Homecoming

The last exam has been taken. The last paper has been written. I've already said l'hitraot to some dear friends and to my beautiful fiancée. (read on to see what she's been up to...) All that remains for me here is a few more shared meals and one more trip to Rehovot to thank Savta and Saba for opening up their home (and refrigerator!) to us this year.

If I had to choose one word to sum up my experience here, it would be "revealing." I felt as though I pried up the huge rock that has always been there in the backyard, and saw for the first time all the fascinating stuff lying beneath it. Sure, it's a bit dirty, and there is strange stuff under there that might scare you off at first glance. But upon examining more closely, I encountered things I never knew, and learned more than I could have possibly imagined.

I know I'm not the first to have had a revealing experience in Israel, and I know I won't be the last. I only hope that people don't shy away from prying up a rock because they're afraid of getting their hands a little dirty. This is still a young country, with all the issues that any young country must face. Israel is still very much under construction (indeed, I can hear the bulldozers even here within the HUC library). It's a work in progress, and there is no telling when it will ever be completed. Maybe completion doesn't even matter -- maybe it's the work that counts.

In 1836, when the USA was 60 years old, slavery was still in full swing. The government was still very concerned with infrastructure -- basic utilities, public schools, transportation routes. Like Israel, it was a grand experiment, and nobody could have predicted it to turn out the way it has. Like Israel, it's still fraught with problems. And yet, like Israel, it's home.

And this is Donna's home, immediately following her wedding shower and a shopping spree:


I can't wait to come home. :)