Home at last
By Adam Halley
August 15, 2002

Home at last. This week Wendy and I signed a lease for a house 
in the ancient Jewish homeland, in the Shomron (Samaria region).  
The house has a yard, and is on the same street as two shuls, 
a pizza shop, and the community basketball court and swimming 
pool. We are now officially residents of the same region that 
was once, approximately 3000 years ago, the capital of Israel. 

It started a long time ago for both of us, but I'm only going 
to tell my side of it.  When I was 16 my parents brought my 
entire non-religious (although traditional) family to Israel for 
the summer, for ten of the most incredible weeks of my life.  
Ten weeks to visit the Kotel, to tour the entire country, to dig 
in Migdal David, to feel what being a Jew in the Jewish homeland 
really means. When it ended, I vowed, like in the Safam song, 
that I, too, was going back some day.

After a dismal senior year at Burlington High School in Vermont, 
I returned to Israel to study Hebrew, work on a kibbutz, and 
become a religious Jew.  

Speaking Hebrew, becoming intimate with Judaism, and literally 
working the land of Israel, all seemed more suitable for me than 
going to college. As a person of action and conviction, I needed 
to take all of the necessary steps to be true to my personal ideal 
of being a Jew. For me, observing Jewish law has always been a 
logical part of being Jewish, and Zionism is a key component of 
being observant.

Within two years I was inducted into T"ZAHAL (The Israel Defense 
Forces), which represented the ultimate fulfillment of Zionism for 
this single, 20-something American Jewish male who'd seen more 
than his share of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood films. After a 
four-year tour, at the rank of First Lieutenant, I was released 
from active duty.

With no support and no job prospects, I found myself wondering 
if my dream of living in Israel was realistic. At my parents 
suggestion I returned to the US to try being an American once 
again. But after so many years in Israel, something was missing.

At that point my only connection to Israel was my adherence to 
Orthodox Judaism. For almost nine years I tried to block out my 
love for our land, and tried to be the typical American Orthodox 
Jew. It's hard to blend into an American Jewish community when 
you speak Hebrew, you are a veteran officer of a front line IDF 
unit, and you have children named Golan, Boaz, Eitan, and Sadie.
It's hard, after having trained soldiers in T"ZAHAL, to then 
teach out-of-shape rabbis how to shoot. It's hard, after having 
carried a weapon in defense of the Jewish people while patrolling 
the land of Israel, to patrol the halls of one's shul, asking the 
kids to be quiet during Rabbi Kilimnick's weekly Drasha. Israel 
was always in the back of my mind, calling me home.

Just over 3 years ago I began working with my first permanent, 
high-speed connection to the Internet. With the world at my 
fingertips, I was drawn to what was going on in Israel and in 
short time discovered Arutz7.

With 24 hours a day of authentic Judaism streaming over the 
Internet, I was bathed in Zionism, Torah, song and voices of home.  
It's impossible to listen to Arutz7 and not be affected by what 
is going on in Israel. Slowly, the armor I had created over the 
years began to crack. Israel moved from the back of my mind to 
the only thing on my mind. I felt a burning desire to come home, 
and Wendy and our children shared that desire. So, as a family, 
we started working toward our goal. And as people of action and 
conviction, we felt compelled to vote with our feet.

Through friends in Israel, we heard of Nefesh B,Nefesh and quickly 
applied. Rabbi Fass was helpful and understanding and, together 
with Tony Gelbart and the rest of the really outstanding staff of 
Nefesh B'Nefesh, we were able to make our dream of returning to 
Israel a reality.

Last Friday, for the very first time in my life, I sat in the 
Shomron and listened to Arutz7 live without need of a computer 
and looked out the window at our home. The land of Israel.  
Home at last!

A great Jewish leader once said that every commandment fulfilled 
outside of Israel is like a dress rehearsal for the real thing.  
Rabbi Kilimnick, now that we are home and settling the land of 
Israel, I know what you meant.
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Adam and Wendy Halley currently live with their four children in 
the Shomron (Samaria region) in Sha'arei Tikvah, Israel.  Wendy is 
an independent landscape contractor. Adam is a Certified IS Trainer 
and Network Systems Engineer. An avid writer, he has published 
several articles, and is a partner in 
Http://www.geocities.com/israelactioninfo.  
You can contact Adam through his website Http://adamhalley.on.to