Michael Duvdevani, right, visits his Israeli home, Moshav Talmei Yosef
Belonging in two worlds Duvdevani has roots in Alabama and Israel by Karim Shamsi-Basha Michael Duvdeani’s eyes welled up thinking about his life in the United States compared with his home of Israel. Not exactly an ephemeral feeling. “Listen, my friends in Israel understand me better. But people here have taken me in and given me a life I would never have otherwise. It is a struggle, it’s just something I have to live with,” Duvdevani said. His home in Israel is two miles from the Gaza border and includes a bomb shelter. His home in Mountain Brook has five bedrooms and a two-car garage. When I met Michael Duvdevani, he seemed friendly and outgoing. After chatting for a few minutes, I found out he was born in A native of Damascus, Israel. I love making friends from that part of Karim Shamsi-Basha is the world. A region beautiful and rich with an award-winning writer and photographer in history and culture, a region plagued by strife Birmingham and discord, and a region where the school bus stop doubles as a bomb shelter. A region two hours away from Damascus, Syria, where I grew up, but seemingly a world away. A few months later, Michael invited me to join him on a visit to his family’s home. Duvdevani is a pedorthist in Birmingham and owns two shoe stores: Complete Feet in Homewood, and The Shoe Inn in Hoover. He lives in Mountain Brook with his wife Karen, and three children — Ella, Mia, and Adam. He came to this country at age 22, and stayed after meeting Karen. “We met at the train station in Birmingham. We were both going to New Orleans to visit friends,” Duvdevani said. We arrived at the Tel Aviv airport and Michael’s friend, Ronen, picked us up. The drive to Moshav Talmei Yosef was nothing I have experienced before. We passed Israeli towns and Arab villages, modern sites mixing with ancient times. Peace and discord at play on faces, and in the dirt. Michael’s mom Margaret, 69, and dad Giora, 73, decided to live in the farming community in the Negev desert about two miles from the Gaza border. Their house is quaint and modest and surrounded with fruit trees. Michael’s brother, Daniel, lives next door with his wife and two kids. In addition to the bedrooms, living room and kitchen, a bomb shelter built by the government is a constant reminder of the turbulent background of that region. They have lived there for since 1980. Michael remembers his youth.
August 2016 • Southern Jewish Life 19