Where is home?

Last voyage journal – Israel

Landing in Israel continues the momentum of my journey. Even a week later I’m still engaged in all that had happened, and the implications of the journey on the film and my life. It has been a wonderful voyage and the company of Harry was significant and exciting. Throughout the trip I met interesting people and visited beautiful places. All those people, almost without exception, shared with me their life story and gave a fascinating personal expression on the meaning of home for them. Most of them talked about a torn heart when it comes to their ideal home and their desire to make it a better place, more human. During the journey I discover that my film, which deals with countless meanings of “a home”, is actually a film about ethics and humanity. The private home and homeland can be a source of support, confidence and pride, and in certain cases can turn out to be disappointing, difficult and even dangerous.

Amos Elon’s book “The pity of its all”; a book that I chose to take with me to our voyage tells the story of the “Golden age” of Jews in Germany. On my return to Israel I read the last chapters. I have the feeling that Elon hints, in certain places of his book, about the similarities between the German nationalism of the nineteenth and twentieth century to the contemporary Israeli national feelings. When I read about the author, this hypothesis is strengthened. Before the Six Day War, Elon wrote to the editor of “Haartz” newspaper, Gershom Schocken, an article that had never published. He wrote that the war would bring terrible damage to Israel. In his later years he moved, disappointed from the path Israel has been taking, to Italy and lived there until his death in 2009. He settled in some remote village in Tuscany, from there he wrote books and articles for newspapers around the world. Yet he could not break away completely from his roots, he is quoted as saying: “Homeland is where you kiss a girl for the first time”.

My filming of “Where is home?” is almost completed. The journey continues through the editing process. I plan to apply to Documentary film foundations in Israel and abroad in order to obtain the necessary financing. In any case I am determined to finish editing the film until the end of 2012. The last part of my film journey began in August 2011, when the social protest in the country gave many Israelis hope for a change. But the battle has almost died down and the chance for a real change for a just society is doubtful. Palestinians hope for UN recognition for their national aspiration is blurred and prospect for peace in this land is fading away.

Finally, I’d like to thank all my friends and supporters of this voyage. Your interest and comments illuminated my way, strengthened and enriched my mind. Thank you all very much.

For the last 12 years I've been working on a long documentary film that is very precious to me. "Where is home" deals with the relation between our private home and homeland in its various implications... Learn More