Another exhilarating season has come to a close here in Ashdod and so has this column for this year. As we eagerly get ready to return to our family and friends, I am reminded of a few of the many things I love about Israel and will miss back in Davis.

** The experience of being in a shared struggle for survival. We're just a few miles from Tel Nof, one of the largest Air Force bases in Israel. We wake up, spend the day, go to sleep and wake up during the night to the comforting roar of F-16s taking off, going out on patrol and landing. No one minds the noise because everyone knows that Israel's very existence is on the line every minute of every day.

Being an Israeli means trying to live a normal life while living on the edge, acutely listening to every radio newscast at the top of the hour to find out if anything has changed in the past 60 minutes and fixating on the evening news to watch a recapitulation of the threats made against Israel in the past 24 hours.

** The humorous resilience of Israelis. Recently, a Scandinavian newspaper ran a scathing front-page headline, 'Israeli Disregard For the Law.' The article was about an Israeli man who had been fined for walking his dog without a leash on a sidewalk in Haifa. As I watched this being reported on Israeli TV, the reaction among Israelis in the room was just to laugh and scratch their heads (not that walking a dog off-leash isn't important!). But Israelis know that the world magnifies everything that happens in Israel out of all proportion and have grown increasingly bemused at being criticized and blamed by world leaders and the world press for anything and everything.

** The Israeli social scene. Everybody is invited to everybody's house all time. Each person has so many family and friends that hardly a week goes by without a brit, birthday, bar or bat mitzvah, or wedding. And if you're not attending the events of life, there are the numerous Israeli restaurants, clubs and coffeehouses where you can sit unrushed until well past midnight.

In one block of Ashdod, we can find Café Joe, Aroma, Hillel, Ronaldin, Greg and Café Cafe - all serving my favorite café shachor (super-strong black coffee) and icy mocha barad.

** Being on the cutting edge of technology. Everybody has the latest cell phone, TV and electronic device and is conversant about the technical specifications of each. On a national scale, Israel is involved in every aspect of technology.

This month, Israel hosted the International Nanotechnology Conference in Tel Aviv. With more than 80 nanotech companies and 40 academic and governmental laboratories focusing on nanotechnology, Israel is at the forefront of nano advances in communications, electronics, computerization, security, medicine and life sciences.

Nano applications recently developed in Israel include water purification membranes, agents for oral drug delivery, medical diagnostic tools, holographic storage systems and a laser-like e-beam used in manufacturing semiconductors.

** The hilarious distortions of the English language. It's a real kick to travel the roads in Israel and see the variations in spelling. There are five different roads leading into my wife's hometown, each with a sign announcing the city limits. So which city did she grow up in: Nes Tsiona, Nes Ziona, Nes Ziyyona, Ness Ziona or Nes Tsiyyona?

I love that passing Rishon going north to Tel Aviv I drive onto the Holon 'carriageway,' or on the way to Eilat we need to 'Be war of camels,' or that we can ruin the underside of our car on those nasty 'roadhumps' (speedbreakers) visiting my brother-in-law in Kidron.

** The uniqueness of the environment and diversity of the people. Without getting too poetic, the air here is heavy, languid and redolent. Sometimes on a summer night you can feel, smell and see the warm air slowly enveloping you like a thermal cocoon. Every sunset at the beach or in the desert is a painter's canvas.

A few Thursdays ago, I was standing across from the famous Bedouin market in Beersheva along with Ethiopian immigrants, a newly arrived couple from Myanmar ('yes', they told me, 'there is a Jewish community in northwest Burma'), Israeli Arabs, orthodox and non- orthodox Israelis (including several Russian immigrants), a refugee from the Sudan, and of course, Bedouins - all dressed differently and speaking different languages. In every way, Israel is a feast for the senses.

** The history. Traveling around Israel, I am often reminded of Belloq's words in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' when referring to the Ark of the Covenant: 'Indiana, we are simply passing through history. This is history.'

I get the same feeling wandering through places like Akko, Caesarea, Masada, Bet Shean, Nazareth, Tiberias, Ashkelon, Bethlehem, Tzfat, Ashdod and Jerusalem. Israel is a place where 3,300 years of Jewish/Israeli history are alive and new history is being made every day. The decisions that are reached tomorrow and the archaeological discoveries that are made next week will have ramifications for thousands of years.

** The feeling of being at the center of the world. The world is literally beating a path to Israel's door. Every city in Israel has numerous active sister-city relationships. Ashdod alone is partnered with Bordeaux, France; Bahia Blanca, Argentina; Tampa, Fla.; Wuhan, China; Spandau, Germany; and Los Angeles.

In the past month, eight American universities announced new initiatives to partner with Israeli universities: Washington University, Harvard, Barnard College (Columbia), Arizona State, Case Western Reserve, Michigan State and the Universities of Florida, Maryland and Miami.

Several weeks ago, the all-time tourism record was set when Brazilian Pastor Jomber Araujo Vladislav stepped off an El Al plane and became Israel's 3 millionth visitor this year. When asked why he and his group of Christian pilgrims came, Pastor Vladislav answered for so many of those who share in the Israel experience: 'The visit to Israel fills our heart and soul. Israel is a blessing upon all the nations.'

A few final thoughts. I would like to thank Enterprise readers for your many kind comments since this column began in July. And I am especially grateful to all of you who have sent me such heartwarming e-mails and letters over the past few weeks about the fire that has ravaged northern Israel. Your offers of support for Israel and donations to Israeli relief organizations are deeply appreciated.

It's hard to move on from 43 lives lost and more than 5 million trees destroyed - but that is what Israelis do. We don't linger on disaster; life goes on.

I'd like to end this column for the year the same way I began it - on an airplane.

It's December and an El Al flight has just landed at Ben Gurion Airport. From the cockpit comes the voice of the pilot:

'Please remain in your seats until the airplane comes to a stop at the gate. For all of you already standing in the aisles and opening the overhead compartments, I'd like to wish you a Happy Hanukkah. For those of you still in your seats, I'd like to wish you a Merry Christmas.'

Whatever your holiday, I would like to wish you Shalom from Israel!