We have spoken a lot about our home away from home in Israel. One thing we really appreciated about Haifa was the mix of cultures it offered. We visited the other two major cities (Tel Aviv and Jerusalem) on many occasions, but are still glad that we ended up in Haifa. Tel Aviv feels like lots of other big cities - it did not have the same Israeli vibe as Haifa. Jerusalem, although beautiful and fascinating, is very intense. We found it to be a great place to visit, but not somewhere we'd want to live.
Despite our best efforts, we could not put our feelings of Haifa as eloquently as A.B. Yehoshua did in this article for Newsweek in 2011:
I am a proud native of Jerusalem, the fifth generation of a Jewish family that came to that illustrious city in the middle of the 19th century. Nevertheless, after the Six-Day War of 1967, my wife and I made the conscious choice to leave Jerusalem—not to move to Tel Aviv, like so many of our friends, but rather to go farther north to the port city of Haifa. Nearly 45 years later we still congratulate ourselves on this wise decision, not only because religious and political divisions have altered the character of Jerusalem—and undermined its sanity—but also because of Haifa’s unique qualities, which become clearer as time passes.
If I had to define Haifa in a single phrase, it would be this: the well-tempered city. This seaside city offers an ideal blend of various elements, which, in other parts of Israel, give rise to disharmony and conflict...
Read the rest of the article here.
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| One of my favorite views of Haifa from a park near our apartment |
In the past few weeks, we've thought more about our time spent in Israel. Peace, for the moment, seems elusive at best. Perhaps the rest of the country should look to Haifa as an example of how to live side by side with people whose views differ from your own.
Well said, and very true. (Sandy)
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