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World

Still An

Despite its problems, Israel

still resonates for Detroiter

who made aliyah in 1971.

an environment where
have lived in Israel
everyone was Jewish
for 34 years. And
and I never felt so
the question I am
comfortable as a Jew. I
still asked the most,
returned to Detroit,
by Israelis and
thinking that someday
Americans, is, "Why
I would try living in
did you move to
Israel.
Israel" and "With all
Rob ert
While still in gradu-
Israel's problems, why
Rocka way
ate
school I wrote to
do you stay there?"
Special to the
every
Israeli university
Considering that I
Jewish News
asking if there were
did not grow up with
any positions to teach
any Zionist ideology
American history or the history
and never belonged to any
of the Jews in the United States.
Zionist youth movement or
In 1970,1 was teaching at the
organization, I appear to be a
University of Texas when Tel
curiosity.
Aviv University invited me to
I was born and grew up in a
come.
traditional Jewish home in
I moved to Israel in 1971 and
Detroit, back when it was the
have been there ever since. In all
fourth-largest city in the United
that time, despite the wars, my
States. Although I occasionally
years of army reserve duty, the
experienced anti-Jewish senti-
economic problems and the ter-
ment — hearing remarks about
rorism, I have not regretted
the Jews being Christ-killers,
immigrating. Why?
and knowing that there were
I love the United States and
places in Detroit where Jews
were not welcome — I have fond have always appreciated its free-
doms, pluralistic democracy,
memories of growing up in
and ethnic variety and cultures.
Detroit. So anti-Semitism was
In Israel, there is a level of com-
never a factor in my decision.
fort for me as a Jew that I don't
Something else was.
feel in America. Saturday, not
In 1963, I spent three months
Sunday, is our day of rest.
on a kibbutz in Israel. That was
the first time in my life I lived in Passover and Chanukah, not

I

JN

October 6 . 2005

always sit in the front, next to
the driver, and in a matter of
minutes we are best of friends
and chatting about all sorts of
things.
During my army service, I
addressed my officers by their
first names and they addressed
me by mine. At the university, in
the restaurants, stores and mar-
kets, I feel a shared, common
history with everyone, for no
matter what their origins, they
are Jews like me.
I'm also asked if I regret mov-
ing
to Israel. As in anything,
Easter and Christmas, are our
there
are pluses and minuses to
national holidays. And the holi-
my
decision.
The negatives are
day songs played on the radio
that
I
came
to
Israel as an adult,
are in Hebrew or Yiddish.
so
I
did
not
have
the connec-
When I get into a taxi in New
tions
and
network
that native
York or other American cities, I
Israelis
have.
Educated
in the
sit in the back, often behind a
United
States,
I
also
did
not have
bulletproof plastic partition, and
the
background
in
Hebrew
and
maybe I'll make small talk with
Israeli
culture
that
someone
who
the driver about the weather or
grew
up
and
was
educated
in
the local sports team. In Israel, I
Israel would have. In a word, I
was, and remain, an immigrant.
The positives are that there
In my heart,
are thousands of Jewish aca-
demics like me in the United
States. But my being in Israel has
I believe there
given me a certain status and
credibility in Jewish and non-
Jewish communities in the
must be an
United States. I am certainly no
hero, but by living in Israel,
many of my American peers see
Israel, a legal
me as doing something laudable.
A good deal of my scholarly
work has involved researching
state that can
and writing about Jewish immi-
grants in the United States.
lived through the experi-
stand up for and Having
ence of being an immigrant —
adjusting to a new language, cul-
ture and ways of doing things —
speak for Jews.
has given me a greater sensitivi-
ty and deeper understanding of
— Robert Rockaway what my grandparents and oth-

ers of their generation experi-
enced. Living in Israel has thus
enhanced my work about the
immigrant experience in
America.
Most importantly, my children
grew up in Israel. While they are
fluent in English, Hebrew is their
mother tongue. And they are
secure in their identity as Jews.
They know who and what they
are and are knowledgeable and
proud of their hi s tory and her-
itage. That to me is more valu-
able and important than any-
thing I could have achieved in
America.
There is something else as
well. In Israel, I feel I am con-
tributing to something more
important than myself. And
while I don't always agree with
my government's policies in
many spheres, I still believe it is
possible to effect changes for the
better.
In my heart, I believe there
must be an Israel, a legal state
that can stand up for and speak
for Jews. My staying here is my
way of insuring that that it con-
tinues to exist.
Finally, living in Israel has
been an adventure and more
exciting than anything I could
imagine. 111

Robert Rockaway is a former
Detroiter who has lived in Israel
since 1971. He is a professor of
Jewish history at Tel Aviv
University. He attended Wayne
State University and the
University of Michigan. He
authored 'The Jews of Detroit:
From the Beginning, 1762-1914"
and "But He Was Good to His
Mother: The Lives and Crimes of
Jewish Gangsters." He can be
reached at rockawayrobert@hot-
mail.com

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