Perhaps it was because of the heightened awareness of Israel during the week of its 60th anniversary celebration. Twice in one week?

Last night, at a reception, a friend approached me. "I'm having a very hard time with Israel," she said out of nowhere. "Ben [her husband] says it's because I can't let go of the myth and I can't accept the reality." "Oh," I replied, "the old Yerushalayim d'malah versus Yerushalayim d'mata problem, eh?" (For those readers less Jewishly literate than she, our tradition posits two Jerusalems, the upper or heavenly Jerusalem and the lower or earthly Jerusalem.)

She is assuredly not alone. As Israel's reality becomes more and more difficult to ignore, those raised on the myth have some serious adjusting to do - or a serious internal conflict to feel.