Home-Back and Forth הביתה הלוך חזור

The title of this post is also the title of a new song by one of my favorite current Israeli artists, Idan Raichel (you can watch the music video here -it's highly recommended). While the song itself was written to introduce a new movie, Black on White which traces the journey of Cabra Casey, an immigrant artist in Idan's project who was born in Sudan on the way to Israel from Ethiopia, and her trip to trace her journey and discuss her feelings as an immigrant from the Ethiopian community.
I figured that this was a perfect metaphor for my approaching trip, even though my journey and relationship with israel is very different from Cabra's. However, this trip - which is unfortunately, just back and forth - allows me to reflect on my feelings for Israel, after not being there for 7 months, and trying to figure out what is home for me. Although I am very happy here at JTS and Columbia, having just successfully completed my first semester, there is a special, hard to explain pull that Israel has, and which makes me so excited to be going back home, even if its just 'back and forth' for now. While I can't predict exactly what I'll be doing in Israel, my plans include a shabbat on Kibbutz Sa'ad, a trip with the Jewish Agency to look at options for aliyah (AFTER I graduate college), some time with the Moshe family and other friends, and some quality time at the CY...and of course, some good Shwarma!
I hope to restart this blog at some point when I'm in Israel or upon my return, and reflect on my experiences over the next few weeks!
To quote another song lyric, ירושלים, הנה אני בא!