Tel Aviv

Not only does Israel have a place for every Jew, more significantly, every Jew has a place in which Israel fits within their life.

For some this is in prayer, for some this is cultural, others see a home away from home. To many Israel is a refuge, from Holocaust survivors stuck in displaced person camps when no one wanted to take them in, to the Jews of Ethiopia, Russia and the Arab states. Israel is a home land, a safety net, a spiritual and cultural center and a historic land that contains all of the most holy sites in Judaism most notable the Temple mount.

Israel - I regard Israel, in particular Jerusalem, as my spiritual homeland. I think of Jerusalem and the Western Wall and that indescribable feeling you get when you visit it. I think of the Dead sea, Masada, Eilat and BatYam. I think of Tel-Aviv, of the crazy drivers, of falafel, of sitting in Dizengoff people-watching, and of course I think of my family and my friends who live in Israel. I think of all the amazing medical, scientific, technological and humanitarian contributions to the world, despite everything.

Zionism - To me Zionism is the right of Jews to a safe and secure homeland in Israel . For me Zionism simply means love of Israel, standing with Israel and love of the land.

Zionism means there is a safe haven for Jews from all over the world for ever more. A place where Jews of all lifestyles, male, female, gay, straight, rich poor, black and white, religious and secular, left and right -can live in equality, side by side without fear of persecution.

Zionism is the struggle to maintain one democratic society in the Middle East, where minority religions are respected and Jews can feel at home, the only place in the world where Jews are a majority. Undemocratic and non-democratic forces threaten Israel constantly, and the rights of the Palestinians must be respected, but Israel must hang on and be supported by decent people everywhere, or the Middle East is doomed.