If you asked me at any moment in time if there was a place I’d rather be, I would probably say yes. I would rather be in Israel. Israel is the one place in the world that I hate leaving. Usually, at an airport you are excited to depart, to travel and explore a new place. But almost every time I leave Israel, I have tear drops in my eyes and a frown disguised as an unstable smile on my face. Whether you like flying or not, a departure from Israel is never fun. Now, I’ll tell you why I feel like this, because of course not everyone feels like this -- and I also know that much of the world actually dislikes Israel and is quick to judge anything bad and ignore anything good. I’m not saying Israel is a perfect country. No country is. I’m simply asking people to listen, to read and to try and understand my perspective, whether you agree with me or not isn’t important. All I ask is that you hear me out and respect my view.

Now, unfortunately, I don’t have the space and time to fill all of you guys in on Israel’s long history, which is important in explaining many peoples sense of nationalism and loyalty to the country of Israel. Nonetheless, Israel’s history is a very important subject in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and quite a controversial one at that. But for now, for me, what’s truly important is the sentiment at the time of Israel’s inception, an atmosphere where in order to survive everyone had to cooperate and watch out for their people. A nation built with an "all for one and one for all" mentality that still can be seen even in modern day Israel. This sentiment is what makes me fall in love with Israel every time I go there, because Israelis are all so different, yet so similar. Fortunately enough for me, I get to see a lot of the love and the good things that happen in Israel. Again, of course there are controversial, fishy and bad things happening in Israel, just like any country in the world: Some citizens really suck, they lie and steal and kill, but there are so so many who are honest and fair, they care about all humans and about making the whole world a better place for everyone. I believe these good-hearted Israelis deserve some more recognition, because they work hard and they really do make a difference in the world, whether the media sees it or not. Israel is my safe haven and there’s a reason it always will be.

I grew up mostly in America. I went to elementary school, middle school, high school and now college in America. Don’t get me wrong, I love living in America and I feel so fortunate to have meet so many amazing people growing up here, and made so many life long friends along the way. But the reason I associate Israel with mostly good things is because Israel is where I spent my summers as a kid.

If you were fortunate enough to spend your summers as a kid in a certain place with a certain group of family or friends, you probably know how I feel. Every year you count down the days till the flight or the car drive to that magical place and when you get there that place can do you no wrong. Of course, as a kid, you are naturally ignorant to the bad things that occur, partly because it’s grown-up stuff and partly because you really don’t understand bad things yet. So naturally the summer can do you no wrong and spending it in the same place with the same people that you love makes it a powerful tradition in your memory. Sun is always shining, it’s watermelon season, you don’t need an excuse to eat ice cream, you get to visit the family, water park trips, weekly visits to the pool, days at the beach, building sandcastles, waking up tan, wearing sunglasses, the smell of the ocean, the freedom -- if you spend your time doing all these things in one place, you are bound to fall in love with it. But as I got older, I dug deeper and really began to understand what makes Israel so special to me.

As a kid living in America, being Israeli is what made me different and unique. Israel gave me something different to be proud of. Israel motivated me be reach for the moon and gave me hope that I will land upon the stars. But, being an Israeli living in America gave me a unique perspective on Israel as well. It taught me a lot about how the world sees Israel, it made me realize that Israel isn’t as perfect as my child brain made it out to be, but it also made me appreciate the Israeli lifestyle.

Waking up every morning and living in the present, not thinking too far ahead into the future, going with the flow and living on the edge a little, being spontaneous and fun, not giving myself too many boundaries, letting go a little and living a little every day in different ways, celebrating differences and embracing similarities, being loud, crazy and proud and learning to listen, observe and reflect.

America made me miss everything that made Israel, well, Israel. The mouth-watering hummus, God's gift to human kind, falafel and shawarma in a pita or laffa, chopped Israeli salad, Magnum ice cream bars, cottage cheese, fresh vegetables and fruits, everything just tastes better in Israel. And the weather is to die for, sunny rare showers, windy where it should be windy, but mostly nice hot dry desert sun, just the way I like it extra sunny and extra dry. Don’t get me started on the land itself; it’s like Drake named his album after Israel because there are just so many amazing and beautiful views. Sunsets, deserts, canyons, cities, forests, rivers, lakes -- you name it, Israel has it. Every grain of land also belongs to history, there is so much to learn from every sight and landmark has a whole story to it. Although Israel is a small country, it sure does have an amazingly long and interesting history with never-ending lessons to learn from. But, again, the thing that really makes Israel so unique is the vibe and the people, everyone is constantly celebrating life. Whatever Israeli’s do they are thankful that they are able to do it and they celebrate the fact that they are doing it. The Israeli mindset is all about celebrating life to it’s fullest and not getting to preoccupied with the many stresses of life. Israelis are thankful for each and everyday the get to spend on this planet and they know exactly how to celebrate it, by being kind to one another, making each other laugh, not being afraid to dance and sing, and to live free of others judgment.

Although not every Israeli is like this, and although Israel is surrounded by problems physically and figuratively, Israel is a place where I truly do feel free and loved. That’s just how I feel, and it’s a strong feeling deep inside me that I wanted others to get the chance to see and maybe one day decide to give it a taste.