There’s something about Israel that strips away the layers.

Back in North America, and in many other places too, life can feel heavy with expectations. What you wear. What brands you buy. Where you live. What your profession is. How polished you appear. There’s this constant pressure of presentation, of image, of fitting into standards society quietly places on people. Even conversations can sometimes feel guarded, like everyone is measuring themselves and each other.

But in Israel, something shifts.

Here, it feels like people meet each other neshama to neshama.

Of course presentation exists everywhere, but it doesn’t feel like the defining factor of a person. Conversations move quickly past the surface. You can sit with someone and within minutes be discussing life, faith, struggle, purpose, dreams, heartbreak, growth. There’s less performance and more essence. Less packaging and more humanity.

And maybe one of the most freeing parts is not feeling like you have to walk on eggshells when expressing yourself. There’s a relief in being able to express yourself without every word being scrutinized for hidden meaning. There’s an acceptance of people as........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)