With the children settled in the camp at Athlit, you now try to decide what you will do. Since you were a small child, you have been hearing about the chalutzim who settled on kibbutz settlements, who drained the Huleh marshes and swamps, and made the brown, dry Negev flower as it had in the days of the ancient Nabataeans. This productive life appeals to you, and you make arrangements to join the kibbutz at Sde Boker.
There, you spend your days helping to grow cotton, a new crop which will be sold overseas, bringing badly-needed money to the new state. The agricultural work is hard but rewarding. Your most treasured experiences come when the most famous son of the kibbutz, David Ben-Gurion, returns for a few days of rest and conversation. He radiates excitement and dedication to the Zionist task, and you always leave his presence inspired. Whatever problems you face seem small compared to his worries, and he gives you confidence to meet every crisis and solve it.
One Pesach, when you and your family attend the seder, you
are called upon to recite some of the prayers. Baruch Atah Adonai
Elohenu Melech ha'olam shehecheyanu. . . .
You sing the praises of God
for keeping you alive and allowing you to reach this festive day. Then
you begin to laugh.
When I first came here,
you explain, I couldn't believe in
God. After all that happened in Europe, how could anyone pray to a
God who would allow those terrible events? But now I understand. I
look around at my family and friends and my good life here. God
has, indeed, been good to me!
END