Dr. Harold Goldmeier is a teacher, business
Consultant, public speaker and financial writer who taught at Harvard and now
lives in Beit Shemesh. He is a free public speaker for community groups,
manages an investment company, consults and writes about business, social, and
political issues. He can be reached a harold.goldmeier@gmail.com
Ten years ago, my wife and I moved from America to Israel. As we aged, we needed a change. After a decade, we remain outliers. One can read about life in Israel and joke about its troubles, insufferable bureaucracy, and political quandaries. To “get” Israel, “to be” an Israeli, the immigrant has to speak Hebrew. Otherwise, you are and always will be a transient inhabitant. Every aspect of the culture, the human interactions, all revolve around the essence of communication.
This
is the message this reader gets from personal experience and from a new book by
Joel Chasnoff and Benji Lovitt. They are two other North American transplants
who recently published Israel 201: Your Next-Level Guide To The Magic, Mystery,
And Chaos! Of Life In The Holy Land (Gefen Publishing House Ltd., 2023).
The
authors offer a deeper look into Israeli society and culture than the plethora
of salutary books produced every year that view the country through
rose-colored glasses. The book is much more a work of solid social anthropology
than a comedic tome I expected from two highly accomplished professional
comedians.
Their
opening line from David Ben-Gurion underpins the argument I made earlier. He
said, “We know we’ll be a normal country when Jewish prostitutes and Jewish
thieves conduct their business in Hebrew.” Almost every topic the authors cover
over 265 pages has the language at its core. For example, the “Sabras”
excuse their short shrift for waiting in line with “if you don’t like it, don’t
live here.” Hebrew is an honest, brutal language, spoken by people with disdain
for being seen as a sucker or dope, a “Freier.”
I
suggest the reader take their “Pre-Course Quiz How Israeli Are You And Quiz
Answers?” before and after reading the book. Little has been absorbed into my
being. The quiz made me realize I am not cooked. I wore a suit to a cousin’s
outdoor wedding on a hot Israel summer day. I can order a sandwich, but
admittedly don’t always get what I think I ordered. We got our passports from a
patient and helpful Hebrew-speaking clerk.
Israel
201 contributes to my awakening. Israel is another people’s country. I benefit
from its official Jewishness, learn my place in history from the archaeological
sites of my heritage, and Israel upticks my Judaism. I learn more and live by
the Jewish calendar. But I am not an Israeli.
Chapter One examines the Israeli Psyche intimately weaving the unique language of the land with the thinking of the people. The book contains a fascinating interview with a professor of linguistics who loves Hebrew. He “kvells” describing roots and make-ups of words to Jewish life and culture.
Seven
more chapters cover complex issues about Jewish Life in a Jewish State;
government, policies, and the education system; negotiating work, military
service, arts, culture, sports, and leisure. Their tips about the phases of
moving to Israel might help relieve depression that inevitably sets in letting
the “oleh” know they are not alone.
To
be transparent, we met Benji Lovitt at dinner in our son’s house soon after we
arrived in Israel. He knows our children and grandchildren well enough to rate
them for their humor and sarcasm.
Chasnoff
and Lovitt explore the question, of why anyone would choose to live in Israel.
“One huge answer they conclude is “kehilatiyut.” That is Hebrew for the
community. They talk about the bonds that bind Jewish People, the connections,
and the shared narrative. The book is not irreverent but describes Israel as a
lurching work in progress, to borrow a phrase.
Their
comedic sense comes through in three pages about Polite versus Nice: What
Israelis Say About Us. Chasnoff and Lovitt offer insight into how Israelis see
Americans: “Americans are polite but not nice; Israelis are nice but not
polite.” The authors flush this out further with examples of how Americans and
Israelis say the same thing, but the meanings are different.
The
Afterword is brilliant. It reports their discussion with Futurist Dr. David
Passig, Professor at Bar-Ilan University. Most books on Israel lean heavily on
the past because Jewish and Middle East history is mysterious and eventful. It
shaped the people and nation into what it is today. Chasnoff and Lovitt want to
know, “What comes next?” It’s an enlightening addition worth the cost of the
book itself. Passig’s future assessment is neither dreamy nor funny but
sobering.
It
took years to organize and collect the data for Israel 201. The authors
interviewed neighbors and friends, university professors, and cultural
assessment experts. I prefer they had included an Index and that Benji gave
some credit to Goldmeiers in the Acknowledgements for his sharp wit. The fruits
of their labor come through in this jam-packed resource I highly recommend.
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