An Excerpt from Magical World: Stories Reflections, Poems
I come from California, where it is warm and sunny,
blue skies and perfect;
Where grass grows and rain falls, but not enough -
Where we fear draught as we enjoy our endless days of summer.
I have moved to Israel,
Where here too the sun shines from clear skies,
Where flowers bloom in December, and
Where children are raised to respect water and take short showers.
In Israel, like in California,
One can visit the beach and ski on the same day if they wish;
Vast desserts separate lush lowlands,
Full of fruit blossoms of all kinds.
The official flower of California is the orange poppy, of Israel, the red.
In reflecting on California, my rabbi once remarked, “It is Gan Eden, just not for us.”
What is the difference then, between one paradise and the other?
There, fantasies reign and they become movies.
Here, faith reigns, and it becomes war.
Though much is secular here, this is a religious place.
Though spiritual hunger pierces there, meaninglessness wins out.
Here the moon is softer and bigger, and rainbows are brighter too.
But there, breath is more expansive, evaporating into the mist of the Pacific, no borders to encumber it.
Both California and Israel are contested lands, where native peoples weep for a life once lived.
Both rest on soil soaked with pain.
Both are filled with souls, seen and unseen,
some who wish to turn back the clock, but most who would just live and let live.
My journey of 7,500 miles away from home and family, has everything to do with finding my place in the world.
Just as the green caterpillar is indistinguishable from the grasses where it lives,
And the Sunbird matches the Bird of Paradise flower,
So to do we each have a place where we belong,
that resembles us inside and out.
There is a place in the world from which our own dust was gathered -
that is of us, as we are of it.
There is a place in the world where our hearts are meant to open,
where we can find freedom in the here and now.
There is no perfect place, no perfect world.
There is no future time when everything will be different.
There is only me and who I was born to be.
And, in finding my way to that place ,
I find I am in paradise.