Paradoxically, it was when I started thinking of leaving Israel for sociocultural difficulties here that I felt I had finally become a true Israeli. Though my daily contact with and exposure to the native Israeli culture remain quite minimal, I've stopped thinking of this idea, partly because I've realized that the problem is more in myself than in the outer world, and mostly because I've come to feel that living in Jerusalem is a real blessing for someone like myself who studies Chassidus as life wisdom.
Why? There are a couple of reasons. First of all, Jerusalem seems to have the largest concentration - or at least one of the largest concentrations - of Chassidic scholars (not in the academic sense but in the traditional Jewish sense). I've been blessed with the privilege and honor of studying Chabad Chassidus in a special school here in Jerusalem with amazing teachers who have not only received its oral teachings but also incorporate them in their daily life.
But the main reason why I consider it a blessing to live in Jerusalem as a student of Chassidus and a lover of Jewish books is the existence of some of the best Jewish bookstores in the whole Jewish world. I'm especially indebted to the following three Jewish bookstores here in Jerusalem for my growing private Chassidic library: Heichal Menachem (in Hebrew, English and Russian), Pomeranz (in English and Hebrew), and Yahad (in Russian).
This will not be my Jewish hyperbole even if I go so far as to say that these bookstores alone are sufficient reason for me to continue living here. Every time I discover some Jewish book or books I don't have or haven't read, I can simply drop in at one of all of these three Jewish bookstores without waiting for days or even weeks for their arrival by mail order.
Since I left academia last September, I have no reason - nor budget - to leave not only Israel but even Jerusalem. There are, however, two cities outside Israel that are two of the most important Jewish cultural centers in the world and have one important Jewish publisher-cum-bookstore respectively - Brooklyn and Moscow. I'm even ready to visit these cities just to visit these two Jewish bookstores - Kehot (in Hebrew and English) and Knizhniki (in Russian).
Even when I visited various big cities, mainly in Europe, to attend academic conferences, I spent what little free time I had visiting local bookstores. Museums and other conventional tourist attractions have never interested me; they even bore me to death.
I'm still hoping that travel restrictions will be removed by this summer and I'll be able to visit Moscow, especially Knizhniki (as well as my favorite Russian bookstores) there. This seemingly amazing Jewish bookstore in Russian was opened since I last visited Moscow in September 2017.