We may be crazy for living here—but we’re not wrong

Photo: Flash90

“Are we crazy?” my sister-in-law asks me. As the mother of three young boys in this country, she’s asked this before, unable to fully set aside her fears for the still-distant future. With a house full of girls, my concerns tend toward affording weddings, not potential enlistment. Suddenly, though, I see her question in a new light.

“It’s possible we’re crazy,” I respond. But I think we’re crazy in love. We’re in love with the Land, the people, our future as a nation. It’s a love that makes you blind enough to look past the day-to-day struggles of living here, both in times of war and times of relative peace.

People questioned the safety of living in Israel throughout our aliyah five years ago, and we’d responded with great bravado that we’d rather “go down with our ship” than be anywhere else. Now, as the “ship” is buffeted by waves of animosity from all sides, we daven with intensity to stay afloat.

So sure, we’re living with craziness — a lack of control, a lack of structure, even a lack of freedom. We have to contextualize this time for our children, helping them process their fears and uncertainty. But are we really crazy? Was this the wrong choice? I don’t think so.