Friday, June 18, 2010 - I remember hearing from the time I was little that we have family in Israel. I always figured meeting them would be a remote possibility - I simply never really fathomed I'd be sitting here in Israel. But with my interest in our family origins and the year leading up to coming to Israel, I got in contact with them and made plans for us to meet them.
My great-grandfather Boim lived in Poland with his wife and my Grandfather until around 1914, when he feared the way things were shaping in Europe and so fled by himself to South America to seek a safer place for his family. Some of his family already lived in Argentina (um lamento Brasileiros), so he initially fled there. However, he felt compelled to continue moving North. He did so for 2 years, looking for work and better living conditions, until he crossed the border of Mexico into El Paso, Texas. There he sent money to his wife and his little son (my grandfather, David), and they emigrated through Ellis Island and settled in El Paso. Thus, the reason I was eventually born in El Paso as well.
Family
2 days after we arrived to Jerusalem the 4 of us took a bus a couple hours away to meet our family. Ana sat next to one of the 20 or so armed Israeli soldiers on the bus; my dad sat next to an old Chasidic Jew. Niv, who would be something like my second cousin, picked us up from the bus stop and took us to his parents' Moshav - which is something like an Israeli agricultural community settlement.
It didn't take long at all before the 4 of us were all breathing in heavily the spirit of this family. After about an hour we already felt like we'd known each other since birth. Though in a familial way, this is exactly what I felt the first night I went out with Ana. It's an understatement to say that this is a rare thing.
Amos and Liora live here; Liora is who I'd been in contact with over the past year. They have 3 kids - Shay, Niv, and Ben. It immediately struck all of us how close and unbelievably open the kids are with their parents and with us. I can't recall seeing an American family quite like this.
Family Bond
In Israel, every person - men and women - are obligated to serve in the military when they reach the age of 18. Each of the 5 family members had some horrific, scary stories about their past, and even present military service. The truth is, if you grow up in Israel, you have to face the fact at an early age that you will very likely lose close family members, friends, and possibly yourself - at a young age. I simply can't imagine growing up in this environment.. But I get the feeling this contributes to the incredible bond of family. I felt that there is a sense in which 1) life is even more unpredictable, short, and precious here, and 2) family is even more important as struggles abound more than I know, and one needs the solace of family comfort much. I don't know many dudes back home that give hugs and kisses to both their moms and dads solely out of the joy of their own hearts. It's very impressive.
The families here bare an interesting resemblance to Brazilian families; while we were there several other local families and friends dropped by with their kids and such just to say hi. As this kept happening, Liora said "Israelies are like the wind; they just come and go all the time."
Shabbat
Beliefs
One thing I've noticed about Jewish culture is that the people are pretty opinionated. They are more knowledgeable about American politics than most of any of us, and love to debate.. I could almost say that debating is their national past-time. Almost as if, even if it gets really heated, it's only in the name of fun. Liora compared the Jewish nation to an indigenous fruit that is sour and prickly on the outside, but very sweet on the inside.
Without getting into politics, I've observed that Israelies as a majority do not like our president. This runs pretty counter to the rest of Europe, but of course, most of Europe isn't in a struggle for existence and freedom. So I can empathise.
We are keeping in contact with Liora & family here, Ana and I are quite excited to see them again..
2 days after we arrived to Jerusalem the 4 of us took a bus a couple hours away to meet our family. Ana sat next to one of the 20 or so armed Israeli soldiers on the bus; my dad sat next to an old Chasidic Jew. Niv, who would be something like my second cousin, picked us up from the bus stop and took us to his parents' Moshav - which is something like an Israeli agricultural community settlement.
It didn't take long at all before the 4 of us were all breathing in heavily the spirit of this family. After about an hour we already felt like we'd known each other since birth. Though in a familial way, this is exactly what I felt the first night I went out with Ana. It's an understatement to say that this is a rare thing.
Amos and Liora live here; Liora is who I'd been in contact with over the past year. They have 3 kids - Shay, Niv, and Ben. It immediately struck all of us how close and unbelievably open the kids are with their parents and with us. I can't recall seeing an American family quite like this.
In Israel, every person - men and women - are obligated to serve in the military when they reach the age of 18. Each of the 5 family members had some horrific, scary stories about their past, and even present military service. The truth is, if you grow up in Israel, you have to face the fact at an early age that you will very likely lose close family members, friends, and possibly yourself - at a young age. I simply can't imagine growing up in this environment.. But I get the feeling this contributes to the incredible bond of family. I felt that there is a sense in which 1) life is even more unpredictable, short, and precious here, and 2) family is even more important as struggles abound more than I know, and one needs the solace of family comfort much. I don't know many dudes back home that give hugs and kisses to both their moms and dads solely out of the joy of their own hearts. It's very impressive.
The families here bare an interesting resemblance to Brazilian families; while we were there several other local families and friends dropped by with their kids and such just to say hi. As this kept happening, Liora said "Israelies are like the wind; they just come and go all the time."
ShabbatIn Judaism, Saturday is the Sabbath (Sunday in America) and is taken pretty seriously. Families come together each Shabbat for dinner. In our case, Liora apparently called even more of our family that lives here in Israel to come meet us for Shabbat dinner. There must have been 20 people there that night, and there wasn't a person I didn't feel close with, nor was there a person who didn't have an incredible story of their life.
One thing I've noticed about Jewish culture is that the people are pretty opinionated. They are more knowledgeable about American politics than most of any of us, and love to debate.. I could almost say that debating is their national past-time. Almost as if, even if it gets really heated, it's only in the name of fun. Liora compared the Jewish nation to an indigenous fruit that is sour and prickly on the outside, but very sweet on the inside.
Without getting into politics, I've observed that Israelies as a majority do not like our president. This runs pretty counter to the rest of Europe, but of course, most of Europe isn't in a struggle for existence and freedom. So I can empathise.
Liora
Liora bares a striking resemblance to my Aunt Leah (my mom's sister), who passed several years ago. They both have an incredibly calming, understanding, and overall warm spirit. Feeling this myself, I asked my mom at one point if Liora reminded her of anyone, "Leah?" she said.. My mom was very close to her sister Leah; she felt the exact same resemblance between Leah and Liora and already after only 1 day feels an extremely close, deep bond with Liora. She remarked that if she lived here, she and Liora would very likely become best friends.
Ana
The day we were there Ana was already asking me when we would get to come back and be around them again: Ana fell immediately into a groove with my extended family that seems like was always reserved for her. It's pretty incredible to see something like that happening right in front of your eyes - effortless and seems as true and accurate as mathematics.
We are keeping in contact with Liora & family here, Ana and I are quite excited to see them again..
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