Linking Zionism to Responsibility

Today The Jewish Forward published an editorial article, "Let My People Go" by David Chinitz, that I read on Kumah - Home of Neo-Zionism and the Aliyah Revolution: The Real Jewish Conspiracy. The article and the blog post articulate the challenge that a broad definition of Zionism presents for those who are encouraging North American Jews to make aliyah, or immigration to Israel.

Chinitz argues that there is "a Jewish conspiracy to prevent massive immigration of North American Jews to Israel," which "began when the word Zionism was hijacked by the professional Jewish and Israeli world and applied to every possible Jewish enterprise other than aliyah." According to Chinitz, broadening Zionism to include many different movements and ideas is "suppressing the notion of aliyah".

However, I would argue that directly linking Zionism to aliyah limits the appeal that aliyah can have to prospective Jewish North Americans, excluding individuals who do not wish to associate themselves with the modern Zionist movement but are passionate about the land of Israel. I wonder, is it possible, that by creating a link between Zionism and aliyah, we are actually driving young people away from making aliyah?

These days in the United States, being a young Zionist isn't very cool. If you identify as a Zionist, most people probably think that you make all your political decisions based on Israel, which includes voting for GW Bush twice, which isn't so cool in America right now, or anywhere in the world, dream about joining the IDF and want to maiming Israel's Arab neighbors. If this is what your friends and family in the United States imagine when you say you are a Zionist, you might stop identifying with the word.

However, any google savvy searcher will easily find that Zionism is a highly contested word with many continuing battles over its meaning. Constantly being thrown into new frames, Zionism has lost the strong roots and distinct meaning that Jewish people throughout history identified with. Instead of identifying as a Zionist and ascending up towards G-d via the land of Israel, Zionism seems to be linked to a heavy bundle of explanations that weight prospective immigrants down.

However, there is some hope that North Americans can be encouraged to make aliyah. Chinitz argues that if North Americans made aliyah it would help Israel economically and politically prosper. For example, he states, "If North American Jews were making aliyah, How would Moshe Safdie’s backward, environmentally unsound plan for developing West Jerusalem even emerge from committee? How could politicians behave corruptly, impervious to notions of accountability?" Although I don’t know if Jewish American immigrants to Israel would be more politically active and socially responsible, these questions are distinct because they seek to inspire a sense of responsibility in prospective immigrants, not a sense of ideology.

Leaving ideology behind is probably a good idea. Amongst my peers today, it seems as though ideology is almost as out of fashion as President Bush and the Republican party. As the New York Times reported yesterday in an article entitled "New Polls Find Young Americans are Leaning Left," young Americans are "a group whose energy and idealism have always been as alluring to politicians as [their] scattered focus and shifting interests have been frustrating." However, I see this "scattered focus and shifting interest" as a turn away from ideological participation and a sign that young people are more critical of the modern mantras they are being bombarded with. They choose to take in new ideas and new hopes for the future slowly--remembering to chew before they swallow.

If this is the case, linking Zionism to aliyah will not bring young American Jews to Israel. Instead, it will drive them away. We are smart enough to know that Birthright trips make Israel glow for ten days and that just like America, Israel has a big heavy load of issues to sort out. Instead of painting a perfect picture of Israel and using Zionism to captivate young people, why don't you show us some of Israels guts? Maybe a little view of the dirty challenges ahead, and where we can help by making aliyah, will lift the weights of ideology and connect us to Israel with a dose of responsibility--we are all in this together after all.

Posting Poetry

I've been asking my small group of reader's how I could improve the blog and I've got a steady streaming request to see some of my poetry. I'm not usually public about such artistic flirtations, but some how, I'm mustering up the courage to post.

These two poems were written this spring and are particularly fitting for this blog.

oo

Struck by culture wars,
no words escape without a bow,
to one side or the other.

I refuse to engage in a war with words.
The wall the fence
The fence the wall
Nargella hookah falafal hummus!

Stop shouting at me,
political binary.
I refuse to engage in such division.


Flower Press

Pressed between
home and society
we are told to riot.

But the butterfly whispers
to fluttering eyes,
"exasperate my neck,"
refute.

Fingerprints ravage our touch,
Rushing the pulse of home,
that refuses to pass.

Traveling vs. Moving

While I've been in Seattle I've spent a lot of time catching up with my past and defining my future. When I tell people that I am going to Israel for a year, I find it hard to decide if I'm traveling to Israel or moving there.

This only dawned on me when I was showing my sister pictures of Israel from my trip last year. We sat all cuddled up on my bed in Seattle, clicking through old facebook albums and indulging in travel stories. It only took a few minutes for me to proclaim my love for the land of Israel, "Oh Sophie, Israel is such an incredible place. I really want to move there someday, it would be so wonderful" I said to her.

Slightly perplexed, without much hesitation she said, "Ali, you are moving there." The exciting confusion sets in.

Am I traveling or am I moving? According to the World Tourist Organization, tourists are people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited." Since I'm staying for approximately a year (I don't have a ticket home yet, but I'll come back to the United States sometime before September 2008), I'm right on the edge of the time limit for being a tourist.

I most definitely am traveling to Israel for leisure and business. I see myself sitting on the beach with a beer in hand, writing my fieldnotes and soaking up the sun. However, as many people can account, I tend to do something along these lines when I am in the United States, be it Seattle, Massachusetts or New York--no place can escape Alison and her intoxicated note taking sessions.

At some points, I will be in travel mode. Floating around as a tourist is an important contrast to what I intend to spend most of my time doing--sinking my feet deep into Tel Aviv's sand. However, in the beginning I intend to focus most of my efforts on crafting a life that is much more similar to that of a foreign resident.

For the first few weeks I will be making my home-base at my friend Shalev's house in Ramat HaSharon. We met last year on a Taglit-Birthright Israel Trip with Oranim and have become even closer friends via Google chat, Skype and JaJah. I imagine that we will spend a good deal of time exchanging stories, sips of Isreali beer and the like. However, Shalev is also going to be getting me settled in as a resident. He told me that he intends to have me, “fit in as quickly as possible” and is willing to show me the hott spots in the city, introduce me to his friends and get me set up in an apartment.

Unlike my life in the United States, where I have fully embraced the experience of a privileged student--living in fully furnished dormitories that are just a few steps from my classroom and eating the three meals a day that are cooked by an incredible cook staff-- I will be living in an apartment at some undetermined location in Tel Aviv. Without the aid of any institution, I will have to find and create my own home, assemble my own furniture, cook my own meals and commute to school.

This is a big part of my great adventure and something that I imagine many students, foreign residents and immigrants have embarked on—this moving to Israel bit. Although I do plan on returning to the United States (I started a degree there that I would like to finish), I am once again freeing myself from the notion of “home” and preparing to cultivate new soils.

Who am I? Who are you?

Who am I? I seem to ask myself this question all of the time. Well I suppose that comes as no surprise since I seem to ask others this question before even learning their name. However, this question has no simple answer. Instead, it seems to just propel me into a battle with language, culture and history. Usually the journey looks something like this:

The Stranger: Hello. I'm Joe. Who are you?

Alison: "Oh hello, I'm Alison. Nice to meet you."

Oh wait! Am I really Alison, or am I Avigail? Alison is my legal name in the US, but Avigail is my Hebrew name that was given to me by my Rabbi. Ok. I'm in the USA, my legal name here is Alison--and legal things are more powerful than religious things in the USA, so I must be Alison. Ok. The government's power settles it, for now.

The Stranger: "Nice to meet you Alison. Where are you from?"

Me: Well, I'm bi-coastal I suppose. I was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Seattle, live in Massachusetts and am moving to Israel for a year. Simple answer right?

At this point I usually smile and make fun of the fact that this is still one of the longest answers I've heard to date. The responses after this point tend to vary in order. However, most people at some point, some where, someday (ok usually in the first five minutes) will end up asking me, "Are you Jewish?" and I will respond with a "Yes."

However, this answer is not a simple one. Behind it lies a myriad of questions I have yet to answer. As a Jew, who am I? What are my responsibilities? Who is my community? Where should I go? What should I do?

This blog will explore the questions of identification that myself and others are pushed to pursue. Please contribute! Tell me what you think about these questions, where do you see them in your life? How do you react to them? Are they good? Are they bad? You know...do some thinking about it and join me. I'm always open to comments and suggestions. I hope we can pursue this questions together thoughtfully and provocatively.

So come on...
Who are you anyways?