Looking at who we are through a different lens

I am sitting among many models of Synagogues around the world with a recording of collective Hebrew prayers playing in the background.

I am sitting in the Beit Hatfutsot: The Museum of the Jewish People, created in 1978 to represent the Jews in the diaspora, the museum has not been updated since.

I am sitting in a rather comfortable chair after eating a very Israeli lunch and having not slept since Saturday night, trying to keep my eyes open, very open.

I am sitting alone.

I am sitting in the land of Israel.

As our group was so wonderful guided through this aging museum by David Mendelson, title here, I couldn't help but think about what I would want to say to Israelis about life in the diaspora as a Jew, if I were to design this museum. I would want to reflect my own Jewish experience, summer camp, youth group, modern Synagogues, speeches by my favorite Rabbis, Jewish nonprofit organizaitons, and the Jewish university in which I currently study. I would want to convey how happy I am as a Jew in the diaspora.

The museum ends with the idea that all the Jews in the diaspora will eventually make their way to the land of Israel and that the diaspora will be a thing of the past. I take this, of course, with a grain of salt because of the aging nature of the museum. However, I can not break away from this idea. In my wonderful Jewish history class, we talked about Jewish nationalism before Israel was a state. Many nationalist were purponants of assimilation and living in the diaspora, that is until a Jew was targeted for a crime they did not comit and the entire host nation turned against the whole Jewish community. That was the Jewish problem these nationalist were trying to solve by having an autonomious Jewish state, anti-semitism.

One of my classmates and I spoke about this idea today that nowhere is safe for Jews, the idea that no matter where we live, persecution will eventually follow and all Jews will make their way to the land of Israel for it will be the only safe place in the world for Jews. This is the exact opposite message I would want to send Israelis from the diaspora.

I don't live with anti-semitism, I live with the opposite. I live in a world where I watch movies and tv shows that make regular references to Jews and Jewish culture. I live in a world where Jews are promenant politicians on both sides of the isle. I live in a world where the President throws a Hanukkah party! I live in a world without anti-semitism, outside of the land of Israel (where I could argue one might experience more anti-semitism than I have).

The fear then is that this world I live in, my bubble in Los Angeles, is but a temporary farce and at any moment the tides could turn as they have done time and time again in our collective history. And when that happens, the Jews of Los Angeles will flock to Israel for refuge, as many non-Jews do today. Nevertheless, if I were to send one message about the diaspora, it would be that Jewish life outside of Israel is flourishing in a million different directions, growing strong Jewish identities among our people.

What would you want to add to Beit Hatfutsot (diaspora)? What message would you want to send Israelis about life as a Jew in the diaspora?