As you all know, Tuesday the 25th was Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel. It's actually called The Day of Holocaust Remembrance and Heroism. That last part is about remembering, and exalting, the various ghetto uprisings and the Jewish partisan units during World War II. I thought I'd write a long blog about how incredibly significant the entire World War II history is to Israeli self-determination, how it's a huge part of the national Jewish character here (much more so than I had ever imagined), how the new Yad V'Shem is a powerful experience, how intense it was to hear the siren that stopped the entire nation and everyone stood in silence for its duration, how the Shoah is a part of an almost daily national discourse, how it shapes national security policy, how it permeates the consciousness of average Israelis to a level definitely incomparable to what I am used to in the US Jewish community, and how all of these things make being Jewish and living in Israel an amazing and at times overwhelming feeling. But, I really can't get into it, it's too much, it's too deep, and frankly you have to live here to truly get it. Suffice it to say, it's as massive a part of the national Israeli culture as the Hebrew language and the IDF. In other words, life here doesn't make sense without an esssential understanding of the Shoah.

In other news, I was recently informed, thank you random reader, that the Conservative and Reform movements in the US are starting to promote aliyah amongst young people. I am usually on top of my favorite topic, but this is a new fact. Apparently, it's quite true, and Nefesh'b'Nefesh is starting to develop in the direction of the non-Orthodox. A lot of it has to do with the fact that the Jewish Agency is allowing Nefesh'b'Nefesh to basically dictate aliyah outreach policy. Lo and behold, the impossible is occuring. A bureacratic organization is realizing that a privately-run organization is cleverer, faster and more efficient. Miracles do happen. Lets hope G-d's plan is realized and a subconscious wave of Jewish Zionist fervor starts to spread throughout the young Jews of the Diaspora. Comfort and income security, they will realize, is not the essence of life. Ideology, even on a basic level, is more powerful and is the only real glue of a society with a future. Plus, comfort and income security are relative and can be improved with hard work. Not everything has to be served up on a silver platter.

Personally, I will offer what I can in order to promote the above. The rewards are as follows:

Friend level (a vacation of under 3 weeks) - you get a tub of hummus, the couch and a private tour of Jerusalem.

Special Friend level (3 weeks to 8 weeks) - you get hummus, free tours, and my bed.

Silver Friend level (2-5 months, usually a study program) - you get my hummus, bed, free tours, use of my bike, and an opportunity to play with fun toys (no, V, not those types of toys).

Gold Friend level (you make the big move) - you get my bed (yes, you can live in my room I will sleep on the couch), my food is your food, my bike is your bike, you get to play with fun toys and you'll get both regular tours and special tours.

Platinum Friend level (you make the move and do 'fun' activities) - same as Gold level plus something that can't be described.

so start making plans.