Yom Haatzmaut Reflections by Jason Orenstein April 28, 2004 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=3604 The period of Yom HaShoa, Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha'Atzmaut is a time of national reflection here in Israel. It is a time to look back at where we have come from, look forward to where we are headed, and most importantly, to take stock of where we find ourselves right now, to evaluate our successes and failures; what were our goals and dreams, and have we achieved them? This year, this time of year holds a special significance for me, as just under a week ago, my wife Annie and I moved into our very own home in Ma'aleh Adumim, Israel. Over the last few days, while sitting on my balcony overlooking Jerusalem's hills, I have had some time to look back at how it came to pass. Through my reflections, I recalled a letter that I wrote to a friend of mine during this time of year, five years ago, during my first year in Yeshiva University, after having spent a year studying in yeshiva in Israel. I would like to share it with you. Yom HaZikaron / Yom Ha'Atzmaut - 1999 / 5759: "Elliot, how are you? Chag sameach. "I just want to share some thoughts that are racing through my head as we speak. Have you done anything special for Yom Hazikaron / Yom Ha'atzmaut? I just went to hear Rav Goldwicht and a retired Israeli officer who fought in both the Six Day War and in the Yom Kippur War. I must say that I feel that the way I acted on this day a year ago, was, in a word, childish. Whether or not to say Hallel, with a bracha, without a bracha, tachanun.... What I would give to be in Israel now, and being able to ask myself these same questions. "No matter how many speeches I'll hear, be it today or tomorrow, it doesn't make up for not being there, in Eretz Yisrael. I honestly feel like there is something missing in my life right now - and I don't think that the void can be filled here. Unfortunately, I know that within another day or so, this feeling will surely pass. That's not to say that it will go away totally, but it will recess to the back of my mind, or back into my heart, from where it originated. It's almost impossible to keep these sorts of feelings on an everyday basis - I guess that's the challenge that we must overcome. "It's almost funny, a year ago at this time, we were in Israel - at Har Herzl, at Castel.... It seems like yesterday, but so much has changed since then, and life seems to have moved us much further away from that day. For better or worse, time stops for no one, and we have to make the most of our moments while we have them, because before we know it, all we'll have left are memories. "I wonder when I'll be able to go back to Israel, I miss it very much, and I think about it almost every day, I really want to go back. But when? Probably not until I finish college, and depending what I do about graduate school, maybe not until after that either. That's so many years away. I've only been away from Israel for 10 months, and I miss it so much already, how can I be certain that these feelings will last me three, four or even five years down the road? I guess there's no guarantee that they will - I'm sure you've heard this just as much as I have, that when we come back from Israel, we're on some big Israel high, and we all are certain that we are going to live there, but alas, people get side-tracked, and they start to lose the feelings that they once had, and then it becomes just another dream that most likely goes unfulfilled. "I guess the best thing to do is to surround yourself with people who are like-minded, and most importantly, when looking to get married, to find a girl who believes as strongly as you do about Israel, and to make sure that the goal of making aliyah always remains as a reality, and not just another dream put on the back burner, hoping that one day, either you'll forget about it totally, or rationalize to yourself as many different reasons as possible as to why making aliyah isn't really as important as you once thought it was, when you were just a 'kid'. "I wish us both luck in the days, months and years ahead, may the feeling and hope inside both of us never dwindle. If we are to be called dreamers, dreamers by those who were once dreamers themselves, but who have long since tossed their dreams aside for 'reality', then may it be His will that we never wake up." Rereading this letter five years later, on the doorstep of Yom HaZikaron / Yom Ha'Atzmaut 2004 / 5764, I couldn't help but be filled with thanks to Hashem. Today, at the age of 24, I am able to sit in my very own home in Israel (mortgage payments aside), surrounded by both friends and family (who have also made aliyah), I have a fulfilling job where I am working to strengthen the connection between Jewish students and Israel, and I am studying for a Masters in Contemporary Jewry, where for the first time in my life, I actually look forward to going to class. Most importantly, I have a loving wife who shares my passion and love for the Land of Israel and the People of Israel, and we are, G-d willing, expecting the first of hopefully many additions to our family, who will be born in the eternal Jewish Homeland, the Land of Israel. Whether one prefers Herzl's approach, "If you will it, it is no dream," or a more traditional Jewish approach (from the Talmud), "On the path that one wishes to walk, it is there that Hashem directs him," nearly all of my dreams, on a personal level, have come true, from the time that I wrote that letter five years ago. To quote my good friend Ezra HaLevi (who made aliyah with his wife last year), "Aliyah is not the goal, it is the starting point." It is time for me now to dream new dreams and to set new goals for myself, and if the past is any indication, I will, G-d willing, continue to have much for which to be thankful.