French Fries in Pita: A Collection of Herb Keinon's Columns on Life in Israel

An immigrant s journey is never fully completed even a Jewish immigrant s move to Israel There is no defining finish line when an adult who moves to a foreign land victoriously throws up his arms and says with complete satisfaction I have completely arrived I am completely one emotionally mentally culturally with my new land The immigrant may have native friends native children a responsible job full command of the language and economic security yet there will always be something that makes him feel like an outsider an accent an insecurity a preference for reading in his mother tongue a physical appearance a way of dress counting in his native language associating with people from his former country an inexplicable longing for a certain sport food scent or vista Since the scenery of one s soul is made up of the climate jokes mannerisms tastes smells sounds cultural references and holidays that one grows up with there is an intense feeling of dislocation when this landscape is replaced by another The emotions that accompany these stages are manifold displacement fear insecurity longing joy and acceptance This book made up of columns that have appeared in The Jerusalem Post over the last 25 years records an American immigrant s experience to Israel through each of the stages It does so by tracing the four seasons with each season representing not only a time of year but also a stage of life or mental mood But this book is more than just an immigrant s tale It also sheds a different light on Israel and portrays it as a land not only of endless strife and conflict but rather as a real land populated by real people who live and love laugh and cry give birth and raise children emigrate from and immigrate to Indeed despite the much discussed documented and real problems that Israel faces the country still has something extraordinary that stirs people to move there and voluntarily become immigrants a designatio

Publisher:

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Pages:

205

Date Published:

2014