Jewish Community Partners

We’re marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel with a year-long celebration! Keep an eye out for “Memphis Celebrates Israel at 70” branding at your synagogue, at events around town, and online. In this My Israel Story series, we’re asking Memphians to tell their personal Israel stories. Do you have a story to tell? 

It was 1948. My parents were raptly listening to the radio as the United Nations vote on the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine was announced. With tears in their eyes, they hugged my sister and me and laughed and cried at the same time. That was my second memorable Israel experience.

My first was going to a Zionist camp, before the establishment of the state, Camp Tel Yehudah. We stayed in cabins named for cities and kibbutzim in Palestine, we sang songs and danced the hora day and night, we studied Hebrew and Zionist history, and we learned to love the land. After that, I even spent a summer month at a Hachshara training camp for teens intending to someday live on a kibbutz in Israel!

Fast forward 17 years in the U.S.—college, marriage, family—and in 1965, another really big Israel experience for me. I arrived in Haifa by ship with my family for a sabbatical year arranged by my husband. Living in Jerusalem was a dream come true for me. Over the course of the year, we lived our lives as Israelis, we traveled the land from Rosh Pina to Eilat, our children attended schools and learned Ivrit (Hebrew), while I attended gan (nursery school) with a three year old as well as an Ulpan (language education) for my own Hebrew update. That year cemented my connection to Israel, although the desire and motivation to make aliyah was no longer in my soul.

And so now–a lifetime in which to look back and know that I have indeed remained connected in my own way. I have visited often (my sister did make aliyah, but that’s another story). I have advocated for a secure and peaceful Israel, and most importantly, I have given another generation the knowledge and appreciation of what that homeland of ours means to the Jewish people.

My ancestors in Europe prayed for Jerusalem but never were blessed to see it. My grandchildren have seen it, experienced it, and hopefully will have many Israel experiences in their own lives.

Am Yisrael Chai and happy 70th birthday!