Toto, I don’t think we’re in California any more…

After 14 hours in the air, we arrive in Israel. Four hours later, we come to our new home at Kibbutz Hannaton.

“Life is either a great adventure or nothing.” Helen Keller

For most of us our days are not very memorable.  One day melts to the next, leaving a blur of often unconnected events; an endless pile of “to do” lists.  We revel in the small things, try to capture them with a photo. But then always move on to the “next thing.”

Sometimes, however, a particular day stands out among all others.  Most recently, for my wife Anat, my ten year old daughter Tamar and myself, this particular day was January 10th when our El Al jumbo jet touched down on the runway at Ben Gurion after a 14 hour direct flight from Los Angeles.  In our hands were one-way tickets. We made aliyah.  We immigrated, to Israel.

Just before leaving the Bay Area, I wrote a “farewell” piece in the Bay Area’s JWeekly.  I described Israel this way:

I remember an old Jewish Agency aliyah poster with a photo of a beautiful rose nestled among many thorns. “We never promised you a rose garden,” read the slogan. Yet while some people prefer only to see the thorns, I have never stopped seeing the rose.

I never blogged.  Ever.  That is an odd thing, some may think, given the amount of writing I do.  But now, after three full weeks in Israel as a new citizen, I find there is indeed much to write about.  For all I know I may only have an audience of two: me writing to myself.  That would be fine.  Everyone needs a diary, a personal narrative, to remember the less adventurous days.  But, I invite you — my family, friends and even strangers — to read and comment on my entries.

I will describe both the roses and the thorns.  I will include observations on daily Israeli experience, whether its the “excitement” of buying a washing machine, or upheavals such as what is going on now in our southern neighbor, Egypt.

Stay tuned, the adventure has only just begun…