Life is made up of a series of choices. Some choices we are truly free to make, others are made for us by people or circumstances, but when 'push comes to shove', we are responsible for ourselves and have only ourselves to thank or blame for the results of the action we choose to take.
When looking retrospectively over my life I can see turning points at which I made decisions which affected the course of my life. When Robert Frost wrote "The Road Not Taken"* he immortalized for me one aspect of the human condition which as I get older becomes more and more a part of who I am.
Being Israeli is as much a state of mind as it is a state of physical existence. When I first came here, more than 30 years ago, I was born on the wings of idealism and enthusiasm. I am Jewish and was raised with the traditional values of a middle-class Jewish family in the Diaspora. As a child and youth in England I always felt drawn to Israel, which in my eyes was 'our last best hope for peace'** - for the Jewish Race. I still believe in that concept but the 'idealism and enthusiasm' that brought me here as a young man of 22 has been tempered over the years with realism and maturity.
I am convinced now, more than ever, that Israel is the most complex corner of the earth, with problems and issues that not only affect the physical status of the Middle East, but also are generically embedded into the universal subconscious.
I wanted to be intrinsically connected to the 'DNA' of the Jewish people and being Israeli has given that to me.
The diversities, complexities, peculiarities and elusiveness that are rampant in today's Israel become painfully tangible when the best cliche that springs to mind when trying to set a 'state of the Nation' benchmark comes from 'The Sound of Music'*** - "...a flibbertigibbet, a will-o'-the-wisp, a clown..."****.
I made my choice and am here to stay. My covenant with Israel - 'for better and for worse' - is based on my belief in our mutual commitment to Being Israeli.
*http://www.ram.org/contrib/road_not_taken.html
**http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
***http://www.reelclassics.com/Musicals/SoundMusic/soundmusic.htm
****http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1HwVmY28Pk