quote of the day
For anyone who's curious about what I shall be when I grow up:
“You need a wheel? I am that wheel. You need nails, screws, a balance disk? Take me. Is there soil to be tilled? I shall till it. Do you need soldiers? I am a soldier. Police? Doctors? Lawyers? Teachers? Water-bearers? Please, I shall do it all.”
- Joseph Trumpeldor, 1916
source, translation mine.
This bring me, as ever, to how much I love my country. I believe in Zionism so much, you guys, because it stands for so many fine and worthy things. Sometimes I look back at the trail of all the great people who came before my generation, and I'm so proud to be part of something they built, I can barely frame it in words.
When I was younger I dreamt of nothing but living abroad, in distant glittering places like London or Tokyo. The older I grow nowadays, I more I realize that my place is here, in Israel.
Back in 2006, when the Second Lebanon War was still going on and people started realizing that getting nuked with an atomic bomb was a distinct possibility, I asked my father a question. I asked him: "If they threaten to drop the bomb, will we escape the country?"
My father looked at me, and then looked up, at the trees and sky and skyscrapers arching towards the sun. "No," he said after a moment. "We'll stay right here."
"But we'll die." This seemed highly counterproductive to me.
"Maybe," said my father. "We'll have to stick around to find out. That's the meaning of loyalty-sticking around even in the bad times."
Israel may be going through some bad times; it may have been since the day of its founding. It is the only country in the world that I know of which exists in a constant state of national emergency. But that's the way it is, and while it's not ideal, it is an excellent test of loyalty. If you love your country, you don't turn your back on it. You start looking for where it needs an extra wheel.
“You need a wheel? I am that wheel. You need nails, screws, a balance disk? Take me. Is there soil to be tilled? I shall till it. Do you need soldiers? I am a soldier. Police? Doctors? Lawyers? Teachers? Water-bearers? Please, I shall do it all.”
- Joseph Trumpeldor, 1916
source, translation mine.
This bring me, as ever, to how much I love my country. I believe in Zionism so much, you guys, because it stands for so many fine and worthy things. Sometimes I look back at the trail of all the great people who came before my generation, and I'm so proud to be part of something they built, I can barely frame it in words.
When I was younger I dreamt of nothing but living abroad, in distant glittering places like London or Tokyo. The older I grow nowadays, I more I realize that my place is here, in Israel.
Back in 2006, when the Second Lebanon War was still going on and people started realizing that getting nuked with an atomic bomb was a distinct possibility, I asked my father a question. I asked him: "If they threaten to drop the bomb, will we escape the country?"
My father looked at me, and then looked up, at the trees and sky and skyscrapers arching towards the sun. "No," he said after a moment. "We'll stay right here."
"But we'll die." This seemed highly counterproductive to me.
"Maybe," said my father. "We'll have to stick around to find out. That's the meaning of loyalty-sticking around even in the bad times."
Israel may be going through some bad times; it may have been since the day of its founding. It is the only country in the world that I know of which exists in a constant state of national emergency. But that's the way it is, and while it's not ideal, it is an excellent test of loyalty. If you love your country, you don't turn your back on it. You start looking for where it needs an extra wheel.