Warning: Deep Thoughts Ahead

Something interesting is going on in me.. I have been trying for a long time to figure out what my place would be in Israeli society. I'm not like Jewish people who just automatically fit in; my story isn't that simple. (Then again, whose aliyah story is simple?) That scares me a lot, and yet I feel like this is the path my life should take. It's very important to me to understand the role God has for me in Israel. Otherwise, I will not have the strength to remain, once I get there.

Lately I've been thinking about this, and I realize that it will require being my authentic self. And who I am is a person who is -- for many reasons-- an ardent zionist and a Christian, and I love both parts. I feel like my emerging role is to be something of a bridge to Israel for my Christian friends, to help them keep supporting Israel. That's already a lot of what my life is filled with here, but I guess I'm starting to see my role more clearly.

During the war I was talking with some Christian friends, and we agreed that it is good that the US is so supportive of Israel. They said that they can't imagine this ever changing. I then told them about my desire to make aliyah. Once I explained what that meant, one of them said, "Really?!" Now although he didn't explain his surprise, I can read between the lines. They don't understand why I would do such a thing. They are shocked. But they are extremely open to hearing about it.

I went on to tell them (to their amazement) that I can definitely envision scenarios in which the US might not remain so supportive of Israel, and that the need to have a country that takes responsibility for keeping Jewish people safe is one of the most important reasons for Israel to exist.

I didn't go into more detail, but I wish I had also mentioned some other things, such as:

• In response to the US being so "supportive" of Israel: The US pushed Israel into the whole "land for peace" crap in the first place, and that certainly didn't show support for Israel's safety. (My apologies if you are a fan of that policy, but I think we can agree that it was a flawed plan.)
• In the US, we may feel very badly that the Holocaust happened, and about the (current and past) treatment of Jewish people around the world, but those are just feelings. To the Jewish people who were caught in the middle, these same issues can be (and of course were) a matter of life and death. As an example, in the US we teach that "we" (the Allied forces) won WWII. Well, my family didn't win, and I'll just go out on a limb here and say that I definitely don't think anyone at all won WWII. We all lost. But obviously Jews felt this loss, Jews were this loss, whereas most in the US had/have the liberty of just "feeling bad."

I can't go on at the moment, as it's really late here and I need to get some sleep. But in any case, I would like to be able to bridge this gap in understanding that Christians have about Israel. I think I'm a natural person to do that.

(BTW, my thesis in college was entitled "The Future of the US-Israeli Relationship.")