Let's try this again...
In the very long time since I last posted anything I:- Dealt with Pesach
- Returned to Israel
- Got engaged
- Threw big party
- Saw an old friend for proper "night-on-the-town"
- Began drowning in school work.
Other thoughts:
The sense of feeling out of place among non-jews (davening in an airport, wearing a kippah, tzitzit, etc) is part of the Jewish "thing" for everyone. I think even Jew who are not shomer mitzvot get it. We all respond differently, some people try to "Blend in" & some try to "Stick out" even more.
The question is:
Is this sense of "Ivri", however one choses to respond to it, L'chatchila (ideal) or B'deieved (not ideal)? Is it an intended part of the system that we should feel different or is the sense of Ivri a byproduct of our actions? Maybe God gave us mitzvot that will actively set us apart. Or maybe we only feel Ivri because the world around us is so messed up that no one sees our mitzvot as the positive, world-saving actions they are?
On another note, maybe right now, the Jewish people have so much to improve for ourselves we should just focus on that?