This engaging collection of essays examines Israeli society in all its frustrating and awe-inspiring complexity, through the penetrating eyes of one of its native sons. Sagi Melamed's unique perspective is informed by his kibbutz upbringing, service as an IDF officer, graduate studies at Harvard, family life in a religious community in the Galilee, and ceaseless efforts to initiate and promote collaborations that cross borders, continents and religions. In these essays, Melamed expresses his yearning for peace and frustration over the absurdity of war, his deep regard for the values and achievements of this country's founders, and his concern over the shifting balance between the needs of the individual and the collective. With honesty, courage, and unique "Eretz-Israeli" style, Melamed presents an invaluable, insider's view of historical developments that are shaping Israel's future, and a quest to identify universal values among the different streams in Israeli society, in Judaism and across the Middle East.