"HaMerkaz," the center of the country

Perception, it's all in the mind.

In Israel, when people refer to "hamerkaz," the center of the country, they actually mean close to the coast, near Tel Aviv or the old "green line" which was the pre-1967 border.

For me, that's not the "center." I see the area I live in, Shiloh, as the true center. We're actually a half hour or a bit more from most places. We're barely a half hour's drive to Jerusalem and the same to the Yarkon Junction, near Petach Tikva, with Kfar Saba just a few minutes in the other direction and Netanya, if you stay on the road. Just today I visited my aunt and uncle who are staying with my cousin in Neve Ne'eman, just a mile or so from the junction. Even my combination of buses and hitchhiking made the trip no longer than it takes to get to shop in Jerusalem. The Jordan Valley is even closer.

Ever since I discovered how centrally we're located, I've been very upset with the way the yishuv is marketed. And I'm not quiet about it.