Author: Alexander Avraham

In addition to the land of Israel being divided up into 12 states forming a Jewish confederacy and inspired by the biblical divisions for the 12 tribes of Israel, Israel should redesign its government into the following structure: Unlike China where the congress yields ultimate power and unlike the United States where the executive branch stands at the top, the top of the governmental pyramid in Israel should be headed by the Sanhedrin (the judicial body) composed of 72 judges (6 from each state), with the two bottom bases of the pyramid being the Knesset (the legislative body) made up of 120 members (10 from each state) and a national council (modeled after the Swiss national council).

My time as a musician changed the course of my life forever. There were two aspects to this: On the one hand were the two people involved in training and accompanying me in my music studies, and on the other was the actual practice of music. I loved playing the guitar, I loved playing the bouzouki, I loved singing and I loved practicing rhythm. I remember lying down on the floor with my head flat on the carpet, looking at the metronome and using my hand against the floor to practice the offbeat, starting at 60 and going all the way up to 120 if not faster. I remember being able to achieve a rhythm or scale and just being so gratified with joy that one has no other desire but to share it. I remember Mark saying once “those who don’t ever give up, never fail.”

In San Antonio, at age 22, between my time as a professional musician and my undergraduate studies, I worked in the music department at Barnes & Noble. My favorite part about working there were the people I worked with. I don’t remember any of their names but they were all actually pretty cool people, even the bosses. I also remember the discount I got on purchases and iced coffees. I drank one every day I worked, and I must have read a book a month while working there. I only worked there for six months though. I always liked being around the books, and I once commented on it by saying something to the effect of “look at all these books! How am I going to read all of them?” A coworker responded by saying “one book at a time.” This response has in some ways been a cornerstone of how I approach a particular problem.

After my move to New York, I recall a conversation with my mother over the phone where she asked if I regretted moving, and I responded “no, not at all, didn’t even cross my mind.” New York was the center of the universe, and it was proving itself to be everything it was advertised to be and more. I met people from all over the world, I got to know my brother. What New York showed me more than anything is how big this world is, and how connected we all are. It was important for me to find my place, and after I met Kimi, and after I converted to Judaism, I wanted to live in the place best suited for my lifestyle and to a place which happened to be on the frontlines of world history: Israel. The same goes for Israel: I am never leaving Israel… never.

From nearly the moment I arrived in San Antonio, it was already clear, especially after my short music career, that my eyes were set on somewhere larger. It was not clear at the time where the next stop was, but I did understand, pretty early on, that this was going to be an important stepping stone for my future. I wanted to be a part of something special, something sacred, and Mark and Jenny (E Muzeki) gave me just that. Learning music with them showed me for the first time in my life that ANYTHING was possible – I just had never set my own goals before. Once I knew that I did not want to play music, and that I wanted to become an intellectual in some form of expression, I then understood that San Antonio, even Texas, could not fulfill that. I had a brother in New York, and I applied for a master’s program immediately – after all, New York was the center of the universe, and it proved to be just that while I was there.

Our family never in practice selected where we could live, the US Air Force made that decision with my father. In other words, we “ended up” in San Angelo, Texas. When considering college, I don’t think I ever even entertained the idea of going to school in San Angelo (ASU), I applied to UT-Austin, A&M-Corpus Christie and UT-San Antonio; the only viable option was UTSA, as my mother lived there, I already had a friend there (Nick) and my brother (Rod) was there soon after. I was excited about leaving San Angelo and nervous to be new in San Antonio – and the truth is I never once had the idea of moving back to San Angelo; put another way, the question is, why didn’t I want to stay in San Angelo? Although I was perhaps unable to articulate this at the time, the truth is that I just did not fit in. My name, my background, my culture, my frame of thinking, my aspirations and maybe several factors contributed to the feeling that I was not to stay there and that my destiny was to leave.

There is a line in Mad Men that I have never forgotten: “Although, sometimes when people get what they want they realize how limited their goals were.” The truth is, I have achieved every single goal I have set for myself, more often than not exceeding my expectations. For example, I wanted to become a professional musician, and I did: I had the chance to do nothing else but practice and play music for a living for a period of about two years, including composing an original song. Then, I wanted to major in English and Philosophy so I can teach and write: I was able to teach English as an adjunct lecturer at the New York Institute of Technology for six years; I have written hundreds of poems and aphorisms, and now have this amazing blog. I wanted to get a master’s degree to travel: I got a master’s in linguistics and another master’s in translation: I was able to teach myself a third language and translate professionally (legal translation no less!) after moving abroad; I have traveled to 20 countries, including 40 US states, 10 Mexican states and 6 Canadian provinces. I wanted to marry a non-American: I married the most beautiful and kind person in the world. I wanted to live in New York City: I lived in Nassau, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan; I also converted to Judaism there. I wanted a close-knit community and family: There is no better of community in the world than the Jewish community; I have 3 beautiful kids with an environment conducive to making us a strong, close and growing family. Now, the concept of “give more than you take” has taken hold – I have gotten everything that I have wanted, what shall come next?

I think friends are very important. The main reason is, in my experience, laughter. My memories of truly laughing have been with my friends. Now, I am truly lucky to have had brothers, all of whom I can say are my friends. Outside of my family, I have had a few friends: Nick Aguilar – he was my best friend in Homestead, 4th-5th grade. He moved to San Antonio Texas a month after we moved to San Angelo (about a 3-hour drive), and I was so excited, even visiting him almost annually until I moved to San Antonio where I saw him frequently. Ryan Mills – he was my friend since 6th/7th grade all the way through high school, my best friend the last couple of years for sure. We stayed in touch after I moved to San Antonio and even New York a little. Mark Varelas/Jenny O’Connor – they were my best friends in my college years. We played music together and really bonded. In New York, I had a couple of good friends, specifically Txuss Martin. I stayed in touch with them even after I moved to New York and a little in Israel. One notable trend is that nearly all of these friends are neither married nor have kids, and have even struggled maintaining consistent work/career. After marrying Kimi, she has been my only friend.

I have lived in Raanana, Israel longer than any other place in my life. I lived on Misawa AFB in Japan for 4 years and on Homestead AFB in Florida for a total of 6 years. I lived in San Angelo, Texas for 7 years, and in San Antonio, Texas for 7 years as well. I lived in New York (Franklin Square, Sunnyside Queens, Clinton/Boerum Hill Brooklyn, Manhattan, Midwood Brooklyn) for 6 years and in Boston, Massachusetts for 1 year. Not only have I lived in Israel for 11 1/2 years, but I have lived in the same building for 11 years (we upgraded 1 1/2 ago from the 2nd floor to the top floor. In other words, although I am still more Texan than I am Israeli (14 to 11), I am more Raanana than I am any other locale, San Angelo being a distant second (I lived in the same house in San Angelo the entire 7 years); and Raanana truly is a unique place – in my humble opinion the model for the rest of the state, for all Am Yisrael.