Alef: The NEXT Conversation

12: Aliyah – Going Home

“Home is where you hang your hat”
“A man’s home is his castle”
“He is Happiest, be he King or Peasant, who finds peace in his home”
“There’s no place like home…There’s no place like home…”

No matter how you say it, “home” helps defines who we are as Jews, as human beings. Everyone wants a place to call home – a place we can feel safe in the moment, a place we can feel comfortable planning for our futures.

The truth is, we all want a home that suits us. Accordingly, we live in a world where “home” can mean almost anything – the apartment you’re renting, the house you grew up in, the first page your web-browser loads, or the country your family came from. “Home” can be something you remember from your past, or something you’re building for the future. In some cases, it can be both. And while all Dorothy had to do was click her heels, for the rest of us, it’s not always so easy to get back home. Sometimes, going home means moving in with your parents and sleeping under the same posters you hung in your childhood bedroom when you were 14. Sometimes, going home means moving to a new city, a new state, or even a new country altogether.

This week, as Jewish communities around the world acknowledge Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day, the question of what makes a “home” is all the more pronounced. For those who’ve made Aliyah and moved to Israel, the act of “going up” is seen by some as carrying with it an implied value judgment as to the legitimacy of a Jew’s “home” outside of Israel. But can the definition of a “Jewish homeland” be expanded to include communities created by Jews elsewhere in the world? Is stating a new life in Israel a “homecoming” or an “uprooting”?

For the next few weeks, we’ll be hearing from people who’ve moved out, moved back, moved to Israel, or put down roots in strange places, all in the name of “going home.” So, click your heals, hang your hat, and tell us – Where’s home for you?

-Alef

Photo by Woodlywonderworks, licensed under Creative Commons

Aliyah – Going Home posts

Faded Memories
Jerusalem Bound
New Country, Old Home
You Can Take The Girl Out Of Israel…
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Finding Home
The Sum of the Parts = Home
A So-Called ‘Lost’ Jewish Family

Tags: home, memories

Posted by Rafi, Thursday, April 1st, 2010, 6:08 pm, Going Home.