I know the adventurous you; it must be somewhere controversial where you travel to stimulate that inquisitive and intellectual mind. A country where you will make your mark expressing yourself in your honest and open manner

To an extent I think you may have a prejudged view of Israel, but when you are there I am sure it will give you an objective perspective

You will be returning to the land of your biblical ancestors, to me it is a courageous decision. It will not be without its difficulties but then I know how well you will cope

Every Jew in the Diaspora has felt the sting of Anti-Semitism; so just remember your roots are from a special people who have excelled in every way far beyond their numbers and others expectations

Remember Israel is a melting pot with immigrants from all over the world; there is so much diversity to feed your curiosity

In my opinion there are two factors which bind Israel and make it great:

It is a common heritage and religion

A common enemy

This is the core, cement and fabric of its society

My message to you is travel there and experience your full potential

I will miss you, you will never know how much

I am proud of you and love you very much

Shalom

I get the feeling you are running away from something you have never actually dealt with? I get the impression that you are trying to prove your worth by making Aliyah. You don’t need to live in Israel in order to be Jewish or to show people that you are Jewish, the same way you don’t need to go to shul, church or where ever it is you go to prove who and what you are.

I believe that if you don’t have your self and aren’t able to accept your fate/fortune, you can go to the ends of the earth and still lead an empty life.

In order to move forward in ones life after any hurtful or traumatic experience, I feel its important to be able to forgive. By not forgiving you are holding on to that hurt which only holds you back and you end up making that incident the center of your being instead of making that incident apart of your life.

Personally I think you are rushing into this, I feel you should give it some time and think it through to ensure you are in fact making the correct decision. Keep in mind this isn’t something you can just undo at the flick of a switch…..

But you’re an adult, and like of us, you’re entitled to make bold choices. Heck, you’re even entitled to make mistakes.

You’re young still…

Give it a go and see what gives.

Also, listen to Vanessa L. Williams’ ” Long Way Home” from the album ‘Sweetest Days’ [Polygram 1994].

I used to listen to that song almost every day when I lived in the United States almost 10 years ago. Ironically, New York was, is, and will always be my favourite city. However, I can tell you that I’ve never felt as lonely as I did during the first few years of life in America.

I hope you’re prepared for that…