”). Though, he never mentions that Land by name and only hints at it, some of us, Jews, know which Land it is. That Land is Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Yisrael.

This poem which I read last weekend prompted the recollection of two very popular English songs. The first, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” The second, “What a wonderful world.”

It is no secret that the first song, written in 1939 by two Jews, Yip Harburg and Harold Arlen has long been associated with Eretz Yisrael. According to Rabbi Bernhard Rosenberg, “In writing it, the two men reached deep into their immigrant Jewish consciousness – framed by the pogroms of the past and the Holocaust about to happen – and wrote an unforgettable melody set to near prophetic words. Read the lyrics in their Jewish context and suddenly the words are no longer about wizards and Oz, Jewish survival.

Somewhere over the rainbow/Way up high/ There’s a land that I heart of/ Once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow/ Skies are blue/And the dreams that you dare to dream/Really do come through
Someday I’ll wish upon a star/ And wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops/ Away above the chimney tops/ That’s where you’ll find me.”

As a person who, like Harburg and Arlen, was reared and brought up in the Yiddish language and culture, I heard and sang several Yiddish lullabies about the yearning to That Place, Eretz Yisrael, the Land where my ancestors ached to live in for a very long time.  Harburg echoes similar sentiments to those of Tshernichovsky when he describes that Place where, “Skies are blue [and] the dreams that you dare to dream Really do come through.”

Walking the streets of my city, Herzliya, here in Eretz Yisrael, has brought about the reminiscence of a third, more recent and well-known song, “What a wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong.

Similarly to Armstrong, when I look around me here in Eretz Yisrael, “I see trees of green, red roses too,” in a place that once, not too long ago, was barren and deserted. As I raise my eyes I see the same “blue skies” that Armstrong is talking about.

Like him, I look at the faces “of people passing by, I see friends shaking hands singing ‘How do you do?’” Those who live here know that in a place like Yisrael, where people are bound by the same faith, same fate and same history, where people share a great love for the Land and similar experiences, one almost always comes across familiar faces of family members, friends or mere acquaintances.

Then, of course, there are “the babies,” the ones I hear “cry,” laugh or see smile, the precious future of our People, each a miracle on their own. “I watch them grow,” knowing that “They’ll learn much more than we’ll know.” I feel blessed living in That World.

True, This Land, This Place, This World, Eretz Yisrael, is far from perfect. For me and for many of my fellow Jews, however, it is as close as a Jew can get to it.

And in the words of Yip Harburg, “That is where you’ll find me!”

How far will we go to be loved?

                                                                                 

Don’t you just love it when after sixty seven years of not merely existence but of growth, thriving and great contributions to world civilization, the legitimacy of Israel, the Jewish state, is still a subject open for debate?

Let me ask you this, would you still dispute that the earth is round? Would you still debate that the it goes around the sun, or would you sink back into the dark ages of human development and question these issues? Why is it that despite historical, legal and political facts and truths, some people still feel a need to question and craft narratives when it comes to Israel, a sovereign nation that was re-established, first and foremost, by virtue of its own historical, religious, and natural rights  that was also later acknowledged by the international community?

Furthermore, why, despite the ingrained basic tenet of democratic societies where one remains innocent until proven guilty, do some Israelis and Jews rush to breast beatings and admit guilt or wrongdoing?

But above all, have you ever asked yourself why is it that Jews and Israelis are among the leaders of such debates, the first to issue immediate and uncalled for admission of guilt and the spearheads of such smear campaigns? What happened to the people described in Numbers 23:9 : "הן עם לבדד ישכן ובגוים לא יתחשב" (A People that is secluded and does not consider what the other nations think), I keep asking myself.

I always come back to the same answer. It has haunted me for many years. Whether we like it or not, two thousand years of Diaspora are, in my view, part of the roots of that. I would venture to say that this flawed characteristic of some part of our Israeli society is one symptom of it. Living at the mercy of others for so long, being a plaything in their hands, leaving their lands when they ordered us to and coming back to them when they needed us and lured us with promises only to eventually be kicked out of them again would shape the low self image for the sturdiest and the mightiest. Always being defined and redefined by others and mostly in a non-favorable demeanor predisposes the eventual fragile texture of the fabric of one’s collective sub consciousness both on individual and communal levels.

Members of a nation who have an ongoing dialogue with G-d, a dialogue where the main questions are: “Why me?” “Why us?” “Where is G-d now?” or “where was He then?” are bound to engage in polemics surrounding their self worth regardless of whether those that engage in it believe in G-d or not. It is already part of their national, cultural and ethnic genetic blueprint. Surely, logic dictates, if we are hated so much, despised so much, the reason must be within us. This, unfortunately, is the prevalent attitude among many Jews especially the “bleeding hearts” kind. After all, is it possible that so many could be wrong and Jews and Israelis, a tiny albeit a bright spec among the families of the earth, are the righteous ones?

Hence, the “We sinned” syndrome. “We did it!” “We are the guilty party!” “We are the illegitimate state!” “We are the invader!” “We are not like them!” “Go ahead, debate our existence,” “Question our desire to survive and our means to defend ourselves.” “After all, we are still your raggedy toy, so throw us, tear us apart and continue to do with us as you wish.”

Now world, will you please love us?