'My Israel': A look at iconic, meaningful locations in the Jewish state - review

“In the last 12 years of his life, physician and Hebrew poet Shaul Tchernichovsky enjoyed the privilege of living in the land he had dreamed of his entire life – the Land of Israel. Five years after his death, the State of Israel was founded. Tchernichovsky never lived in the state, but he expressed his powerful love for this country in his poetry. In one of his well-known poems, he writes, “Man is nothing but the image of his native landscape.” 

Thus begins Adi Altschuler’s essay “Always on the Way to Arsuf Beach” in My Israel: Seventy Faces of the Land, a new book recently published by the Gefen Publishing House in Jerusalem. Altschuler, an acclaimed social entrepreneur, is the founder and CEO of Israel Inclusive Schools and established the youth organization Krembo Wings. 

In her essay, she writes about the place she loves most in Israel: Arsuf Beach. On the facing page is a breathtaking photograph of the beach, which many people, including those of us living in Israel for years, have never heard of.

Altschuler’s essay is one out of the 70 that make up My Israel, a compilation of essays written by 70 Israelis from different walks of life. Each writer shares his or her perspective on what “My Israel” means, choosing one place in the country that has special personal significance. The writers are people with passion who love Israel and can tell you why.

Before continuing, I would like to say that My Israel is a breath of fresh air. It is such a pleasure to discover a book about Israel that is not about politics, not about conflict, and not about the countless problems we need to solve. It is a book that shows my Israel, the Israel of nature, beauty, history, and so much more.

A large coffee-table-style book, My Israel has stunning photography and well-written, truly inspiring essays. Thank you, Chemi Peres and Ilan Greenfield for coming up with the concept for this book and bringing it to life!

I love this book because it is beautiful and because it presents Israel as the amazing country it is. In these troubling times, when Israeli society is so fractured and struggling to keep itself together, here is a book that reminds us of what Israel is all about. I recommend My Israel to people who live in Israel to open their eyes to places they have never noticed, and to tourists who are looking for places to go and things to see in the country that are not on the typical itinerary.

'My Israel': What does Israel mean for you?

MY ISRAEL is the brainchild of childhood friends Peres and Greenfield. Peres is the managing partner and co-founder of Pitango Venture Capital, Israel’s leading venture capital group, and chairman of the board of directors of the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation, established by his late father, former prime minister and Israel’s ninth president, Shimon Peres. 

Greenfield is the owner and CEO of Gefen Publishing House, founded by his parents, Hana Greenfield, of blessed memory, and Murray Greenfield. Murray Greenfield’s story is included in the book. Today in his late 90s, Murray Greenfield was an American Jew living in New York who served in the Merchant Marines during World War II. In 1947, he volunteered to sail across the ocean to pick up Holocaust survivors from a port city on the Mediterranean and smuggle them into Palestine, despite the blockade set up by the British. 

His ship, the Hatikvah, was caught by the British, and the passengers were sent to the internment camp in Cyprus. In his essay, he chose to talk about the Atlit Immigrant Detention Camp, which, like in Cyprus, was used to intern what the British called “illegal” refugees.

“Israel established Atlit as a national monument in 1987, restoring and reconstructing the historic camp with barbed wire fences, British watchtowers, and residential barracks… It serves as an educational center that teaches the history of ha’apalah (illegal immigration in ships attempting to break through the British blockade around Palestine before and after World War II) to the Land of Israel, helping visitors imagine the trauma of the survivors subjected to this imprisonment.”

My Israel has five sections, each one consisting of essays focusing on a different aspect of Israel. The writers include professors, mayors, businesspeople, hi-tech professionals, athletes, entrepreneurs, former MKs, media personalities, rabbis, performers, actors, and more. Each one is an Israeli who has something original to tell us about life in Israel.

Maysa Halabi Alshekh is an educator and social entrepreneur, and founder and CEO of the Lotus space for women in hi-tech in Israel’s Arab and Druze society. Lotus NGO, founded in 2018, provides professional training and employment to talented women.

She writes, “In Druze villages, most women excel in their studies, yet their employment opportunities are limited, because by tradition, Druze women cannot drive, nor may they study or work in mixed-gender environments. Usually, they work for small local businesses at wages far below the minimum. I asked myself: Why should things be this way?”

Alshekh researched the job market and discovered that there was a real way for women to penetrate the world of programming by working remotely. “My vision was this: if we cannot make it to hi-tech, let us bring hi-tech to us. My mission was to grant women hope and the right to dream, to be independent, and to take part in the ‘start-up nation,’ the Israeli innovation arena, as true partners in Israeli society.”

Sivan Rahav-Meir, the well-known TV and radio anchor, was chosen by Globes magazine as the most popular media personality in Israel, and The Jerusalem Post ranked her among the 50 most influential Jewish people in the world. Rahav-Meir chose to write about Ben-Gurion Airport, the portal of entry and exit to the Holy Land.

“Ever since Abraham was given the command “lech lecha” (go forth), Jews have been coming to Eretz Yisrael. For many years, this was no easy task. The gates to Israel were locked, and the Ottoman and British empires placed severe limits on aliyah. Jews were murdered in Auschwitz, but still, the gates were kept closed under the British White Paper. 

“The fact that today these gates are open, always and to everyone, is not to be taken lightly. Over the years, millions of immigrants have arrived in Israel through this, the first Israeli airport,” she writes.

Rahav-Meir loves how in the airport there are no conflicts between Jews and Arabs, religious and secular, locals and foreigners. “A plane taking off from Ben-Gurion is one of the only places where ultra-Orthodox and secular, Israeli and tourist, can have long meaningful conversations.”

Altschuler, Murray Greenfield, Halabi Alshekh, and Rahav-Meir are just a few of the intriguing people you will meet in My Israel. A beautiful and inspiring volume, this book belongs on the coffee table of anyone who loves Israel and is proud of it. Highly recommended. 

MY ISRAEL: SEVENTY FACES OF THE LANDCompiled by Nechemia J. Peres and Ilan GreenfieldGefen Publishing232 pages; $45