Parshat Tazria/Metzora: Israel’s 77th Birthday
This Shabbat, the 5th of Iyar, is Yom Ha’atzmaut – Israel’s 77th birthday. This year, because it falls on Shabbat, it was celebrated on Wednesday night and Thursday.
The first time I went to Israel was when I completed high school back in the summer of ’79. I wanted to learn more about being Jewish and heard of Aish as a good place for people like me. I went for the summer, thinking in the back of my mind that if I liked it I would stay longer. I did – for nine years.
I can’t say that I had the fully-immersed Israeli experience during that time owing to the fact that I lived in Jerusalem which is pretty American/Western and that Aish is located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City which is like Jewish Disney World. Just like Disney, it’s not quite real. There are tons of tourists most of the time and the place is always magical and clean.
I am forever grateful that I was able to spend as much time as I did in Israel and that I was fortunate enough to discover what being a Jew is all about at the place that is the heart and soul of our religion, history and culture. I frequently tell people to visit Israel whenever they can and it pains me whenever I hear of a Jewish person who has never been. In my encouragement to such folks, I offer a couple sports analogies to try to get across why visiting Israel is so crucial to one’s Jewish identity.
Imagine a guy who loves hockey. He watches it all the time, follows the statistics, knows all the players, used to collect hockey cards and has all kinds of paraphernalia associated with the game. He is a real fan in every sense of the word. But there is just one problem. He has never been to an actual game!
Yeah, he has never stepped inside a hockey arena and felt the blast of cold air rising from the ice surface that is decorated with the huge team logo at centre ice. Nor has he witnessed the speed of the players, or felt their crashing into the boards, or seen how fast and hard a puck is travelling at the goalie. He hasn’t been part of 20,000 likeminded fans celebrating when the home team scores.
This is what it is for a Jew who is proud to be Jewish, who identifies as a Jew, who does lots of Jewish things, feels for the struggles of Israel and may even advocate for her on social media – but has never visited there. There is something missing and absent in that Jew’s experience of being Jewish. I am not saying this in any judgmental way, but merely stating it as a fact. There is a hole in that Jewish heart. There is a hole in that Jewish soul.
Going back to the hockey analogy – no matter how big and High Def the TV might be, no matter how much time he spends following the game – you just cannot duplicate the smell, the sound and that energy that emanates from that 200 X 85 foot rink. And no matter how much Judaism or Israel you do in the USA or Canada or Britain or wherever you live, you cannot duplicate the sound, the feel and the energy that emanates from the stones, the sand, the water, the people, and that Wall in Jerusalem. Just like you won’t fully get hockey until you have been to a game, you won’t fully get being a Jew until you have been to Israel.
The other sports analogy relates to the second day Yomtov observance outside of Israel. Other than Rosh HaShana, holidays are just one day in Israel versus two elsewhere. They have just one Pesach Seder, a 7th day of Pesach not an 8th, just one day of Shavuot not two, etc.
People sometimes wonder why we still need the 2-day thing in our day-and-age since its origins were based on the new-moon sighting uncertainty which no longer applies thanks to our set calendar. Nevertheless I contend that we still need the extra day to get the feeling of the holiday in our bones. Why? Because being a Jew outside of Israel is like an away-game whereas being a Jew in Israel is a home-game.
When your favourite team scores when playing a game on the road, the only people who are celebrating are the goal-scorer, his teammates and maybe a few visiting fans. But when the home team scores, the whole place is rocking and screaming support and joy. Being a Jew in the USA or Canada – even in NY – is an away game. You have a small circle of your fellow Jews celebrating along with you such as your family, your neighbours and your community. But it’s a small circle of just your teammates and those few travelling fans.
But in Israel, you are in sync with the whole place, and the whole country is rocking with the feel and joy of the holiday. Everyone is doing Pesach or Sukkot on some level, even the non-religious who wish you Chag Samayach. For us who live outside of Israel, we are playing an away-game. That’s why we need the extra day to really feel the holiday because it’s not an integral part of our surroundings the way it is with our Israeli brethren. We are in a foreign arena, figuratively and literally.
We live in very fortunate times. Unlike our ancestors, we can hop on a plane and be in Israel in a matter of hours. I know you keep reading about the conflicts there and might be hesitant to visit, and plane tickets are not cheap. But if you can swing it – head over there. Karen and I were there in March and I know plenty of people who have been there recently. It’s totally open for business and life is normal in Israel in every sense of the word.
Want to take your Jewish identity to the next level? Want to get to the essence of who you truly are? There is no greater way to do that than to visit our home. To visit Israel.
Your team and your fans await.
Hello out there, we’re on the air
It’s ‘Hockey Night’ tonight
Tension grows, the whistle blows
And the puck goes down the ice
The goalie jumps, and the players bump
And the fans all go insane
Someone roars, “McDavid Scores!”
At the good ol’ Hockey Game
-Stompin Tom Connors
