Hodaya's+I-Face+Project

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**Alice Eitan ** By: Hodaya Bruck

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=rationale:=

I chose to write about Alice Eitan who is my 92 year old great grandmother. In my eyes she represents the founding generation of the state of Israel. Her life illustrates the Jewish refugees who escaped the Nazis by the skin of their teeth.

Their spirit, unbroken, led them with younger children to immigrate to Israel and to found one of Israel's most known types of settlements: the kibbutz. She was the first bride and she and her husband were the first couple on Kvutzat Yavneh where she has held quite a few jobs. Today her son, grandson and three of her great-grandchildren live alongside her, continuing to realize her dreams.

In this project I hope to present Alice Eitan as one of many ever hopeful Jews who created a beautiful blossoming Jewish homeland out of the desert of the Negev in the Middle East. She, in my own eyes, is one of a kind, but thanks to her, her friends and peers the state of Israel has progressed so much.

In my opinion the ideal Israeli is not the one who always points out what is wrong. Rather it is the one who is ready to extend himself, forgo personal convenience and is ready to do what he or she truly believe to be for the better cause. In our world of materialism, this message should be remembered; other- wise we may not be able to develop our young state at the same pace as they have done in the past.

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=Savta Alice- Profile=

Alice Eitan (92) was born in Bacharach almost a century ago. At the age of seventeen she decided to join a youth Aliya program that would eventually bring her safely to the Jewish home land, at the time still under the rule of the British Mandate. When she left home, her father, a decorated WWI German soldier was sure he, though Jewish, was untouchable. He urged her not even to pack, assuming that she will be coming back from her trip to the dessert within two weeks.

That was the last time she saw her family. She became a leader for a group that traveled first to Switzerland and then through Italy, to Palestine. She proudly insists that she came in legally and was invited to Rodges to prepare the settling of the land. They learned how to create a cooperative community based on agriculture and joint work called a Kibbutz.

Land was scarce and being religious was considered less well than other groups. The offer that came through was either up north near Beit Shean, or down south near Ashdod. The group was very split and actually founded two kibbutzim, one up north Tirat Tzvi and Kvutzat Yavneh, down south. Thus, from the green flourishing Germany, they all had to adjust to the yellow barren dessert of the Negev.

The kibbutz had its own well and it supported both their agriculture and their hygiene. Later, the well almost killed my grandmother – Alice's oldest daughter- as she slipped into it and was saved by a passing volunteer who grabbed her by her hair and pulled her out. Today, the well is still in use and is secured under a building used as a chicken hatching firm (the Madgeriah).

Saba Martin and she married on the Jewish festival of Purim. This was because food was scarce and a meat meal couldn't be "wasted" just for the wedding. Combining the holiday with the occasion allowed them to be the first couple married on the kibbutz. The bride wore a white blouse with embroidery and the groom borrowed the only white shirt from another member. They lived very modestly and at times had real shortage of food.

Security was also an issue. At the time, kibbutzim were situated at the outskirts of the upcoming Jewish state and were expected to defend themselves in case of attack. During the war of Independence in 1948 the Egyptian army marched up from the south almost until Ashdod, besieging kibbutzim and destroying settlements and farm – land. They threatened many kibbutzim, so the issue of clearing the woman and children out became the next worry. In a daring campaign called Baby Campaign (Mivtsa Tinokot), all woman and children marched silently across the lines to awaiting vehicles to take them to safety. Amongst those that went was my great grand mother Alice, in charged of yet another group of children and two of her children, my grandmother Ruthie and the baby Yoav (now a grandfather himself). They spent quite some time away from the men, waiting for quieter times. When the men requested that some woman volunteer to come back and help out with the meals, laundry and other house making tasks, Savta Alice volunteered to come right back with her two children as well.

As the young couples were setting up their lives and the Jewish State with their own two hands, the terrible news started coming through of the loss of their parents, siblings, communities and friends. The mourning was quiet. The Holocaust was not spoken about, but they became each other's family instead. Some parents did survive and came to join the Kibbutz, but it was mainly made up of people the same age, suffering with pain, knowing their children are growing up with no grandparents.

Jobs on Kibbutz were allotted by need. Alice was a children's caretaker so that mothers were part of the workforce, in the fields, in the cowshed, the chicken coop or the kitchen. Martin became a carpenter and built the synagogue in Kibbutz Kfar Etzion and the wood work for the Tower and fence for the settlement of Kfar Darom during a mission of settling 11 new communities under the nose of the British. Later, she became the Kibbutz member who visited the sick in the hospitals, later she returned to taking care of infants. At the age of 75 she quit that job and was placed in the laundry, folding and sorting in the joint Laundromat of the kibbutz. She rode a two wheeled bicycle beyond the age of 85.

At her 90th birthday, encircled by over twenty great grandchildren she still is happy, thankful and full of advice. When I asked her if we have it any easier today then when she was young she answered "No", she added, " I don't think it's any easier, maybe it's even harder. There is no way to compare the way we lived, but today's struggles need the youth and this generation will do a great job, I'm sure".

Savta Alice feels that the kibbutz has grown from a closed, argumentative cooperative to a more open and tolerant society. Yet, it manages to maintain its intimacy and keeps on being a contributing community to the country and to deprived groups as well. Savta was part of a dream which she realized. Her generation created the Jewish state as the State of Israel, they flowered the dessert into a blooming Garden of Eden. She is raising a son, a grandson and three great grandchildren on the same Kibbutz she built and is only sorry the rest didn't choose to stay and call it home.

In my eyes, she represents not only the generation that founded this country and built it with their own hands. She represents the person who thinks, changes with time, adapts to the new realities and manages to see them in perspective and in a positive light.

As a stereotype, we as Israelis have a lot to improve. We choose to compare and grumble at our misfortunes. We feel that we are biased against and are still hated around the world. We like to work quickly and improvise but don't have the patience for a well thought out plan. Savta, that way is a different breed. I hope that more of us Israelis go in her footsteps because that hard work has brought us to where we are. I for one -am going to give it my best try.

source: yizkor page for members who have passed away http://www.yavnet.org.il/main/zikaron/zikaron_iyar/zikaron-iyar-006.htm .

=Background Article:= __The Connection Between Youth Aliyah And The Hakibbutz Hadati Movement:__ The movement was founded in 1929 when a small groups of religious pioneers emigrated. They came from training farms "Hachshara" in Poland and Germany. They formed temporary work camps alongside established communities. Five of those groups: Rodges, Shachal, Kfar Ya'avatz, Kvutzat Avraham and Ramat Hasharon formed the Kibbutz Hadati and was supported by Hapoel Mizrachi movement in 1935.

When they first started out, the argument was whether to prepare for Aliyah in Germany or in Israel. As the Nazis rose to power, many youths turned to Zionism. The youth was encouraged to come to Rodges. In order to receive certificates allowing legal Aliyah one had to supply organized accommodations. The first group of children who immigrated was absorbed in Ein Charod, an established Kibbutz (12 years old) with 480 members. Rodges had 60 members some immigrants on their own and temporary accommodations. The pressure was immense and no other place was equipped to absorb religious children. So Rodges took them in to their own tents and shacks. Overnight Rodges became a youth village. Even when, as legend says, members only had bread and jam - the children got butter in rolls and hot chocolate. Even the first structures built were dedicated to the children.

The next group they absorbed was even larger than the first. The first graduates founded Sdeh Eliyahu (1939) and the next graduates founded Kibbutz Ein Hanatziv. The third year graduates founded Kibbutz Shluchot.

Ten years later half of the Kibbutz Hadati members were youth Aliyah graduates. Founding new Kibbutzim, at first, only weakened the youth villages as the older people moved out to risky areas which weren’t safe for children. This left the few adults at Rodges with immense responsibility and few helping hands. Their location for settling was part of the new national Zionist plan to influence the division that was proposed by the Phil committee. This committee suggested founding two states one alongside another. The line dividing them would be set according to the settlements in the area. Thus the tower and stockade (Homa and Migdal) started. Those first Kibbutzim found themselves alone and isolated which was problematic politically and the weather condition posed an agricultural challenge. The idea of placing a group of settlements in a block or a "gush" was part of the original idea so that each group could offer assistance to each other in farming, in company, culture and education. The Kibbutz Hadati had another important issue. They wanted to prove one could maintain an observant life of Torah and Mitzvot in pioneer settling. In February 1938, the first Arab raid threatened to destroy the Jewish settlement. During the following years the Kibbutzim suffered shooting, mines and uprooting their plantations. The Bet Shean settlers paid a heavy price. Five members were killed on the way home to Tirat Zvi. When World War II broke out the settlers were torn between their need to settle the land or fight against the Nazis. During the war three more groups settled the land Yavneh (1940) near Gedera, Beerot Yitzchak started the Negev Block (1943), and Kfar Etzion settled in the Hebrone Hills (in 1943). Masuot Yitchak (1945) and Ein Tsurim (1947) went up the Etzion Block (Gush Etzion), Kfar Darom which Saba Martine (Savta Alice's husband helped build in 1946) and Sa'ad (1947) joined the Negev Settlers. Another group- Birya, went up to upper Galilee. By 1948, just before the declaration of Independence, The Kibbutz Hadati had eleven Kibbutzim, five waiting for land and two thousand members including 470 children. During the 50's and 60's the Kibbutzim flourished and prospered. The founders took in newcomers and Bnei Akiva groups joined continually. Thus, the Kibbutz Hadati encouraged youth Aliyah which in turn, helped build the religious Kibbutz movement.

**Click here for more articles written by the Kibbutz movement:** [|http://www.kdati.org.il/info/archion/shanabeshana/f3.htm [|http://www.kdati.org.il]

= Literary Connection =


 * //This Is My Country//**

This poem shows that the Israeli culture is made up of opposites. No other country in the world learns its culture from its children nor does it get supported by Jews from abroad. The poem shows the Israeli culture is made up of many subcultures, all of which are foreign to it. The poem also shows that there is much grumbling about it yet no one would really wants it changed, says the author, since it is the only country we have. I choose to include this poem in My I- faces project because I feel that being Israeli is being complex, like being part of a big puzzle. The beauty is that we are all so different from each other, yet we must work together for survival. I don't like this bossy, self centered Israeli. I think that there are many other prototypes, yet this "Sabra" look has definitely captured the imagination and this is how we are characterized by the world. I'd prefer a gentler, more cultured and gentler Israeli. However, our day to day survival in a rather complex area brings out this prickly side to our general behaviors My favorite line is:" It is the only country in which I live in It is my country…" even though I have been in many other places and they were fun to visit but the only place I feel comfortable is in Israel. This is my place as a Jew and my place as an Israeli. I liked the poem a lot and I don't feel it needs a lot of improvements. May be if it rhymed it would sound even better.

Sources: קישון, אפרים."זוהי הארץ שלי"< http://www.ephraimkishon.de/my_favorite_stories.htm >

 Israel is a country so tiny there is no room to write its name on the world map. It is the only country in the world which is financed by its tax payers abroad. It is a country of boundless boundaries. It is a country where mothers learn the mother- tongue from their sons. It is a country where the fathers ate sour- grapes and the children's teeth are excellent. It is a country where one writes Hebrew, reads English and speaks Yiddish. It is a country where everybody has a right to speak his mind, but there is no law forcing anyone to listen. It is the most enlightened country in the region, thanks to the Arabs. It us a country where most of the capital is concentrated in Jewish hands- and there is much grumbling because of this. It is a country which is an organic part of its trade unions. It is a country where nobody wants to work, so they build a new town in three days and go idle the rest of the week. It is a country where a slip of paper can move mountains, but all the mountains beget is speeches. It is a country which produces less than it eats, and yet of all places, it is here that nobody goes hungry. It is a country where nobody expects miracles but everybody takes them for granted. It is a country where one calls ministers simply "moishe"- and then almost die of excitement of it. It is the only country in the region whose political regime is the bus co- operative. It is a country whose survival is permanently endangered, and yet its inhabitants' ulcers are caused by the neighbors from upstairs. It is a country where every human being is a soldier and every soldier a human being. It is the only country in which I live in it is my country… By: Ephraim Kishon
 * __This Is My Country__**

Click here for Hebrew translation http://storage.cet.ac.il/CetForums/Storage/MessageFiles/6766/47253/Forum47253M247686I1.doc

=Creative Connection=

media type="custom" key="534267"

I chose to present Israel as a Power point slide show of trip following an imaginary trail from North to South. I chose places that represent different regions, which have different agriculture, water supply, different weather, different population and different recreation. Although our country is small, we can enjoy both snow capped mountains and desert trails, swimming and jeep rids. Many hear only about Israeli's security issues. I wanted to show Israel's true face.

=Reflection= At first I didn't warm up to the subject of writing about anonymous people in Israel. I really wanted to write about a famous person such as Ilan Ramon who I believe is a true Israeli hero and represents a face of Israel in the field of science and discovery. As I started learning about my subject I discovered new stories about my family, my sources, and I learned to appreciate my Great Grandmother's story. I quickly discovered stories that weren't known even to my grandmother who is her daughter. Thanks to the use of the internet I was able to access photos that have been long forgotten. I found that this project has taught me about the foundation of the Kibbutzim in general, and the religious Kibbutz movement in particular, and how my family's tradition adapted according to location, needs and opportunity. My great grandmother had to adjust from a rich comfortable home in a green land with much water, to dessert life on kibbutz, living in tents, sharing clothes, food and the sand. Since the members had all lost their families in the Holocaust the Kibbutz became both their home and their family. When I now read about the establishment of the country, the picture becomes much clearer. I understand how much they sacrificed and without them, we wouldn't be where we are today. I found the project challenging and demanding. Thanks to the hard work, I now feel I know my great grandmother better, but I definitely appreciate her better. I hope that the nice things we put up and shared with the Weber school will be appreciated and show Israel's face in a positive light and a more realistic presentation than what is usually portrayed in the Media.

=Bibliography= Baruchi, Nahum. "Aliyat Hanoar Hadati VeHakibutz Hadati." __Amudim__ 7 (682)2004 Nissan -Iyar. 10 January,2008 <[|http://www.kdati.org.il/info/amudim/682/07.htm>.   Eitan, Alice. Personal interview. 3 January, 2008. "Purim pictures." __Kvutsat Yavneh__. 17 February, 2008. Hakibutz Hadati movement. 10 January, 2008 <[|http://www.yavnet.org.il/main/moreshet/purim/haman.jpg>.]  Wagner, Tsvi. "Toldot Hakibutz Hadati." __Hakabutz Hadati__. 17 February, 2008. The religious zionist Movement. 10 January, 2008 <[|http://www.kdati.org.il>.] "Youth Aliyah."wikipedia, The free Encyclopedia. 25 mar 2008,19:40 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 29 Mar 2008 .

= = =Appendix:=

Interview with my Great Grandmother:
1. Why did you choose to leave Germany at such an early age? I heard about youth Aliya from some Bnei Akiva activists and decided to leave Germany at the young age of seventeen.

2. What was your family's attitude about your plans? My family was horrified at the idea that I would leave to a dessert country with camels and wells. They were so sure I'd be coming right back that they encouraged me not to take anything with me, so I have no family photos, no objects, nothing to remember my family with. My family was sure I was crazy. How could anything happen to our family when my father was a war hero (WWI). He had the highest medals from the German Army and was sure we were protected from any harm.

3. How did you join Kvutsat Yavneh and what was special about it? Not so fast. First we went to Switzerland. I headed a group of teenagers and we were preparing them for Aliya. Then we traveled to Italy to wait both for permission (certificates) and for a ship that will take us to Palestine (Israel was formally called Palestine). I had a certificate. That means we came in legally. Once I arrived here, we were at Rodges (a campsite for a new settlement near Petach Tikva). I didn't like the attitude of the girls on the group had, as they picked on us newcomers and went up by train to work on Kfar Chassidim.

4. How many people were you then and where were they all from? The founding group was made of 30 young men and woman. After the war some survivors who were parents joined the group. Mainly though we were all youngsters who suddenly lost our whole families, and were starting something new in our new Jewish state, in the Dessert.

5. How many people are there now on the Kibbutz? We are now over five hundred families and until recently had five generations living here at one time. I have one of my sons living on kibbutz with his wife. One of their sons is a member and is raising his three children. So we are four generations living here on Kibbutz.

6. Why did you choose to live in the Negev which is all dessert? Why did we choose? We didn't choose. The idea, at the time, was to give land on all borders and the Kibbutzim helped defend the borders in time of need. We were a religious Kibbutz and the only choice we had was to go up north to the area of Beit Shean or down south near Ashdod. There was a major argument in Rodges. Eventually half went up north and founded Tirat Tsvi and the rest went down to settle Kvutsat Yavneh. Both places were desert, and scorching hot. We came from cool areas with green, rain and snow to the desert, but now it looks all green.

7. How did you get water to ensure your survival? I know that Yoav ( her son, our great uncle) has shown you the well. We were very lucky. We got our own well, so we could decide how much water to use and for what. Many kibbutzim were reliant on other sources and needed water works but we had independence and we were trusted with such an important decision. Later, the well proved to be quite dangerous. Your Savta Ruti almost drowned when she fell into the well. A volunteer called Ayala saved her the last minute by grabbing her hair. Our next daughter was named for her. Today the well is situated under the Madgeria (chicken hatching firm) and is well secured.

8. How did you live as a community when you were all so young and all the same age? We worked very hard for our survival. We were all alone and didn't know exactly what was going on in Europe. As we found out, slowly and in pieces everyone suffered their loss. We didn't consider ourselves orphans, nor were we the only ones going through this. We all supported each other and eventually became each others family. We felt it more the next generation when none of our children had grandparents.

9. How did you meet Saba Martin? Tell me about the wedding, please. Saba Martin, sent up some boys to invite me back to the group. I told them I will not return to Rodges. He insisted that I won't as they had gotten word that they are getting some land to settle and are starting a kibbutz called Kvutsat Yavneh. So, what could I say? I went back. The wedding was very simple. There was no food. There was a lot of sand. A big pit was left by the Hachshara of Givat Brenner, and there were a few tents. One for the boys, one for the girls one for the meals one for the synagogue. Mainly, though, there was sand everywhere, in the hair, the eyes, the mouth and the little food we could get. So the wedding was set for Purim day, so that a meat meal could be served on account of the holiday and the wedding as well. We had no white shirt, so one was borrowed from one of the members who brought it from Germany with him. As soon as the ceremony was over, he wanted the white shirt back so it won't get dirty. I wore a white shirt and a blue borrowed skirt and we received our own tent as we were the first married couple on the Kvutsa.

10. During the war of Independence the Kibbutz was threatened by the Egyptians. Weren't you afraid of the bombs they dropped? At the beginning of the war, we were actually expecting the Jewish planes (the Pipers) called in Hebrew the Piperim to arrive and bomb the Egyptians back (called Mits-rim with the first syllable stressed). So we were standing outside, watching and listening to the planes come closer. They finally arrived and we were waving proudly when the Egyptians dropped a few bombs on us. Two members who were standing next to me were killed on the spot. Three were injured. One of the injured lives on Kibbutz and is raising his grandchildren here as well. Three out of our four cows were killed. It was a devastating blow to the young community.

11. What did you do to protect the woman and children? In May, 1948, When it was apparent that the Egyptian army was coming too close to the Kibbutz it was decided to remove women and children to a safer area. This was called "Mivtsa Tinokot", the baby mission. Tens of children from infants till teenagers were smuggled out on foot using the dark until they arrived to trucks that brought them safely to Bnei Braque. There they spent a few months waiting for the men to defeat the Egyptians, so they can come back home safely. I was in charged of a group of older children, so I wasn't even allowed to walk with my own children and make sure they are safe and quiet. You ask how did we keep them quiet? How did we make sure no one cried? It's a rumor that we covered the children's mouth with tape, a terrible lie. When you are that afraid, the children stay quiet, they knew, one cry, would have given us away.

12. How long was "Mivtsa Tinokot"? The walk to the trucks was about half an hour, an hour, or so, I don't quite remember. We were separated from the men for half a year.

13. How did you manage to keep all the babies quiet? The fear did it more than any instructions; we knew that one cry would give us away. Somehow the babies knew it as well.

14. How long were you separated from the men? How did the children feel about it? Most woman came back after half a year, but the men needed someone to take care of them, cook, and wash, so I volunteered to return earlier to the Kibbutz and brought Yoav who was a baby and Ruti your grandmother back home with me earlier, despite the danger of the Egyptian bombings. While we were away the children craved for a visit from the men. While the American parents brought the children a tricycle Saba Martin was able to bring only a lollipop. To them it was like a treasure, although there was a lot of jealousy. Children were removed from other fronts so we met children from outside the Kibbutz as well, who had more money.

15. What was your contribution to the kibbutz work force? At first I was a Metapelet- a day care kindergarten teacher. I raised one class from the age of 6 till eighteen; they still regard me as their mother. You see at the time, the children lived in a children's home, allowing the parents to work in the fields, kitchen, joint laundry, cows or any of the agricultural jobs. Each member did his job for the whole kibbutz, so I was the Mommy, for this specific group. Later, I was in charged of visiting the sick in the Hospital in Rechovot. This allowed me to get real clothes and not work clothes like everybody else. Since the Kibbutz is set up on equality, this was another cause for jealousy. Later I worked with infants, and when I turned 75 I worked in the laundry storage room folding and sorting all the laundry on the kibbutz.

16. What did other members of your family work at? Saba was a carpenter and fixed and built whatever was needed on Kibbutz. My son, Yoav has a doctorate in Genetics and runs the chicken house and visits other kibbutzim, as well as his research in Hebrew University. His son works in our oil factory as a manager, while his wife is lawyer. Today, the options are larger as the kibbutz has grown and can support itself and others.

17. Tell me how Saba was involved in putting up both Kfar Etsion's shul and Kfar Darom settlement? Since he was a carpenter, he built the Torah Arc in kibbutz kfar Etzion, which is beautiful and represents deep feeling towards the settlement of Gush Etzion. He was also called on to create the planks to help start, overnight, 11 new settlements in the Negev area. I remember it well, after the fast of Yom Kippur ( the day of atonement) they packed up the trucks with all he had prepared, and under the nose of the British, built another 11 settlements, just by putting up a fence and a tower. According to the British rule, this was illegal, but could no longer be torn down, as it was "established'. That is how Kfar Darom ( in the past Gaza Srip) was founded.

18. Today, in retrospect, was the idea to set up settlements such as Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip a good idea, now that we see it destroyed? Today, I cry when I watch what they are doing to the Gaza Strip, and how they are treating those settlers. No, it was the right thing to do at the time, and they have no right to take it down. What do we have now, Palestinians instead of the British or the Egyptians?

19. How do you think the dream of setting up a kibbutz was realized? We started from nothing, we only had sand, and now we have a beautiful garden of Eden. This was the dream, and it materialized better than any of our dreams, with hard work. I'm proud of what we achieved; I wish my other children (3) would have stayed here as well.

20. How do you relate to today's youth? Does it have it easier? Are we, your great grandchildren working less hard once you've established the country? I don't think it's any easier now, no, it's not even fair. It's true that we worked hard, but there is a lot to do. I don't think it's any easier, maybe it's even harder. There is no way to compare the way we lived, but today's struggles need the youth and this generation will do a great job, I'm sure.

21. Do you think that founding a kibbutz was the best option to settle the land? At the time, it was the only way to settle the land. We needed each other, we helped each other and this community built itself up from nothing to a beautiful place. So have many other Kibbutzim.

22. Kvutsat Yavneh is considered a success story. What has changed from the original dream and what has been preserved? The original dream was small, intimate and equal. It was based on mutual work and initiative. We did it all ourselves. We have grown; the new generation prefers to work outside the kibbutz. We bring in workers to do the manual labor, but the care, intimacy and mutual sharing has been preserved. Today each member has more choices and autonomy whether to eat alone or together, whether to take time off for studying or what to study in the university. At the time, we all had to share in these the decisions as there just was no money. Some of this mutual equality is lost, but the kibbutz hasn't fallen apart, and the good feeling and success has kept it a caring and contributing community.

23. What would you dream for the upcoming generations that you've raised here on Kibbutz and the extended family around the whole country? Wherever you are, you should grow up successfully as good Jews. Learn and study so you can be part of a successful community, and work hard, that's what we did. .

Hebrew translation of poem for literary connection
זוהי ארץ קטנה כל כך, ששטחה על מפות העולם אינו מספיק כדי לכתוב את שמה בתוכו, זוהי הארץ היחידה בעולם שמשלמי מסיה בחוץ לארץ הקימו אותה. זוהי ארץ בעלת גבולות בלתי מוגבלים. זוהי הארץ הצרה ביותר בעולם, זוהי ארץ הצרות. זוהי ארץ שבה לומדת האם את שפת האם מפי בניה. זוהי ארץ שבה האבות אכלו בוסר ושיני הבנים מצוינות. זוהי ארץ שבה כותבים עברית, קוראים אנגלית ומדברים יידיש. זוהי ארץ שבה לכל אזרח זכות לומר את דעתו, אך אין בה חוק המחייב מישהו להקשיב. זוהי הארץ המתקדמת ביותר במזרח הקרוב, הודות לערבים. זוהי ארץ שבה כל ההון נמצא בידי יהודים, ורבה ההתמרמרות על כך. זוהי ארץ שבה תוכל לקנות בכספך את הכל, חוץ מפנטהאוז, שהוא יקר מדי. זוהי ארץ שהפרידה בין הדת למדינה, ומאז שולטת בה הדת לבדה. זוהי ארץ שבה רשאי כל תינוק לבחור בזרם של אבא שלו. זוהי ארץ של בחירות, שאין בה כל ברירה. זוהי ארץ שהתגברה על החרם הערבי, אך לא על שביתת עובדי הניקיון העירוני. זוהי ארץ שהיא חלק בלתי נפרד מן האיגודים המקצועיים שלה. זוהי ארץ שבה מסוגל פתק קטן להזיז הרים. אך ההרים מולידים נאומים. זוהי ארץ שבה אין איש רוצה לעבוד, לכן בונים עיר חדשה בתוך שלושה ימים, והולכים בטל עד סוף השבוע. זוהי ארץ המייצרת פחות ממה שהיא אוכלת, ודווקא בה טרם מת איש מרעב. זוהי ארץ שבה לא מצפים לניסים, אלא ,מתחשבים בהם. זוהי ארץ שבה קוראים למינסטרים סתם בשמם הפרטי, ואחר כך מתים מרוב התרגשות. זוהי ארץ שקיומה בסכנה מתמדת, אך תושביה ,מקבלים אולקוס דווקא מן השכנים שלמעלה. זוהי ארץ שבה כל אדם חייל, ובכל זאת כל חייל אדם. זוהי ארץ מבוגרת, אבל חכמה ומנוסה כמו בת עשרים. זוהי הארץ היחידה בעולם שבה היהודי אינו יהודי. זוהי ארץ שאינה מקבלת אוויר, אבל נושמת חירות.
 * ארץ זו, ****// אפריים קישון //** ...............................................................................................

זוהי הארץ שלי.