All through our Israel seminar, we've been discussing the difference between an Israeli identity and a Jewish identity. Speaking to high school seniors from the Carmel High School near Haifa, we learned that they feel Israeli but not Jewish.
The opposite happened to me. Thursday night we went to the Zappa Bar to hear Tzvika Pik perform. He was a popular rock star in the 70's and 80's. To tell you the truth I was never a fan of his and he did not endear himself to me by arriving on the stage 1 hour and 15 minutes late. Instead of starting a 9:00 pm he began at 10:15 pm. On top of every thing the song that announced him was Ave Maria which had nothing to do with anything with his concert. He only sang the songs he wrote.
The Israelis there really got into his music. They swayed with their hands over their heads singing along with him the songs of their youth. The music didn't touch me in any way (I admit that I was tired and cranky). This was the first time on the trip I felt a gap between me and the Israelis. I have a very strong Jewish identity that couldn't relate to their Israeli identity.
So today I bought some Israeli music, the biluyim and Kobi Oz, to bridge that gap.
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