Justify My Love
Shaul Magid has an interesting and provocative piece up at Zeek about the J Street conference.
“I love Israel.” What exactly does that mean? I know what it means to love my child, my family, my partner, my parents, even my dog. Love is relational, it is reciprocal, it is personal. What exactly is Israel as an object of love? Is it the state? Its people? The land? The idea? How can I love the people, most of whom I don’t know? From what I know of them I can say with some confidence that I don’t love Baruch Goldstein, or Yigal Amir, or Meir Kahane, or Moshe Levinger (and I am quite sure they don’t love me either).
Full article here.
Zeek is great. I appreciate this thoughtful article.
I miss growing up in Israel. It felt like s warm neighborhood, safe and welcoming. I miss the kiosk selling hummus. I miss the Tamuz theater with the wooden seats. I miss riding my bike all night long on erev yom kippur. I miss so many things about what Israel was in my life. What it could be.
But I don’t love what it is, and I feel estranged from folks who say they do. Don’t they see? Countries and states are for living in, not for loving.
There is a fascinating article by Zali Gurevitch in which he outlines some of the difficulties of having a Place and a place. Check it out
http://books.google.com/books?id=7Mhr3PLTWHAC&pg=PA195&lpg=PA195&dq=zali+gurevitch+land+of+israel&source=bl&ots=WO23plygm7&sig=tqe4n-CO40NQeejaIgOYwKDoDho&hl=en&ei=JgZvSqmVAcWGtgf75ajVCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1
Sorry for the long link – I don;t know how to hyperlink.
Am I the only one who is tired of Magid and Jay’s hackneyed and self indulgent analyses of their trysts with Israel? It seems like there is a common assumption that we must work through the kitsch of our youth and take a position on some trash before we can stake out any substantive position. I am amazed by the vacuity of these commitments, the ease with which they leave them, and the assumption that anyone in the universe would care.