By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson
DOMEYROT, France — Life in rural France has many advantages. The countryside is beautiful and pretty empty, with peaceful villages here and there, often many miles apart from one another. The few people one encounters are usually friendly, and certainly polite. The weather is generally pleasant, albeit on the cool side. So why am I longing to be back in Israel?
First of all, Israel is my home. England was my home for the first 24 years of my life, but then I went to live in Israel, and it became my new home. My reasons for moving were many and varied.
Officially, I went to Israel to continue my studies towards an M.A. in Sociology and was fortunate enough to be offered a job as a research assistant in the Sociology Department of the Hebrew University in conjunction with my studies.
Unofficially, I was in love with the vibrant, sun-drenched country, which I had visited several times by then. I enjoyed the open friendliness of the people and was lucky to have several relatives living there who opened their homes to me. I also thought that Jews ought to live in their homeland now that we once again had a country of our own at last.
I still enjoy the life I have been able to create in Israel and especially being able to see my friends and family. My husband is a native Israeli (‘sabra’) who has enabled me to be part of Israeli society, though I still retain some of the English reserve with which I grew up and which was part of my education.
I have managed to learn Hebrew and even made my living through my ability to translate from that language into English, managing in the process to absorb many interesting texts and gain a deeper understanding of Israeli life and culture.
Over the years, life in Israel has changed. The single radio channel of the 1960s is now overshadowed by dozens of individual channels, my favorite being the one devoted to classical music. The supposed classical music channel I listen to in France is swamped by its announcers, who love to hear themselves talk. One early-morning program is consistently ruined by the simultaneously played soundtrack of an English-language film, possibly a James Bond one, consisting of the sound effects and dialogue that accompany those films. This happens almost every morning between seven and eight, as I’m doing my exercises and no one in the studio seems to be aware of this or do anything to stop it. Sheer torture!
And so, as our unintentionally long stay in France comes to an end, I’m ready to go back to Israel with no regrets. The tranquility of France is all well and good, but nothing beats being at home in my country, with friends and family within calling distance, constant sunshine in the summer and a classical music program on the radio that really does provide its listeners with classical music for most of the day and night.
Granted, currently life in Israel is fraught with tension and an unhealthy political situation, but this too shall pass, and normal life will eventually be resumed and enjoyed, as it has been in the past.
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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson is an author and freelance writer based in the Jerusalem suburb of Mevasseret Zion, Israel.