The Rebbetzin's Ramblings:
In three days, I leave to Israel. Today, I met a young friend who just
returned from spending a year studying there. I said: "Hi! Welcome home!"
Then stopped. How can I say that when Israel is also home? Maybe even...
more home? Funny: ask a Jew who has never been if they'd like to go to
Israel. You'll notice a funny thing. A smile. A nostalgic look. A
faraway, wistful expression. What are you remembering? What's the
nostalgia? A
Answer: it's home even if you've never been there! What else has that
power? Where else has that power?
Talmud teaches that G-d puts the nostalgia and favor of your hometown in
your heart. Clevelanders wax nostalgic about Cleveland, even as they
lament the weather. New Yorkers love New York, though they may hate the
crime and grime.
Guess what? Israel IS our hometown. ...We've all been there. At least,
the important part of ourselves have been. Our souls. Our neshama. That
spark of G-dliness that connects, that needs to be, there. In Israel.
In the Land.
At Home.
Can't wait to go back... home.
