The Land and the Spirit

Many people love their homes and their countries, but once they relocate, they form new allegiances. They cannot trace the ancestral homeland that their families claimed two millennia ago, nor do they continue to long for those places. Yet no matter where they have lived, Jews have continued to dream about the land of Israel.

Because Israel is different. It is a land that has pulsed with energy and mystery since the dawn of time, a land that has captured the imagination throughout history, a land that breathes with the glory of our past and the dreams of our future.

And so Israel retains its hold upon our spirit. There is a deep connection that continues to tug at us, a magnetic pull that has not waned even though many have found safe haven elsewhere. Whether Israel makes us feel pride or disappointment, hope or concern, we care about its…