A good itinerary will get you from Boston to Jerusalem in 17 hours.  That said, prior to booking our family trip to Israel, our distance from Newton to the Kotel was better measured in space than in time. 

Though it impolitic to admit, our choice of Israel was not straightforward.  Rather, our objective was more centered on adventuring as a family in the narrow window when the kids are still young enough to follow willingly and old enough to appreciate openly.  We considered travel to Spain and to Italy.

Notwithstanding my eight years of Day School, Leslie's completion of Me'ah and our choice to send our kids to Rashi, Israel did not have a central place in our consciousness.  Years of reading the Tanach, exposure to Rabbinics and summers at Yavneh, led to a Jewishness that was more centered on Derech Eretz, Tzedakah, and tradition, than on a connection to the Homeland.

With some encouragement from my parents (who spent their first year of marriage in Jerusalem 49 years ago), we chose Israel.  When we shared the news with friends, we did not get a great deal of support or affirmation.  Responses ranged from "why would you put your kids at risk to are you nuts?"

Fortunately, we had no time to reconsider.  Our tickets were purchased and our lease was signed.  In so doing we moved from a spacious home to a small apartment; from too many HDTVs with an almost infinite number of stations, to one fat screen with less than five stations; from 24/7 to something less than 24/6 (Jerusalem is mostly closed on the Sabbath); and from two cars to eight feet.

Some adjustments have taken time.  Nightly summer fireworks explosions were first mistaken for something less pleasant.  Proper tile floor squeegee technique did not come fast. It took time to adjust to rude checkout cashiers at the grocery store and Israeli line etiquette.  Muzzim calls to prayer at 4:30 am and 5:00 am daily trash pick ups oft made for long days; and the absence of retail on Shabbat put a premium on planning.

Other changes were far more welcome.  Fruit and flowers grow year round.  There is no snow on the ground.  Our shul (Kol Haneshamah) is a place of spirit and joy and we live next to a famous Karlbach shul that greets us every Erev Shabbat with song.  Old connections have been restored and new friendships made.  Neighborhood gossip is too far to hear.  There is something wonderful about the anonymity.

And, about everything being new.  Never before have we seen streets full of men in talitot walking on Shabbat to shul.  Or, a local bookstore featuring a best seller entitled "Gateway to Shmitah."  Our babysitter is charming and carries and Uzi (she is in the military).  We have become expert at wig spotting and learned of the curative powers of etrogim.  We have visited with the Chief Ashkanazi Rabbi of the State and run down sand dunes at Wadi Rum.  Memories all.

Israelis lament her many problems.  Teachers (both High School and College) have been on strike (with good reason - the average High School teacher salary is 29^th out of the 30 OECD countries) and the education system has weakened considerably (from top ranked in the 1960s to 33^rd out of 41 industrialized state systems ranking); the country is becoming increasingly divided between the poles of Jerusalem (religious) and Tel Aviv (secular); the government is full of crooks; the military, the Prime Minister and the courts battle over borders - with the rule of law the big loser; peace remains elusive.

And yet, from the perspective of outsiders, Israel is indeed a place of wonder. History breathes and Torah comes to life. Miracles abound: from David's slaying Goliath to victory in the tank battles with the Syrians in the Golan in 1973, from the coincident discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls and the UN vote; to the subsequent desertification of the Negev. Notwithstanding the changes to the model of the original Kibbutzim, Kehillah in Israel is fundamental to making the miracles occur. Israel is not about I. It is a place of We.

"We" feel fortunate to have the opportunity to be a part of something larger than each of us. To experience family, time and place differently and collapse the space between Israel in our heads and Israel in our hearts.