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Arrival

Descending to the Land of Israel I was listening to Ma Vlast La Moldau, the musical father of Israels national anthem, and then to Hatikvah by even hashsiah, a rock version of the national anthem. 


Arriving at the airport, we had to fill out the health declaration form, which one of the airport staff just told me to tick yes everywhere without even explaining to me the meaning of the questions. Then there were those machines that print your entry permit.


Before the actual passport control there were Magen David Adom staff checking temperature. The border control didn't want to know anything about my army status. All in all, I remember arriving in Israel being connected to many more questions than have been asked of me today.

When I get to the baggage cliam, my suitcases are already there and I collect them. I call the taxi driver that I have booked and he tells me to go to the exit on the 3rd floor. So I shlepp my suitcases (40kilo) up 3 stories with the escalator and go outside. A very hot and thick air hits me, but at the same time its this familiar smell, you only get in Israel.

I have to wait a little bit for a cab, during which a couple of cab drivers try to take me to Jerusalem, but I tell them I booked already. My driver gets there, lets out his passengers and goes to smoke before we set out. In the beginning there is nothing notable about his driving style but as the trip progresses his driving becomes more and more reckless. He doesn't signal when switching lanes and gets pretty close to other cars when overtaking, all while going over the speedlimit. I'll credit him with getting me to my shared flat fast, but I was literally scared in the end. 

On the way I had time to think about some things. On the one hand the Israeli people have an issue with discipline. That is surely something I will miss from Germany. On the other hand, I was looking at the people, the klal, walking the evening streets of Jerusalem and there was just something simply beautiful about them. I wish I will see more of the beautiful in Eretz Israel and Bney Israel, no matter their makken.

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 1, 2020 at 9:35 PM

    Nu, jeder Jude hat seine eigene Identität. Ja, wir haben nur diesen einen Staat. Israel ist unsere Heimat. Aber das bedeutet nicht, dass wir diese Heimat nicht auch mit dem bestem aus unseren anderen Heimaten (z.B. Berlin/Deutschland) bereichern können. Hust etwas mehr Jekkishkeit und Ordnung braucht dieses Land echt mal Hust ;)

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