The Berger Project

The 60 Bloggers project is co-production of Jewlicious.com and the Let My People Sing Festival. It is published daily for 60 days to celebrate Israel’s 60 birthday.

As an American Jew I honestly do not find myself thinking about Israel on a daily basis; some may, but I don’t. But living in Hamburg, Germany the past 3 months and the recent conclusion of Passover has made me think a little bit about the significance of Israel and the even greater importance of freedom.

Freedom has many different meanings and values to various people. Thankfully, living in the western world, in the 21st century “freedom” and “life” are words that hold the same connotation for our citizens. We have freedom of speech, equal rights, and protection from the government, legal systems, widespread access to education, food, shelter, and the other necessities of life. ( I recognize that not everyone has these various freedoms and luxuries but many/most people in the western world have at least some level of these.) Given all of this what does freedom really mean? Is it not the mark of the western world to take everything we have for granted and classify it under “living”, not “freedom”?

I believe that when you step back and look at the Jewish people there is no such thing as freedom or “living” without Israel. Freedom is the ability to be who you are no matter what. When you go to Israel for the first time, you realize Israel is the only place in the world where a Jew can have complete freedom and understanding. Even in religious or prominently Jewish communities in and outside of America, Jews are and will always be outsiders. Until you have the chance to take a trip or make aliyah, you may find it hard to understand what I am saying, but ask around, it is true. Religious or not, there is a way of Jewish life that differs from the secular world, and only in Israel can you live this life to the fullest. I would attempt to explain this concept more fully, however it is really something you need to experience from both sides — living or visiting Israel for an extended time as well as living outside of Israel in various communities around the world.

Living outside of Israel it is so easy to be jealous of the amazing country that so many of our family members live in and the true freedom they have achieved. We should all be thankful that Israel is around, a tiny little place that offers true freedom to all Jews for the past 60 years. I just hope that over the next 60 years Jews around the world (and all people) can experience this same freedom no matter where they are. With the happiness that comes from celebrating the 60th anniversary of Israel, it should not be forgotten that those living in Israel have been in a constant battle from the very beginning to keep this place, our place, a homeland for the Jewish people.

I don’t love this new design, but I think it is better than the last, until I can get a custom design and logo up and running.

I had been in the US for a week and then in Barcelona for a few days so posts have been lite. I’ll be getting back on track this week…

Sorry I have been gone lately. This post isn’t do much more to wet your pallet. Yesterday my internet was kaput and today I am working on an upcoming Dabbledoo interview as well as a pretty big thing. I can’t talk about the big thing yet, but when it goes live I will be sure to blog about it here.

Stay tuned for more.

Ps. - I will be back in the states from Tues April 15 - Mon April 21. Then onto Barcelona from April 22 - April 25.

If you look up in your address bar you will see that you are no longer at AdamBerger.WordPress.com but you have been redirected to TheBergerProject.com. This is the first step in the creation of The Berger Project. Few know what it actually entails but there will be more to come as time goes on.

For now, stay tuned but updating your bookmarks and RSS feeds and keep coming back to check for changes (such as a new logo, new design, and more), and to keep the comments hitting the site.

Until then…