By: Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Embracing change in Israel
Adjusting to life in a new country can be difficult. However, Paul Serkin finds that life in Israel suits him just fine. In fact, he prefers it to living in Binghamton, where he grew up, and New York City, where he worked most of his adult life. What makes his move different than most is that he and his three adult children independently decided to make aliyah. “Tova, my oldest, spent one year after graduating [from] Harvard on a volunteer program [in Israel],” he said in an e-mail interview. “While she returned after that year to work in the U.S. for one year, her mind was set that Israel was to be the place for her. Sequentially, my youngest, Devorah, stayed in the U.S. after college for one year before volunteering on the same program as her older sister. After a brief visit back to the U.S., she returned and started her life in Israel – one month after I did. My middle child, my son Yosef, had a five-year plan after marrying in the U.S., which would bring him to Israel. In the very short term, that plan collapsed and he and his wife decided to come only nine months after his sister.” Serkin noted that he and his ex-wife never pushed Zionism on their children. “They all went to Jewish day schools until college and they all know I had spent a year during college in yeshiva in Israel, but I think they each developed their own connection and their own feelings, which guided them to their decisions,” he noted. “I do not think their siblings’ choices were that much of an impetus, other than to make it possibly less scary [by knowing] someone here.” Serkin believes the reason his move has been so successful is his willingness to make compromises in his lifestyle and accept the challenges Israeli life offers. “Some people find the adjustment to life in Israel difficult because they try to transplant their life and life style – which for the most part does not work,” he said. “Things here are different. The banking system is different. The utility companies are different. For most people, they live in smaller apartments, rather than larger houses. That is a major difference to some. Even the way we clean our floors (with a squeegee) is different than one does in the U.S. It is important to remember that different isn’t necessarily worse – or better. If you come with the attitude that to live where being Jewish is not a minority, and worth the many benefits therein, you will have to accept some changes. [Then] you can embrace the changes and enjoy your new life here.” He has also adjusted to other differences. “In construction, very little wood is used in buildings – the materials [are] stone, concrete, etc.; the plumbing [is] plastic pipes cemented under floors and in walls,” he noted. The weather is also very different: “We live in a desert and dust is everywhere. Everyday activities need to be adjusted. Certain things need to be cleaned more often and generally people are more accepting of a less
immaculate environment.” For him, another issue is “the notorious attitudes of Israelis. Waiting in line at the supermarket could be an entire book by itself. You have to learn how to navigate, how to stand up for yourself and how not to be a ‘fryer’ (the Hebrew word for sucker).” When Serkin moved to Israel, he had no job and no idea how he was going to support himself. Fortunately, he found his niche: fixing computers. “I have always had a knack with computers and have always used them as tools in my work,” he said. “As my career in the U.S. took hold, I moved into management and consulting, but always enjoyed the ‘hands-on’ of problem solving and enhancing computers. When I was the director of the computer department of Bellevue Hospital (the largest public hospital in New York City), I continued to enhance my technical skills as I grew the number of PC computers from 250 when I arrived to more than 1,600 when I left 10 years later. I always maintained an interest in the hands-on service I provide and in fact used to freelance in the U.S. doing this, even while in a management role.” What Serkin does loves is the way Judaism permeates life in Israel, even for those who are not religious. “Seeing the public buses announce on their message boards appropriate holiday greetings for each holiday, saying Shabbat shalom to everyone on Saturday, religious or not, is the norm,” he added. “That is the greeting on Saturday – even for those who do not observe the Shabbat… [There is] no Christmas music from Thanksgiving on. In fact, no Thanksgiving. The Jewish holidays are the national holidays – even for the non-religious. Purim and Chanukah, even in Jewish/religious areas of the U.S., do not have the same feel [because here] the entire community is focused on them. The Coca-Cola bottles all wish you a happy new year on Rosh Hashanah, not January 1.” Knowing that he is continuing “a tradition that has lasted thousands of years (not just a few hundred like the U.S.)” has made the move more meaningful, as does the fact that his father was born in the country. “Although [my father] left when he was about 6-months-old and had no memory of being here, I know his parents (my grandparents) were escaping czarist Russia hoping for a better life where they could live in peace,” he said. “Fate had them pass through Palestine (in 1925) and my father was born – en route. They had no plans to be here, they were looking to escape persecution. I feel I closed the loop.” He acknowledged just how important this is to him by adding, “I wake up every day knowing I am living in Jerusalem, the center of the Jewish world, continuing the traditions of the Jewish people.”