A bit of Judaism

I've been doing a lot of soul searching over the past year and a half, specifically on the topic of Israel and Judaism. The most common question I'm asked here is, "Why did you make Aliyah and decide to join the army?" It's a complicated answer that I'm not even sure I know the complete answer to. One thing I can say for sure is I had a gut feeling about it and that feeling was supported by several indicators that made it seem like a good idea. The most simple, general answer to the question is Zionism. The next level of the answer is that Judaism is important to me and I believe that without Israel, the Jewish homeland, Judaism cannot survive and thrive in a healthy and non-oppressed fashion. The Neturei Karta would have you believe that Judaism had been fine for 2000 years and that the real anti-Semitism started only after the inception of the Jewish State in 1948. They should be called Neturei Charta (Charta = bullshit in Hebrew). My grandparents and their parents and so on could attest to the fact that Judaism in the Diaspora was not treated kindly. So the next question that is more rarely asked is, "If you're making Aliyah because Judaism is important to you, then why do you not keep more religious?" Well, what can I say? I'm a fundamental moderate who believes in not leaning to far to either side. Judaism is important to me for multiple reasons but one thing that has always left me impressed with regards to my religion is the truth and wisdom in the Tanakh (the Torah, Prophets, and Writings).
I was thinking about something the other day and I think I struck a chord with one story. The story about Abraham offering up his son Isaac as a sacrifice often seemed savage and dogmatically blind to me. I think that when you look upon the story as a metaphor then you realize the true significance and depth of the story. What was Isaac to Abraham? He was his flesh and blood, his offspring, his genetic hope and future. So why would God or Judaism ask him to, so cruelly, sever his only line in the gene pool and kill his son? I think the two factors here are symbols. The God character in the story can be looked at more as Jewish morality. Not the Jewish morality that tells you not to put fish and meat on the same plate you eat off of, but rather the deeper stuff. Abraham and Isaac are humanity, the animal kingdom, evolution if you will. Is there a single healthy organism in the entire world that would sanely forfeit its genetic offspring just because? No; but we learn from this story that some things are more important than ourselves. In some areas we must not fall prey to our tendency toward evolution and furthering our link in the genetic pool. Our morals that are sometimes incongruent with evolutionary interests must be upheld despite the sacrifices we have to make to uphold them. That is what makes mankind different than other animals, whether it be God-given or an acquired evolutionary trait. That is what makes Judaism important to me.

The End of the Beginning

9 days until I am no longer a civilian. A week or two after the Gibush I went home for a brief 2 week visit and did not inform my mother of my return until I was home. Needless to say it was a great trip home and we all very much enjoyed what will be our last family thanksgiving for a while. I came back on December 9 and went back to work. I had an interview for the Egoz unit and although I thought the interview went rather successfully, I was not accepted to the unit. The worst part is, through all these interviews and tryouts they never let us know why we were not accepted. The let-down of the Gibush and then subsequently of the interview were upsetting but through it all I haven't broken down or anything like that. I've held up a good attitude that I guess comes in part from my family's way of "looking toward plan B". Anyway, I worked up until January 14 and then officially was unemployed. Since then I have been taking care of little things that I could not attend to while I was working. Last week I went to London and met my Dad there since London is equidistant from both of us and I have never been to Europe (except for shit-ass Poland in winter).
It's weird...I've been waiting for the day that is about to be upon me in a little over a week for a year and a half now and I don't quite know what to make of it at this point. I'm sure my feelings will change in the 9 days to come and I will begin to become more excited and nervous but at the moment I just feel like, "well it's about time." I think a year and a half of waiting has left me a bit over ripe but at least by this point my Hebrew is very good and I have a pretty good idea of how Israel works in a general sense. I wouldn't say that I'm bitter about having to wait so long but rather just very ready to go next week. It will be challenging to become a Chapash, or Chayal Pashut (Simple Soldier) where you don't receive any kudos and no one lauds your triumphs and your extraordinary efforts. This week I am going to buy some gear I need for the army with Dudi, take care of some last minute things, visit my girlfriend Arielle in Tel Aviv, and take advantage of the last few days of peace and quiet to maybe travel a little or just rest. That's all for now but I hope I'll be able to blog later this week. Email me and let me know how things are (it will be great to hear from everyone before the army).