This is perhaps my most Israeli blog title yet.
I’m writing you from a hostel in Barcelona, an absolutely stunning city. It’s my first visit back in Catalonia in 10 years, and unlike my last visit, I also speak Catalan in addition to Spanish.
My experience here has been fantastic. I visited the medieval city of Girona, the absolutely phenomenal and peaceful gem of Perpignan in southern France, and am now in the throbbing yet relaxed metropolis.
The best parts of my visit here have been the nature, the serenity, the smiles at strangers, the cleanliness, the general respect for boundaries, and not having to answer millions of deeply personal questions only to be judged for your answers. Speaking languages I love. And the delicious food on every corner.
It’s also nice to take my air raid and terrorism alert apps off my phone for a while and not see 18 year old soldiers carrying guns in the street. It’s just more peaceful.
For the first time in a while, I found myself missing things about Israel. If you’ve read my recent blogs, you might find that as surprising as I did. Israel is pretty awful when it comes to human rights, to respecting diversity, to preserving Jewish culture, to living up to Jewish values, to treating people with respect, and to pursuing peace both within society and with our neighbors.
And there are some things Israel does well. One is helping each other. Today I found myself sick in Barcelona. Both physically sick and feeling lonely. I messaged a few Israeli friends and within seconds they were helping me figure out my insurance, cheering me up, and taking care of me. Thankfully I didn’t need a full hospital visit, but if I had, my travel insurance would have covered every expense above $50. Which brings me to something else. Israeli healthcare is leaps and bounds better than anything I experienced in America. Health is not just wealth- it’s survival. Everything else is details if you can’t live. Israel is a super stressful place to live and one stress I don’t have is that I’ll go bankrupt because I’m sick.
It speaks to a certain social(ist) value in Israel. And when I say Israel, I mean both Jews and Arabs. In Israel, anywhere you go you can charge your phone or refill your water bottle. For free- you often don’t even need to buy anything. In the places I’ve visited in Spain and France (and much of the U.S.) you need to buy something to charge up or you need to buy actual (expensive and wasteful) bottles of water. These examples are not anecdotal- when combined with Israeli willingness to host guests (and sometimes strangers) for long periods of time, you sense a pattern. When it comes to certain things, Israelis display a generosity found in few places.
While in Spain/Catalonia/France, I’ve met some people who reminded me why some Israelis are so nationalistic and racist. There’s the Dutch guy who told me he could probably understand Yiddish because “it’s just fucked up German.” There’s the researcher in France studying medieval Jewry who, instead of dialoguing with me, started lecturing me about my own people’s history. I appreciate his work and would prefer someone not pin me in a corner and try to teach me about…myself. There are also the formerly Jewish houses in Girona where you can see where the mezuzahs once hung. And the historic synagogue that now houses an architectural firm. I think I can understand how Palestinian refugees must feel about the remnants of their village in my neighborhood.
This is not to say that most people here are bigoted. Most people when I say I’m Jewish or live in Tel Aviv are either neutral, polite, or even show great interest. I’m grateful to cities like Girona that are preserving my heritage. And to their archives for preserving Judeo-Catalan documents I got to see first hand. And many of them were improperly labeled. To the archivist’s credit, I submitted some corrections and she gladly marked them down. It’s just an apt metaphor that even when some people are trying to get Jewish history right, it can feel uncomfortable. I don’t want to impose or discourage them and I also find it irritating that most of their archived documents are upside down. The documents of the people they expelled. Some of whom live in their veins.
That’s the complexity of Judaism in Europe. For 2000 years, we’ve called it home. To this day. And not just during the Holocaust, but over and over again throughout that time, we’ve been mercilessly expelled, burned, and murdered. Property robbed and now turned into moneymaking tourist attractions. That keep bits of our heritage on the map. When I visit the Jewish quarter of Girona, I’m not just visiting a tourist attraction, I’m a Cherokee visiting the Trail of Tears. It’s complicated, to recall the words of a Palestinian friend I talked with before moving to Israel.
Which brings me to what else Israel does well- it gives me a place where if people are ignorant about my tradition, they can learn on my terms. It gives me a place where I’m in a position of power- as fraught as that is. A place where if people want to expel us or lecture us or deride us, we don’t have to grit our teeth and put up with it. Some people take this power a bit too far- and spending a bit of time outside of Israel reminded me why they do so. Even if it’s not justified.
While in Barcelona, I went to Reform services. I’ve been pretty fed up with God lately, tired of Zionism, and not even really sure if I feel Jewish anymore. So I decided to see if maybe Diaspora Judaism, the Judaism I grew up with, still fit. The services were wonderful. They were in Catalan, Spanish, Hebrew, and English- a polyglot like me couldn’t be happier. And it adds a spiritual dimension to share our hopes in different languages. Hebrew alone bores me. The people of all ages were warm and welcoming and treated me to a free meal. As good Jews, there was tons of food.
I can’t say every part of the service spoke to me. There are problems with Jewish liturgy I’ve only fully understood while living in Israel. The idea that we’re the “Chosen People” or asking God to bless “His people”- that doesn’t work for me any more. It feels racist. I’m tired of the idea that religion should be supremacist- as pretty much every Western religion is in some sense or another. Our prophet is the best. Only our people go to heaven. God chose us above all other peoples. Try reading the words of your Friday night Kiddush in English.
And it’s my capacity to read Hebrew and my living in Israel that has shed light on these problems. Judaism is due for a new reformation. It has beautiful sparks as evidenced by the parts of the service and the dinner that lit my spirit again. The music, the poetry, the community, the evolving tradition.
Much like Israel, Judaism needs a revamp. No need to throw everything out, but the way it’s going isn’t working- at least not for me. As I watched two Israelis living in Barcelona learn the Reform liturgy Friday night- and engage in gentler, more peaceful ways than I usually see in Israel- I see a bit of light. Jews outside of Israel need Israel. Yes, it’s a deeply f*cked place and I would rather the world not have states at all. And I’ll keep fighting for that. And the reality is we don’t know the next time anti-Semitism will strike. Israel is the only state on earth, for better or worse, that cares about my healthcare- about my ability to live- simply because I’m a Jew. That formula is problematic and perhaps sometimes necessary. While we can’t live in paranoia that everyone is out to get us, the fact is some people are. And because we’re a minority easy to scapegoat, some people always will be.
At the same time, to return to the Israelis I met in Barcelona, Israel needs Jews (and non-Jews) outside of Israel. Judaism outside Israel is gentler. It’s more spiritual than secular Israelis and softer than much of the religiosity I see there. It can offer Israelis an escape valve. A reminder than life in the Diaspora can be hard due to prejudice and it can be enriching when it engages with the society surrounding it. It can remind us of our roots and the need to be sensitive and compassionate towards minorities. Including in Israel itself. As my cover photo says in French: “shared route”. Let’s lift each other up, Jew and non-Jew, Israeli or not.
When you go on a trip, you can buy one of those souvenirs that says “I went to Barcelona and all I got was this shirt”. I went to Barcelona and all I got was a complex textured view of the pluses and minuses of having a Jewish state- and Diaspora life.
More than I expected on a birthday trip abroad? You bet. But don’t worry, I’ll be having some chicken paella too 😉
Planting Roots Bearing Fruits 
Your people live in my veins! Beautifully written, kudos!
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Gracias querida 🙂 🙂
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