Opinion Editorials are posted and archived on JNonline.us. Editorial God Bless Our Home 0 ne of the best-selling recent novels among Jewish readers has been The Yiddish Policemen's Union, by Michael Chabon. The book begins with a startling prem- ise. What if Israel had been defeated in 1948 and there was no genuine Jewish homeland? Instead, the United States agrees to settle the displaced Jews in Alaska, where their culture has become demoralized and debased. But the real question Chabon raises is larger than this. What would the conse- quences be for Jews everywhere if there were no Israel celebrating its 60th anniver- sary this week? No pride in the vibrant culture that has taken root there. No refuge for those Jews displaced from Russia, Ethiopia, Europe and South America. No breathtaking technological progress that has raised Israel's standard of living to match much of Europe's. No source of Jewish national identity for our children and grandchildren. No cer- tainty that when Jews are called upon to fight for their freedom they will do it well. Israel has given us all that in its 60 years, and it would be wonderful to say that after all that its future is assured. But, of course, we know that there is still far to go. The possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran has emerged as an existential threat, and some commentators suggest that there is a 50-50 chance Israel will have to deal with that militarily even before this year is over. Hezbollah and Hamas are entrenched in southern Lebanon and Gaza. These terrorist groups have shown they can rain missiles on Israel's cities whenever they are inclined. Just as disturbing is the sym- pathy professed for these organizations by Israeli Arabs, who enjoy the highest degree of political freedom in the Middle East. Not all gazes into the future are nega- tive. Israel's high-tech boom has raised many of its citizens into solid middle-class status. Although the distribution of wealth may not be as even as the founders of the state would have preferred, it has opened up a true capitalist dynamic in a once impoverished land. Besides acting as a refuge for Jews, Israel is also providing an outlet for guest workers from Eastern Europe. How are they to be integrated into the community? It is another problem associated with increased wealth, but a problem nonethe- less. There is the ongoing debate about who speaks for religious institutions in Israel, a debate that intensifies as the Conservative Dry Bones THE PALESTINIANS ARE EXPANDING ATTACKS ON ISRAEL, FABRICATING ATROCITIES, FAKING A HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN GAZA, TUNNELING INTO EGYPT, ACTING AS AN IRANIAN SURROGATE, No WAINER ANC CONDI WANTS TO KNOW WHY DONOR COUNTRIES ARE NOT FULFILLING" THEIR PLEDGES OF SUPPORT FOR THE PALESTINIANS?! WOULD ANYONE LIKE TO EXPLAIN IT TO HER? O A www.drybonesblog.com and Reform movements seek to attract secular Jews and demand a legitimate voice. The fervently Orthodox insist on retaining primacy, though, and have the votes in the Knesset to waylay any attempt to bypass them. At the age of 60, most human beings can take satisfaction at their accom- plishments and look forward to a life of reduced pressures and responsibilities. But that doesn't happen with nations, espe- cially not this nation. Nonetheless, Israel has been forged by the fires it has come through. It is a tough, humane, inspiring and miraculous place. And we are all better for its existence. ❑ new friends. She returned bubbling over the country she found there. My older daughter, Jaime, chose a tougher route, going with March of the Living. This is the program that takes Jewish teens to Poland and the death camps and then to Israel. Participants are told in advance to prepare themselves emotionally and psychologically. When my daughter returned, she spoke about marching into the former ghetto in Krakow, singing Hebrew songs and watching the current occupants of the area peering from windows and balconies in curiosity. Whether friendly or hostile she could not tell. And then the release of landing in Israel and the unmistakable sense of having returned to another home. Weeks after she came back to America, we were in our family room discussing her trip when she suddenly looked at me and said: "I love being Jewish!' And I thought to myself, "Well, at least I've done something right as a father." I would like to go back once more. With my wife this time. I'd like to stand with Sherry in Jerusalem at the Montefiore windmill at twilight and look across the valley at the walls of the Old City. I'd like to have dinner at Jaffa across the harbor from the lights of Tel Aviv. Show her the view from the top of the mountain at Haifa. I never made it down to Eilat, and I'd like to do that, too. And pray with her at the Wall, for peace and for the blessed memory of those we have lost. ❑ Reality Check Land Of Memories 0 ne of my earliest memories is standing beside my mother at Central High School in Detroit to hear my uncle, Joseph Haggai, speak at the celebration of Israel's independence. He was among the leading Zionists in the city, and when I visited Israel for the first time 17 years later, a mandatory stop was to visit his son Jeremiah at his kib- butz, Ein Hashofet. After I left Israel, my cousin wrote my mom, who was convinced he would talk me into making aliyah, to reassure her. "George is too much an American boy to do that:' he wrote. He had me pegged. But Israel has remained a major part of my concerns as an American Jew. More than ever after three subsequent visits as a journalist. I have experienced things there that will stay with me the rest of my life. A bat mitzvah atop Masada. Shabbat din- ner with a Yemeni family in Jerusalem. A18 May 15 • 2008 N Attending an Israeli Arab wed- ding celebration in Nazareth. Floating on the Dead Sea with Rabbi Harold Loss and the Temple Israel group. Attending a party at Zev Chafets' home to watch the spu- rious handshake between Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin. I also did my best to interview Israeli Arabs and Palestinians, too. Because a journalist's first duty is to understand, not propagandize. While I treasure all these memories, I treasure even more the effect Israel had on my children. The memorial fund we established at Temple Israel for my daughter Courtney goes toward student travel to Israel. She went with Young Judaea in 1997 and deliberately chose a group based outside Detroit so she would be forced out of her comfort zone to experience Israel with George Cantor's e-mail address is gcantor614@aol.com .