Beyond the Pita, Beyond the Hummus

By Bara Levitt
JTS / Columbia University

I am a Zionist! I am also, among other things, a woman, an American, a member of the Jewish people and a student. My identity and obligations are complicated, layered and often interconnected. As an American, I am deeply disturbed by the vast inequalities that persist within our society. I am also proud and fortunate to live in a country that values individual liberty and opportunity. As a Zionist and member of the Jewish people, I fear for the lives of those living in Israel and feel selfish for not standing beside my brothers and sisters in the IDF, for not risking my life for a place that I am privileged to call ‘my country.' I am also troubled by the situation of the Palestinian people. This is not to say, however, that I am scared to travel to Israel and spend time there, but rather that I acknowledge the complex and ever-present security situation. As a Zionist, I am further inspired by the vastly growing number of nongovernmental organizations and Israeli student organizations that are organizing their efforts toward the needs of all of the people of Israel.

I stand as a student on a liberal university campus feeling pulled towards the fulfillment of what I see as obligations of the different facets of my identity. Recent experiences that I have had, however, have helped me begin to release myself from this tension. One of these experiences occurred this past winter when I traveled to Israel with YJ Impact! trip called Mesamnei Shvilim. YJ Impact! is the college-aged-plus division of Hadassah, the women's Zionist organization of America.

The trip could best be summed up by the slogan on our trip material: "Israel beyond the pita, beyond the hummus." As someone who had spent significant time in Israel prior to the trip, I did not think I would be seeing anything new -- I could not have been more wrong. The trip took me walking through the red light district of Tel Aviv, amidst the village of an unrecognized Bedouin community, into the innovative education programs for economically disadvantaged immigrants, onto the campus of Sapir college in Sderot, and to many sites of Israeli environmental initiatives.

Israel has many problems, just like any other country, and, believe me, on this trip we saw many of these problems first hand. In my eyes, however, Israel is not just any other country. Israel is the result of the yearning of the Jewish people for 2,000 years of exile, the realization of our modern day hard fought dreams for statehood.

The greatest insight that I gained from the trip was the knowledge that people in Israel are working to better Israeli society. Those people are mostly students, and I find their motivation to change the face of the country inspiring. Although I live in America and the work that is so desperately needed in Israel is very hands-on in nature, that does not mean that I do not have an obligation and a role in this new phase of Zionist activity.

It is important that as Jewish-American students we work with the student organizations in Israel towards the realization of their important goals. One does not need to be on the ground in order to educate your community about various initiatives, as well as gather American support and financial resources. Further, the connections alone are important, since they show Israelis that there is a large community of Jews outside of Israel which is interested in what they are doing. After my trip, I have begun to understand my community activism and interests in a different way. For every issue in which I am interested in America, there is a comparable Israeli organization. It is not enough for me to work toward an issue in America. Rather, I must fulfill the obligations of my complete identity and focus on the issue in Israel as well. Although this mind set requires extra energy and initiative, it is but a small gesture toward the betterment of Israeli society, though if we all seek to contribute in this way our small gestures can add up to an important and significant impact.

The ideas in this article are greatly influenced by two very important teachers with whom I have had the opportunity to come into contact: Micha Goodman and Ilan Wagner.

Bara Levitt is a sophomore in the Joint Program between the Jewish Theological Seminary and Columbia University, where she is majoring in Jewish Women's studies and Sociology respectively. She is also a member of YJ Impact!

[Posted 5/5/08]