It is almost a year since we returned to the States from Israel. A number of things have changed since then and some of our memories have dimmed. And not only for us. The Tel Aviv airport massacre, which occurred while we were in Jerusalem, is probably dimmer in most people's memory than the horrifying killings at the Munich Olympics or the Libyan plane disaster in Sinai. Still, we believe we learned some things that endure, that will not readily fade from mind.

We lived in Jerusalem for four months and we travelled the country like nomads, trying to catch the peculiar essence of Israel. But it's silly; born Israelis can't even catch it.