Have I Shared Too Much

Alright. He’s only been here for six months. I know. He hasn’t even hit his one-year aliyah anniversary. I know. But, he’s my first child and my only son. And, I share him with you, Israel.

I share him with the mechina program on Moshav Keshet. Even though I worry. Maybe Keshet is too out of the way, up there in the Golan. Maybe it’s too religious. Maybe it’s too difficult. I don’t even know the rabbis there. Maybe he should just be at a gap-year program in Jerusalem like his friends from high school. Skipping shir on Thursday night to hang out on Ben Yehuda Street. Planning to go to college back in the US next year. Always remembering his one-year experience fondly. Instead he chose aliyah.

I share him with you, Israel.

I share him with all of the adults who he has reached out to here. To all the families who have hosted him for shabbos. And to all the families who will inevitably host him for future shabboses. To all the people who took care of him when he was sick. To all the individuals who have patiently answered his questions. (And, I know he has a lot of questions.) I share him with all of you. But mostly, I share him with his new family in Rosh HaAyiin. You know who you are. And I simply can’t thank you enough. You opened your homes and your hearts, and I sleep well at night knowing that you all are there for him. I am forever humbled by your kindness.

I share him with you, Israel.

I share him with all of the people involved in every aspect of his aliyah. I share him with the staff at Nefesh B’Nefesh. I share him with the soldiers at lishgat hagius in Tiberius. And the clerk at misrad ha-klita in Katsrin. With the guy at the bank. With the staff at misrad ha-rishui. You are his teachers, and the best thing is that you don’t even know it. He is learning his way around Israeli bureaucracy from all of you. Call it Israeli Bureaucracy 101. For good and for bad. When to have patience. When to be pushy. It’s a crash course. But he’s acing it for sure.

I share him with you, Israel.

I share him with all his new friends. Friends from Maryland and New York. Florida and Chicago. Friends from South Africa, Ethiopia, and Israel. We came to visit to see him, but, truthfully, we came to meet his friends. To see the friends he has chosen. And we are impressed. He has made good choices.

I share him with you, Israel.

Please take good care of him.