If a Place Can Make You Cry: Dispatches from an Anxious State

The author, a Conservative Jew from the United States, was offered a fellowship from an Israeli university for a year and moved from Los Angeles to Jerusalem with his wife and three kids back in 1998. They found it so inspirational to live in “a country made specially for them… where the story is about them, and they are the new chapter,” that when Gordis was offered a permanent position at the year’s end, they decided to stay there despite the dangers and to apply for the Israeli citizenship. I'm generally interested in books about life in different places, especially books written by someone who actually lives, works and raises a family in the country he’s describing, as opposed to just visiting, and I found Gordis’s book show more particularly valuable since, due to the nature of his job and his volunteer activities, he gets to meet all sorts of different people and, despite the difficult situation there, almost invariably shows tolerance, understanding and even sympathy for other people's perspectives. Personally, I also found this book very well-written. It describes the Gordises’ experience of living in Israel till the end of 2002. Daniel Gordis later wrote a sequel Coming Together, Coming Apart, which I enjoyed as well. show less

A Jewish American family goes to Israel for a yearlong visit and decides to stay, just as Israeli and Palestinian relations begin to deteriorate. Will the family stay? Should they stay? They must; "it is our home." Recommended.