Thrilling night
No wonder I couldn’t sleep because a brand new life was starting up inside Ruth.
My heart was full of pace and energy as I tossed and turned in our bed.
Deep inside my wife’s uterus a tiny baby boy was growing.
Conception has taken place not two weeks earlier and I knew that something else was alive in the room.
It was Saturday night Sunday morning or the beginning of another week in Israel.
Ruth lay there fast asleep while the 3 children slept in the other room.
This was one night I wasn’t going to rest because a brand life a new me was forming and
to tell the truth I couldn’t wait for it to happen because now I was going to have a son.
2008
I am Danny Teller am a British Jew residing outside Israel and Zionism for 6 years.
I hope not to be pompous or impolite but these are my opinions as to the modern state of Israel as it stands today.
At 21 I went to Israel full of ideas about preserving the cultural, Zionist and civil rights of the Jewish People.
At 21 I was really looking forward to the challenge and went about life over there in a cultured and dignified way.
A lot of media coverage has put Israel in the spotlight for more than one reason.
It might be more modern but it is more corrupt than ever before like any other nation in the 21st century.
With dreams, salutations and a faith which moves mountain I left the UK in 1985 with many people saying Danny have you taken leave of your senses?
Maybe they were right or wrong at the time but at first I never bothered to pay much attention to the reactions for many other intrepid travellers have gone over there with a hope to settle in a challenging new life style.
For a period of time I was eager to set about learning about The Jewish People, the Land and the religion (The Torah) which was a traditional way of life.
As a young boy of just 21 I decided to emigrate and settle the land as a Zionist and an idealist.
I am still not sure exactly what Zionism or Torah are supposed to indicate or indeed why I went to Israel in the first place.
Zionism is or was supposed to be a idealistic dream while the Torah is what some define as the truth while others claim it’s nothing but a fairy tale upon which a set of rules which we are supposed to obey or else get condemned.
Actually Zionism or The Torah can indicate good or bad to many people who have heard of them but the biblical commentaries in my personal opinion has been grossly misinterpreted over the centuries for convenience sake.
My educational background might not have been a good one but one fact remained for certain I lived in Israel for as long as 17 years.
My reasons for remaining for so long was not my own choice but while I was there I had time to change my values not just a Jew but as a human being.
The Middle East is stooped with mystery, suspense and wonder but the extermal and internal conflict is totally unnecessary.
One might wonder about what they are arguing over in the first place?
A small piece of land to which both Jews and Palestinians are convinced is theirs.
Well that’s what I also believed in 1985.
It suddenly occurred to me that what right has any nation to owning land because of a book which was written thousand’s of years ago sais so.
It has been said that the Jews consider themselves to be a chosen people but I often have trouble to define what ‘chosen actually is supposed to indicate’.
A proportion of Jews claim they are superior to the other nations whom they call the Goyim or Gentiles.
When I heard this I was not so happy with this type of narrow minded mentality which is nothing less than being racist.
What right do I or anyone for that matter have to look down on someone who is not a Jew.
The same would apply if I was a Catholic, Muslim, Hindu etc.
Israel during the early years of her existence was a good place to live but only 15 to 20 years after the state was proclaimed in 1948 by David Ben Gurion she began to go downhill.
Due to my firm belief that Israel was my home I participated in no less than 4 kibbutz ulpans when one learns Hebrew for half a day and works the other part.
I also completed one army induction course of 3 months plus a shortened military service of nearly 2 years.
People who go to Israel seem to be under the illusion that it’s the Land of Milk and Honey or indeed The Holy Land.
Due to Israel being in a unique geographical location in The Middle East or Mediterranean many consider her to be the center of where time began.
I don’t mind if people think like this but as long as people don’t go to war over what they believe in conflicts with someone else’s ideas.
During my time in Israel I managed to visit Egypt which was actually more interesting from some aspects than Israel and remember they are neighbours.
Staying in Israel also helped me to learn a great deal about myself despite me not liking the behaviour of the Israelis most of whom I met treated me very badly.
I supposed that Israel’s modernization has sort of covered up the level of corruption with many factions blaming each other for the current state of internal and external affairs.
My dream about the Zionist state of Israel didn’t materialize but those who still do believe in the Jewish State will always remain there no matter what.
Its also true to say that as many Olim (immigrants) who do still go there just as many leave.
Israel is not the easiest place to live for even the toughest of people including the haredi or orthodox.
The Arab/Israel conflict has been in the news since before the state was founded.
Each time there is a war more Palestinians get killed and injured than do Israelis.
This is because Israel has sophisticated planes, artillery, and tanks against home made rockets launchers.
If the Palestinians want autonomy in Israel they will more than likely kill each other off if that did happen one day.
As much as Israelis fight over traditional, orthodox and secular leadership you can be that the Palestinians do exactly the same,.
As much as Israelis need Palestinians the Palestinians need Israelis.
As much as they might say they hate each other I see it from a different point of view.
Palestinians are treated better by Israelis than by their own people and yet they still want to destroy Israel.
After 17 years in the Middle East I consider myself to be an expert foreign affairs because I got absorbed in different societies over a long period of time.
As an open minded person I also also married and lived with an Israelite woman for 10 years but what I expected from this marriage I didn’t receive and what I received I didn’t expect.
Israel may not be for me in fact It may not be for many other people but Israel is still Israel.
The army may not be what it used to be but the army is still the army.
Israelis may not be what they used to be but they are still Israelis.
The Middle Eastern conflict might never come to a peaceful conclusion certainly not in my lifetime.
However I would like to think of my children’s life time a trend towards a more peaceful state when loving thy neighbour as yourself is respected by both Jews and Palestinians alike.
The Land of Milk and Honey or The Holy Land as if was it known 2000 years ago might one day be a Zionist dream which might well come true..
God’s country as it was prophesized by The Holy Bible as a present to the Jewish people.
Low and behold just what lies beneath all that mystery and intrigue. Hear O’israel here I come my future is where my past is and it’s all mine for the taking.
What a fantastic feeling as I flew over the coast land in a big bright aeroplane.
Low and behold I travelled across many lands and oceans so vast and unexplored to arrive back in my homeland..
What a fantastic feeling because as I look over to the left or to the right I can see the shoreline.
God’s country as it was prophesized in the bible of the famous coast of the land bursting with so much dynasty and travesty.
I am back, I am reborn once again to be back home welcome home to Israel.