Only In Israel

Lori, it is a beautiful and moving speach. But is this familiarity a jewish trait? From my experience, it is a humane trait, and should be praised as such, as one can find it in Muslim and Christian and Buddhist communities jsut the same...

Just after I made aliya someone reminded me that family is the place you can feel the safest and it's also the group you can feel the most frustrated about. But we are home. It's not a put down to America. There are wonderful and righteous people there too. It's just that if you're a Jew, when you're in Israel, you are home with your family. The jerk who frustrates you is the same guy who wil (or has)l put on a uniform to defend your life with his. We're saving your place Lori. <3

So true, Baruch Hashem there is a closeness in Israel that is amazing It's especially beautiful when there are diff people dancing at the kotel on Fri evening

On the bus in Brooklyn, a young teen (me) witnessing a crazy mom pinching and hitting her (or maybe not hers) 5 or 6 yr old child. No one on the bus said or did anything...not even me. The bus was packed. We, including the bus driver, were scared stiff by this crazy lunatic with a roving one eye, that was abusing the child. I will never forget... and I cry every time I think about it. It could and should have been stopped right then and there. Never again will I sit idly by and let an incident like this one go without trying to stop it. I only wish I did something back then. The look of the child's face still haunts me to this day. If only everyone was into each others business here.

We're waiting for you.

I saw your blog, and I had to laugh. Why? I just sat down to check my email after coming home from traffic duty in Haifa where I volunteer as a uniformed policeman. Would you believe me if I told every day at least one person on the street tells me how I should be doing the job differently? I’m sure that you wouldn’t believe me if I told you how frequently I am told that I shouldn’t write a traffic ticket because the driver has a relative in the police department – maybe I know them and would be willing to phone. Or how many stories I have heard about urgent personal problems – please don’t write me a ticket for talking on the telephone while driving. Bus drivers tell me stories about when they used to volunteer with the police, or ask for help with some infraction currently troubling them, or talk about army experiences because they were in my combat unit several years before/after me. Are we really a single family? Sometimes. For good and for bad.

I live here and these days don't fool yourself we still have to guard our children from strangers and even friends. The laid back attitude that exists here must not be romanticized we still have our share of abuse, physical and sexual and our children still need to be protected. Sure I like the feeling that I won't be robbed or mugged on the bus that feeling that I belong here is exhilirating, but don't excuse simple bad behavior. I too, have had my share of strangers telling me that my baby can't be comfortable with his head lolling to the side while sleeping in his stroller, so I know exactly what that's like. But be careful not to think that everone here is your family. They are quick to criticize you and then hide behind the excuse that they are concerned with your welfare, it's not always true.

this video I enjoyed very much, because i recognize it all. you could add the example that a person in the back of the bus can pass on money to buy a ticket, it travells from passenger to passenger and then eventually you get your ticket with change!

What a beautiful comment and what a great lifestyle! Everybody cares. It might be a little bit chaotic at times, however I can feel genuine support and values that other countries lack. Doesn't this lifestyle go back to Torah, and the Jewish soul? I am not Jewish, however I honor and try to live Torah to the best to my abilities.With Yeshua in my heart, soul and mind. I am so glad I watched your video Lori. And I wished the whole world would understand this love. Thank you, Rita

This is why I love Israel

I spend seven years with Israelis mixing in my business when it suited them to interfere. If you want others fishing in your pond well you go right ahead and make Aliya. I prefer to stay right here thank you very much. Your good feelings don't reverse my bad experiences with Israelis or restore me the lost time or opportunities lost in the Israeli bueracrazy.

I visited Israel 14 years ago, and thought about moving. My marriage was all but over and I had two daughters (ages 8 and 11) who would have had to adjust, but I believe all of our lives would have been better. When I got off the plane they said Welcome Home! Now I am alone, my children have their own lives, so maybe I'll come home again and be a part of the Greatest Family in the World!

Thanks, Lori. That sounds comforting that we Jews are essentially one big Jewish family. I would just hope more of us could see more eye-to-eye and thereby avoiding intermarriage and other influences of assimilation that result in a Jew forgetting his/her Judaism, even though Judaism never forgets a Jew....Like Gandhi said, "we must be the change in this world we want to see."

Quite a tme I lived in Israel, in Kfar Yerucham in the Negev We had two little children at that time. I came from Northern Germany, where - when you meet somebody and say hello, the other one looks as if a bomb exploded. "Do we know each other?!?" he askes and lookes as if you have done something wrong. But you are right. In Israel we are a family. The whole bus is interested in you, wants to know where you are going and what for. You get "etzot". Especially when you are a mother with children. They really care for you. You feel that you are at home. Just as you describe it, Lori. - Shalom lach!

I too, grew up in Toronto but here I am, in the Boston area and I love it here. It's my "home" and yes, I have been to Israel several times. I do not always find it this way with Israelis. Sometimes yes, and sometimes, no. I wish I could say whole heartedly, that my experience was yours. What you are describing is beautiful. A friend of mine has a son who went to Israel to work on a Kibbutz and study Hebrew. Being who he is, he had some difficulties and he wound up being hospitalized for his problems that were, largely, emotional. The Israelis were not about to care for him. His Mom came and got him and he was brought home. I am saying, it's not always that way. There are such stories. As for me, I loved my time, especially in Jerusalem and longed to see Safed, as I am, at heart, a mystic. I do believe that Sabras also have a kind of arrogance at times, and perhaps they should, as all cacti need to protect themselves. Yes, to family, wherever we are! I think of the entire world as family, and as for being a Jew, surely I know when I am home and at home. It's the OM in home.

I made Aliyah this past June. Grew up in Montreal, lived in Toronto and lived on the Upper West Side of New York. Living now in Israel, I really feel that everyone is my family. I met an elderly couple in the Tel Aviv area who where total strangers to me. They asked me do I have any family in Israel. I mentioned that I had family in many different cities in Israel. They then asked me if I had any family in Hadera. I replied NO. They then said to me that "We are your family in Hadera". Made me feel really good.

my husband is a new yorker living in israel with me currently. he couldnt get used to the "in your bussiness" issue for quite a while... its so very true! thanks lori for clarifying this matter so nicely!

You're a delight. I loved the blog.

The truth about Israel is that once you are there, you are HOME! Everyone is family and feels free to give advise and tell you how to live your life - strange to many Americans, but just think what it means. NO ONE can take a child or beat someone on the street - everyone will GET INVOLVED. It is the best thing about living in Israel. It's how you feel when you are HOME!

Lori, your experiences in large cities in America, where people are "not in your business" is exactly 180 degrees from what it is in smaller cities and especially smaller towns. The size of the area, not the country, is what seems to determine how close strangers are to you. I've found the same to be true in France and South Africa.

What a positive way to see life and be involved in life,I'd rather have someone tell me whats wrong than sit in ignorance which prevails much of society. WAY TO GO!