Soon as I step off the plane at Ben Gurion Airport
I suddenly feel as if I’m still airborne
An incredible feeling rushing through my body
After several months showed no signs of stopping
Yeah those famous butterflies really do exist
I stepped on the land and was hit with a fit
Of passion, indescribable attraction
I close my eyes and imagine
My thoughts begin to fashion
How can a mere country evoke such emotion?
Create such notions, cause such devotion?
For this land, many people have died
And to here my history is intrinsically tied
But that can’t be it, there must be more to this place
Maybe it’s the fact that I can almost taste
The holiness, but there’s no way of showing it
Perhaps for me, it’s all about knowing it

Hook:
My dream, my hope my Zion
The only country in the world for all Jews to rely on
A land which people have cried and died on
But despite all its troubles it continues to strive on
A place with which I have instantly gelled
A place for which my feelings cannot be quelled
A place in which I may one day dwell
This is what I feel for Eretz Yisrael

As I drive along the road I see the scenery before me
Imagine Israel at the height of its glory
Who knows who once stood where my eyes are now cast?
My head becomes awash with dreams of the past
Where else could you find a land with such contrast?
Coastline, mountains and deserts so vast
I begin to ponder as I look at the landscape
What life was like here under the British mandate
Thanks to UN partition and the Balfour declaration
The Jews were on the verge of creating a location
A home for all members of the Jewish nation
Escape from persecution, a way for salvation
What excitement and delight there must have been on the occasion
Of fulfilling the Zionist Dream, what jubilation
Sounds like a cliché but I’m that way inclined
The land of Israel is truly one of a kind

Hook

And now I have conflict going on inside
Do I follow my heart or listen to my mind?
Yeah it’s true that there it feels like home
But can I really leave England? It’s all I’ve ever known
Should I be brave now, and take the plunge
Commit to university followed by aliyah
Or can I live a fulfilling Diaspora Jewish life?
Where there’s a good chance my son won’t have a Jewish wife
Where anti-Semitism is currently on the rise
Where wearing a kippa is not always very wise
But still I’m not sure that I can cut all ties
It’s a hard decision that must be made over time
How awful to live in England and continue to pine
Desperate for a land that I know is truly mine
I have no idea what will be my decision
Just hope I’m not naive with an idealised vision

Hook

© Antithesis 2002