Excerpts

Excerpt from Chapter One

It was early in the morning. The sun was still hidden from view. It was the fateful day of our arrival in Israel. I could hear in the distance the sirens of ships going through a port. They were very faraway sounds. The sky started to redden on the horizon. It was about six o'clock in the morning. It was still dark, for the most part. My family was sleeping. I was watching from the deck of the ship with nostalgia and great expectations. It seemed like time itself was thick, tangible. I wanted to stretch it, stretch it as far as I could, so that in no time I would see the shores of the Promised Land. Suddenly, as if my prayers were being answered, I could see land. It could not be any other land but the land of Israel. I started shouting with enthusiasm, as that symbolized so many things for all of us: That we had gone through suffering and pain, through anguish, through suppression and persecution, and finally, here was that land. In retrospect, I realize that it was not a nationalistic enthusiasm and discharge of feelings on my part; it was a release of all the deep-seated pain and negativity that, throughout the years, had burdened me. In that moment, I was making use of that moment, using that land, using our destination as an opportunity for an outpouring of joy without end. I immediately awakened my parents.