Letters From Israel

We came from the biblical kingdom of David and his son Solomon some three thousand years ago. Then we were attacked and carried away by the Romans after 70 A.D. We’ve wandered, homeless, ever since then, always relying on the whims of others to survive.

Then a young French Jewish captain named Alfred Dreyfus was on the French general staff in 1894, and someone accused him of selling secret documents to Germany, which he hadn’t done. He was found guilty, and faced life imprisonment. The fact that he was Jewish made him a suspect. Anti-Semitism was flourishing.

After obtaining better counsel, he was found innocent in 1906 and was freed, but the "Dreyfus Affair" caused a lot of friction in France. Most of the country would not accept the thought that prejudice had been the cause that had condemned him.

Theodor Herzl was a reporter for the Vienna Freie Presse at the time. A non- religious Jew, he saw the plight of Dreyfus as a Jewish citizen of France. He decided that it was time that all Jews needed their own homeland again. He realized how they could be attacked and accused of crimes at anytime. Herzl started the Zionist movement, which meant that he and others urged Jews to return to Israel after our two thousand years of absence from there. Israel had never been devoid of a Jewish population. We had always maintained a small one, but most of us were outside of the area.

Herzl had wanted a Jewish state backed by international agreement. The problem for him was where to establish a homeland. He thought of Africa or other less populated countries, but soon realized that only what was being called "Palestine," a small territory once a part of the original kingdom, could possibly satisfy the Jewish soul, because that was the chosen home for Jews according to our beliefs. Everyone yearned and prayed to return there. We would be passionate about protecting Israel if given the chance.

Zionism was well on its way, and that’s what brought me home to Israel in 1980.

In the Beginning

I had been asked to speak at the local Episcopal Church about Israel since I was one of three Jews in town. I had three months to prepare a speech, so I read and researched the entire time about its history and rebirth. As I did, I became more involved and felt closer to Israel than ever.

I had realized that I had done nothing for Israel. Here I was, alive and well at a time that Israel had reestablished itself and was in need of support. I had had a close call with diverticulosis, and was told that I could get cancer in a few years. How could I die and be asked the question, "What did you do to help your people at such an important time in history?"

I was determined to live in Israel. Being I was an elementary teacher, I wondered how I could help. Could I join the Mossad, the Secret Service? I made an appointment with the Shaliach in Portland, Oregon and flew there for an interview. He was a representative of Israel that helped new immigrants to move and live there.

He was late for our appointment. I was getting very nervous. Finally he came. He was such a handsome dark-haired man, that my heart almost stopped beating when I looked at him. That did it. I was definitely moving to Israel if all the men looked like him. As he spoke to me, his accent mesmerized me. I could hardly concentrate on what he was saying. I came to, and finally started taking some notes.

Yes, Israel could use teachers of English. I would be sent to a ten-month training program to learn Hebrew. It was an intensive course. I had learned several years before that Hebrew was a must in order to teach, and felt I could not meet the requirements, but he thought I could.

I had a German shepherd named Blintz I would not part with. He also had German shepherds in Israel and helped me make the arrangements to ship her over with us. She would not be in quarantine and would love Israel.

It was settled. I flew back home and started to pack. My mother thought we were crazy, and worried a great deal about the situation in Israel as being unsafe. She had many of her friends talk to me and try to talk me out of leaving the states. I felt I had to go. My children were all grown up and didn't need me anymore. My daughter was living with her father, who was a doctor, and my son was going with a girl. Israel needed me. I was at death's door. I had to go. Every spare minute was spent reading every book I could find on Israel, whether it was a novel or factual book. I tried to imagine what it was going to be like. Unlike many others, I had not been able to visit Israel as a tourist. I was moving there and had no idea what it was going to be like. I didn't care. It was my homeland now.

Another thing I did to prepare was to start studying Hebrew. I was sent a beginning Hebrew program that consisted of a record and a book, so I started to learn the alphabet again. I had studied as a small child and at one time was able to read a primer, but had forgotten much of what I had learned. I painfully copied the letters of the alphabet onto 3 by 5 cards and pasted them all over my house.

Now, I was married at this time. My husband would have had to go back to college here and take several courses in order to maintain his teaching certificate. He had also been asked to do many extra activities at the high school he was teaching in that he didn't want to do, so he was more than willing to move to Israel with me. He found out he could take his favorite chair with him, and he was happy. He knew how to read Hebrew already, so had a head start on me. He didn't know how to speak Hebrew, though. His experience was that not only had he been bar mitzvahed, but had taught boys to read for their bar mitzvahs. We thought it would be a cinch for him to learn to speak Hebrew.