TORN BETWEN TWO LOVERS, FEELING LIKE A FOOL....
בס"ד
26 Sh'vat
Although my taste in pop music tends toward the likes of Bif Naked, these Mary MacGregor lyrics from 1977 seem to most appropriately describe my emotional state about the state of the state.
Making sense yet? No? Then hop on the political soul train with me...
I am blessed to live in a great Jewish community in a great city in a great country. & they aren't great just because they are familiar & I like them, they're empirically great. Canada, for all of its flaws, & Vancouver in particular are consistently voted most liveable places on Planet Earth. & I love it here. My father's family has lived in this country for over 250 years & my mother's family chose to make a new life here after their lives were devastated by WW2. So thank G@d for Canada & everything it has given me & my ancestors.
But I miss The Land of Israel. The Aretz generates a vibe of a totally different frequency than anywhere else in the world, a Holy, intense, flutteringly intimate throb which is deeply intoxicating on a soul level. Sound sexy? Well, that is the mystery of the unification of The Name. The Sanctity of the Erotic.
& when things like this happen, I feel like I should be there. It doesn't make sense, I know. I can't stop rockets from being shot at Israelis, scarring their lives & the Land. & when I was last there & way too close to a couple of the 2003 suicide bombings, it really shook me up. So why does an assault against the Jewish people in the current model our state is taking draw me to live there?
Well, because Israel is home. But isn't Canada home? Well, yes. Of course.
I don't have rabbit ears or cable therefore cannot receive CBC at home, so on Wednesday I took myself out for a lunchtime beer at the Jolly Alderman & watched Team Canada lose to the Russians on a huge screen. There was much tension & shouting of things like, "It goes in the net!" & "Fresh legs!" as well as lots of cursing. It was a gigantic letdown, because Team Canada has a deadly serious rivalry against their Russian counterparts - just ask any Canadian what happened in 1972 - & to see Gretsky cowering alone under the stairs was pathetic...but we all gathered there because that's what Canucks do.
Tonight (Thursday the 23rd) I went to the Kino with my very close friend Michal to catch up & enjoy the fab live flamenco music & dancing they feature. It's the best in the city. I sat there with my cool friend in my cool neighbourhood in my cool city in my cool country thinking about where I really belong. Both places. But I can't be in both places. All I know is that when I'm in the one place, I miss the other...
It's amazing to be a Jew in Israel. It's such a spiritual high. & look how many more mitzvahs I can do there! But to be a Canuck in Israel isn't so great. Being a Canuck in Canada is the best! But to be a Jew in Canada can sometimes be weird :(
Both places live in me, but I can't live in both places...
Oy vah voy...
Shabbat Shalom.
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posted by Soferet | 12:20:00 a.m.
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7 Comments:
I am unable to comment on Israel, never having been, but one thing I do feel is Spirit of Place. I live in a place held to be holy by those who lived here before, and even with cheesey false "legends" spread about ("Sleeping Giant"), the area of Lake Superior in the Thunder Bay harbour and Black Bay Peninsulas has spiritual power of some kind.
And it seems to me that, even though there is a call, for want of a better word, of Israel, perhaps a special holiness, that God is here, too, or God is nowhere.
On that account, I quite liked your (probably unique) phrase: Eretz Canada.
Try being American. At least the world doesn't hate Canada!
I really understand your thoughts on this. I am an American and proud of it. Part of my family has been in this country since the 1860s. This is my home and my land.
Israel may be the land of my spiritual ancestors, but USA is home. It's why I lead a ritual walk on Memorial Day, here in DC. We spend a lot of time hating our countries. Hating our cities. Hating our leading.
This ritual challenges people to remember why they love their country and their city. It also allows us to break down just a bit of the hat that people throw at our city everyday.
I live in Washington, DC -- and I love my city and my country. I hope to visit Israel someday. But this is home.
Shabbat Shalom.
בס"ד
I hear you, Peter. Having driven along the north shore of Lake Superior on my way to meet you this summer, I had plenty of meditative time to take in the awesome beauty of that mystical place.
Outside of Victoria, where I grew up, is a gorgeously beautiful place called Witty's Lagoon. The First Nations legend of this waterfall is a heartbreaking tale of a young woman who sat upon that rock to grieve the loss of her love. Her streams of tears are all we have left of her.
G@d is truly everywhere & the whole Earth is wholly holy :)
Carly - kol ha-kavod for continuing to sanctify your home, your place, when it is more often vilified or worshipped. You should only have strength - titzchaki.
Hey Carly, ironically, my father's side of the family fled north from New York (their home is now part oif northwestern New york City) into what was then British north America, in 1776.
בס"ד
Really, Peter? Is your family UEL, like mine?
:)
Yep: at least on my father's side.
בס"ד
Me too, on my father's side :D
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