By Albert Kohn
It is fair to say that there is a certain idealization of Israel amongst American Jews. While this is in part a reaction against the vitriolic rhetoric critical of Israel, it also a result of the time Jews—particularly youths—spend in Israel. From Birthright trips to gap year programs, thousands of Americans Jews travel across the small country in air-conditioned tour busses enjoying the food and ease of travel in a foreign country with a seeming ubiquity of English speakers. While building positive connections with Israel is a worthy endeavor, these at times infantilizing trips tinge our perception of the small Jewish state with positivity that transforms it into a utopia where everything is kosher and each hilltop is of monumental ethnic and religious significance to the Jewish people. This morphed perception generates a naïve idealism in American Jews that I refer to as “vacation glasses.”
To challenge this idealistic perception one need only do a few Google searches about the history and politics of this area, but to experience the shattering of these blue and white sun glasses one can also walk into Ulpan. I will admit it; I was excited for Ulpan. I am obsessed with Jewish history and our language, in its past and modern form, is an essential part to it and its study. Yet, sitting in class—which meets five days a week from 8:30am to 1:15pm—I was thinking about how boring it is. Ulpan, like all language acquisition classes, consists of teachers speaking and asking question about topics made banal by our inability to address them in any depth due to the limits of our vocabulary and comfort with the language. The Israel that one finds in these classrooms is not the Israel of Birthright or gap year programs. There is no time to relish in the magnificence of a language having been restored to everyday use after 2000 years when we need to memorize the Hebrew word for every fruit imaginable.
Though unexciting, there is still a certain sweetness in the banal early morning study of Hebrew. Unlike most humanities classes, language study allows for the sense of fulfillment granted by the acquisition of skills. Even if one just sits there listening to the teachers speak in Hebrew, one improves a comprehension that is utilized as one walks around listening to the jokes and curses filling the streets. Each day, I can feel myself understanding more and expressing more, and thereby, slowly allowing myself to actually experience Israel in a real and genuine way. Just like daily life is made up primarily of banal necessities such as eating and sleeping, the real Israel is made up of banalities—like learning and using the language. There is of course a part of me that misses my now shattered vacation glasses and wishes I could keep thinking of Israel as a place of pure magnanimity and excitement, but at the same time I appreciate the feeling of a more genuine Israel shining in my eyes.
