At the end of the trip, I was sitting with my tour guide, Tova, and I announced that I was making Aliyah and moving to Israel. Tova smiled kindly and said, “Let me tell you a story.”
She went on to share the following:
A man died, and when he faced the heavenly tribunal, they told him that they would show him both heaven and hell and that he could then decide where he wanted to go.
Much to his surprise, heaven appeared shabby, decrepit, and boring, and hell appeared to be a paradise unlike anything he’d ever seen, so he thought the obvious choice was hell.
The man was in for quite a shock when he got to the fiery snake-pit that was really hell, and he exclaimed, “What is this! This isn’t the hell you showed me!”
The heavenly tribunal replied: “The first time you visited, you were a tourist.”
Her point, of course, was that the Israel I had just experienced was somewhat of an illusion. I had seen Israel, and while it was Israel, it was only part of the picture. We had been, as one might say, on a first date— with everyone dressed well and on their best behavior. As a tourist, I hadn’t seen the difficult, struggling, complex aspects of the Jewish State.
As I’ve learned more, spent more time in Israel, and been a vocal advocate for Israel and the US-Israel relationship, I have come to appreciate the wisdom of her response.
The Israel I’d learned about in religious school and seen on that trip doesn’t exist. It isn’t an ideal utopia, but is far more complex and nuanced. Its achievements are indisputable. It has become a technological behemoth. Time and again, it has welcomed members of our Jewish community who had nowhere else to turn after leaving such places as Ethiopia or Russia. And its democracy is as robust as any in our world today. Israel is remarkable, but it, like every nation, is far from perfect.
In other words, the mythical Israel I THOUGHT I knew as a child doesn’t exist. It never did. And as that initial illusion disappeared, I was forced to develop a more mature, complex relationship.
But just as I came to understand that the mythic Israel that is a paradigm of perfect national virtue does not exist, neither does the Israel portrayed in the media or vilified in the United Nations and social media. Israel is not the embodiment of evil that is often portrayed and has sadly taken hold in the minds of far too many people. It is a country that is surrounded by enemies and whose citizenry is as complex and diverse as any nation on Earth.
Statehood meant Israel’s leaders have had to make difficult decisions regarding the use of power and with regard to balancing the needs of a society composed of disparate social groups. Like any country, Israel is often forced to make difficult decisions. And like every country, there are times when those decisions are praiseworthy and others when they are deserving of criticism.
Ultimately, I have come to appreciate that Israel is neither the mythic place I thought it was when I was on that bus with Tova, nor the locus of all that is wrong in the world. It is a country whose achievements do not erase its missteps and challenges, but whose missteps and challenges do not erase its remarkable achievements. And that does not change the one, indisputable fact that Israel is a miracle. Established as our people emerged from one of the darkest times in our history, Israel has, time and again, overcome threats and challenges no other country has faced. Israel is a miracle and as it turns 77, I am clearer than ever that it is a gift deserving of celebration.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Daniel Cohen
