A Portrait Of Israel

A semester in Tel Aviv sparked a love of Hebrew and a sense of belonging.

Julie Wiener, on the wall of Jerusalem's Old City.

'JULIE WIENER
Staff Writer

he whole country of Israel,
which I had imagined as a
pile of rocks and ruins, was
surprisingly alive and sensu-
al even when it was ugly: the intensity
of the sun, the smells, the crowds, the
-poise, the pushing, the yelling, the
piercing beeps that herald the hourly
Kol Israel radio news bulletins.
And then there were the soldiers
with their enormous machine guns,
the constant pick-up attempts by
sleazy guys, the littered streets, the
beach just a mile from campus strewn
with Jewish hookers, the lurching city
buses with wooden seats and colorful
'j lottery ads. Israel is a country full of
impatient people, of chain smokers,
quick to criticize you but also quick to
ask when you are planning to make
aliyah.
Having grown up completely secu-
lar — always feeling like a Jewish
impostor when people asked me
which temple my family belonged to
or if I had fasted on Yom Kippur —
'it was refreshing suddenly to be in a
country of other secular Jews.
Suddenly, I felt like I could belong.
There is something magical about
being young, single and in Israel for
the first time, especially when you are
enrolled in a university program with
only marginal academic requirements.

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Instead of studying, I spent my time
wandering with newly made friends,
exploring the fruit and vegetable mar-
kets, riding Egged busses all over the
country and visiting distant relatives
on a kibbutz, college acquaintances in
a Jerusalem yeshiva, my parents'
friends at Hebrew University. I even
hiked tiyulim organized by the univer-
sity's overseas iprogram. It was the first
time in my life I actually felt like I was
having adventures.
But until sophomore year of col-
lege, I had no interest in visiting
Israel.
Having never been to Hebrew
school, the traditional language's
thick-blocked letters and dots intimi-
dated me on the few occasions I
entered a synagogue. So why would I
want to subject myself to a whole
country filled with its strange sounds
and backward script?
I knew nothing about ancient his-
tory or traditional yearnings, not even
the "next year in Jerusalem" phrase,
since we never got that far in the
Passover seder. My ancestors had come
to America from Europe early in the
century, so as far as I was concerned,
the center of Jewish life was New
York.
Sophomore year, right after the
Gulf War, I started eating at my
school's kosher co-op, mostly because
I had attended a few good Shabbat
dinners, and it was a convenient din-

ing arrangement. At the co-op, I was
exposed to a group of crazy Jews who
actually liked Israel and weren't scared
to go there, who got angry and
protested when pro-Palestinian and
black Muslim speakers spoke on our
anti-Zionist campus.
I became intrigued enough by Israel
to scrap my plans for a semester in
Spain and head instead to Tel Aviv
University. Not knowing what to
expect, and armed only with the word
"shalom," I boarded the El Al jet on a
cold, January night hoping the weath-
er would be warmer on the other side.
It was. Israel was transformative in
many ways, even the Hebrew. Slowly,
I began to master the language that
had been my enemy, began to find it
beautiful. Although I left Israel that
semester far from fluent, an obsession

with Hebrew had been sparked. I not
only studied the language in classes
but practiced every free moment, car-
rying vocabulary flash cards with me
everywhere, listening to Israeli pop
music.
I ended the semester determined to
return to Israel as more than a tourist,
which I did, spending four months on
a kibbutz and a year interning at a
nonprofit organization in Jerusalem.
Long ago, I gave up thoughts about
making aliyah, and my Hebrew has
gotten rusty in the almost three years
since I returned from Jerusalem, but
Israel is always vivid in my mind. My
time there was rich and wonderful,
introducing me to some of my closest
friends and enhancing my sense of
belonging as a Jew. ❑

HAPPENINGS

Professional Singles. 10:30 a.m. Joel,
(248) 398-3987.

Monday, May 4

Hillel of Metro Detroit coffeehouse
night. 9 p.m. Lonestar Coffee Co.,
207 S. Woodward, Birmingham.
(313) 577-3459.

Tuesday, May 5

Planning meeting for Jewish
Professional Singles. 7 p.m. At the
Agency for Jewish Education.

Wednesday, May 6

Friday, May 1

Young Jewish Humanists lunch: the
real history of the Jews. 12 p.m. Cost:
$5. (248) 477-1410.

Saturday, May 2

Wine and dessert reception, with
JEMS, Temple Israel's singles group.
8 p.m. At Temple Israel. Cost: $36
in advance, $50 at the door. RSVP
to Susie Leemaster, (248) 661-5700.

Sunday, May 3

Safari zoo walk with Jewish

Say farewell to Seinfeld at the first
Scene party! 8 p.m. At JD's Key Club
in Pontiac. $1 cover, $1 off drinks.
(248) 354-6060, Ext. 307.

Coffee and conversation with Jewish
Professional Singles. 7:30 p.m. At
Sweet Dreams Coffee Shop. David,
(248) 398-9370.

Saturday, May 9

Whirlyball with B'nai B'rith
Leadership Network. 8-11 p.m. At
Whirlyball West. Cost: $12 members,
$17 non-members. Robbie Sherman,
(248) 661-6680.

5/1

1998

U5