A Support Group for Israelis Living Outside of Israel
Rachel Kieffer recently led an online RC support group for Israelis living outside of Israel. We talked about how we identify and discharged on feelings related to our identity as Israelis. Everyone on the call was currently living in the United States.
We conducted the group in Hebrew with interpreting for anyone who needed it. It was a contradiction [to distress] that the group was in Hebrew while being accessible for everyone.
I worked on feelings of not being “Israeli enough.” I remembered being a young person visiting family in Israel and their telling me that I had become “too American” because I was too “soft,” too nice, and not argumentative enough.
I’m considering connecting more actively with the Israeli community where I live.
West Orange, New Jersey, USA
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion list for leaders of Jews
(Present Time 209, October 2022)