Why is this country different from all other countries?
My Israeli daughter, Yafit, received her MA from Hebrew University (early childhood education) on May 23. The Sar-El program doesn't permit anyone to leave the base, but I really wanted to be at the graduation so I begged the madrichot to give me permission to go and they agreed. Since it meant having to stay in Jerusalem overnight and I didn't want to shelp an overnight bag, I simply grabbed my toiletries and a nightgown. I knew clothes wouldn't be a problem, as long as I wore something relatively decent. I left the base in a pair of black slacks and tee shirt. The first thing Batsheva said when she saw me was, hurry and get dressed. I said I didn't bring a change of clothes. After she got over the horror of my appearance, she gave me a blouse and some jewelry, and said hurry and get dressed.
The graduation ceremony was preceded by a reception (food figures into every event), which was very welcome after eating in a mess hall. We then went into the auditorium. I was paying attention to the way people were dressed, and I was in the fashion mainstream. Then I looked up at the dais. There were 3 men and 2 women. Both women were in business attire, as was one of the men. Of the other 2 men, one looked like he was about to go to the market, and the other … let's just say if I saw him on the street I would have given him a few shekels. His hair was long and disheveled, his clothes were mismatched and wrinkled, and he wore very worn out running shoes. Imagine my shock when he was introduced as the guest speaker, and proceeded to give a 15 minute lecture, complete with power point, about his brain research and the discoveries he's made that have practical applications in the treatment of Parkinson's and may be useful in treating Alzheimer's, which is particularly important to me. It was riveting. I learned that in a one cubic centimeter of brain, we have 4 km of wiring. By manipulating the wiring, the symptoms of Parkinson's can be brought under control. Amazing. But I still would have given him a few coins had I seen him on the street.
The icing on the cake, however, was when the graduates went on stage to receive their diplomas. Some were nicely dressed, as befits the occasion. Others … well let's just say I had nothing to worry about as far as how I was dressed. One of the women wore capris, a tee shirt and flip flops, and her toddler was hanging onto her leg. Several wore jeans and tee shirts. No caps, gowns, pomp or circumstance.
The other remarkable thing about the event was the number of Arab and Bedouin graduates. They made up about 1/3 of the class. The camaraderie between all the graduates and their families, the hugging and hand shaking, was something to see. Israel is demonized in academic circles by people who would be appalled to know this.
Wednesday 6/01/11
Jerusalem Day
This is going to be difficult to capture. Referring to a previous theme, there are 2 kinds of people in the world: those who get Israel and those who don't. The latter category includes certain politicians who shall remain nameless because heaven forbid I should offend anyone, most of the enlightened media, an alarmingly increasing number of academics, NGOs and other straphangers. It is to the former … you know who you are… that I will attempt to describe Wednesday's events, hoping that you can at least get a flavor of the experience. As to the latter, nothing I say will change your perception of reality.
Wednesday was Jerusalem Day, marking the 44th anniversary of the restoration of Jerusalem as a united city. The importance cannot be overstated, and here's where I get on the soapbox. Those who know that the history of Israel did not begin in 1967 understand that Jerusalem was at the tip of a finger of land surrounded by hostile forces. Geography and topography made access to the city dicey, and the fear of the city being surrounded and suffering another siege wasn't a paranoid fantasy. There's been talk lately about indefensible borders, but no one has focused on the borders of Jerusalem. A 40 mile 4 lane highway is all that linked Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. It was a dangerous place. The other thing about understanding the history of Israel is the fact that Israel wasn't established because of the Holocaust, that Jews have always lived here (for 3500 years), and the desire to re-establish a sovereign nation has been a priority for 2000 years. Fast forward to 1967; Jerusalem was reunited on Day 3 of the Six Day War, and that day has been celebrated for 44 years.
I joined Sid's Sar-El group for their day tour to Jerusalem. The tour began in the southern part of the city, at a promenade overlooking the Old City and surrounding hills. It is here that one can get a real appreciation for the security concerns and understand how vital it is that the municipal borders have expanded. We then went to King David's Tomb in the Old City. It's a 3 storey building that dates to Crusader times and is significant to the 3 religions. 1st, it's the traditional location of King David's burial place. 2nd it's supposed to be the room where the Last Supper took place. Neither is historically or archaeologically accurate. 3rd, it has a mosque dedicated to King David. Next we went to David's Tower near Jaffa Gate (the main entrance to the Old City). Somehow we got invited to a reception by the mayor. There was a receiving line and we actually shook his hand and had our photos taken. From there to the Western Wall, which was getting crowded. Although Jerusalem Day isn't a school holiday, since it's close to the end of the year many local schools plan their end-of-year outings for this day. They come by the busload, particularly from the yeshivot (religious schools), singing, dancing and carrying the flags of Israel and Jerusalem.
By this time it was around 6PM and Sid's group had to go back to the base. Unfortunately the traffic police decided to close the roads surrounding the Old City earlier than scheduled, which meant the group was trapped in a no-traffic zone until nearly 9PM.
Meanwhile, there I was at the Kotel deciding what to do – go home for a while or hang out. After a moment's thought I opted to stay in the Old City. The atmosphere was electric. Thousands of people had come for the occasion. There were bands at the Kotel and in the Jewish Quarter. People were singing and dancing, celebrating as if it was a wedding. What impressed me the most was how carefree people were. When we in the U.S. have public celebrations, like when the Sox won the World Series, no one thinks about whether or not a suicide bomber is milling around waiting to detonate himself and take as many people as possible with him. Such a thought isn't on anyone's radar screen, even after 9/11. Here in Israel it's a given. Imagine what that does to people's psyches, living with that kind of reality. Watching people, young and old, religious and secular, soldiers and civilians, celebrate with carefree intensity, celebrating the unification of the capitol of the Jewish homeland, was something. I'm glad I was there.
I had one more activity planned. Yafit, my Israeli daughter, organized a walking tour for the parents of the kids in her nursery school class and wanted me to come with. It was to begin at 830PM not too far from the renowned King David Hotel. From where I was in the Old City to the meeting point wasn't very far as the crow flies. But Jerusalem is built on hills and nothing is flat, so the walk was a challenge to my tired and aching knees. And since nothing in Israel happens without food, first we had to have a light supper. We didn't start the tour till 915PM. The guide was excellent and he gave an exceptional tour, including a place I didn't even know existed. After so many visits Jerusalem still has some surprises. By 1030PM, even though the tour wasn't finished, I was. So I walked home (uphill) and crawled into bed.
Tuesday 5/31/11
My day in Tel Aviv
I confess I'm not very good at the computer. When I click "publish" I don't know if it will move yesterday's entry. If so, I apologize. I'm willing to listen to pointers if anyone can help me out.
There are 2 kinds of people in this country, Jerusalemites and Tel Avivians. I am definitely the former. For me Tel Aviv is a decaying, overcrowded, noisy, pushy city that I went to only under duress and left as soon as whatever mission I was on had been accomplished. It's only asset is the seashore, but I'm not a beach person. I'd rather be in the Dead Sea.
But my friend Batsheva wanted to go and I wanted to see the White City, so we went. And it was a great day.
We met at the Central Bus Station and hopped on an express to Tel Aviv. We missed the traffic jams and the trip took only 45 minutes. We then went to the information booth to find out which bus we needed for the White City (UNESCO World Heritage Site). The clerk couldn't have been nicer. Not only did he give us the bus info, but he also plugged the city and was genuinely pleased that we had come to visit.
Unfortunately, the bus stop was at a local crafts fair, the kind you find in every city in the world, selling the same handmade crap. But Batsheva loves these things so we had to stop at every stall. I kept craning my neck looking for restored Bauhaus buildings with marginal success. Then we had to have something to eat. One of the "artists" recommended a vegetarian restaurant a couple blocks away. It was small, noisy and crowded, and the food was great. An amazing array of very creative entrees and salads. And it was good to sit down.
We finally made our way to Neve Zedek, one of Tel Aviv's oldest neighborhoods, currently undergoing a massive renovation. It's absolutely gorgeous. Narrow streets, none of the buildings is more than 2 stories with a strong European village influence. Not Bauhaus, but utterly enchanting. A lot of money is being poured into the area, which is primarily residential, with a few restaurants and boutiques to keep things interesting, We walked up and down several blocks, then made our way to another recently renovated attraction – the old train station. It's a complex that includes the depot (part of the original Orient Express route), outbuildings and 2 restored wooden rail cars. It's been turned into shops (anyone who follows the Tel Aviv fashion industry should pay attention) and restaurants. Fun and charming.
By the time we went through the complex it was close to 4PM and we had to think about going home. But first a detour to a bead store. Batsheva has more jewelry than anyone I know, but she needed something to go with the dress she's wearing to a wedding tomorrow. (Weddings here are often held on school nights.) That took about 45 minutes, which mean it was 5PM when we got on the bus to Jerusalem. I knew we'd hit traffic; it took nearly 2 hours to get back. But since we took a quick nap on the ride we were refreshed enough to walk to Machane Yehuda to locate a cooking school she was interested in. They were closed but we are now in possession of their phone number and will see if there are any classes we can take.
One last detour. Since we were in the market she took me to a health juice bar she'd been telling me about for years. The owner is originally from Yemen and is quite well known, thanks to TV appearances that enhance his mystique and reputation. Everything he makes contains etrog (citron). The first thing he did was spray my face with some kind of skin lotion he makes and told me to rub it in. He then took my hand and told me I'm wise and nice. I immediately recognized that he's a genius. I had a glass of a citron/grapefruit concoction which for some inexplicable reason was green, bought a bottle of the skin lotion and had a consultation about sleeplessness (his prescription is 3 teaspoons of honey before bed). We then boarded the bus for home.
All in all, a surprisingly great day.
And I did see some of the Bauhaus buildings.
Monday 5/30/11
Day 2 as a miluim widow … but more about that later.
We returned to Israel as second-time Sar-El volunteers.
For the uninitiated, Sar-El is the name of the organization known in the US as Volunteers for Israel. It's an organization that puts volunteers into army supply bases to do the work that otherwise would have to be done by reservists. We save the army over half a million man hours per year. Reserve duty is an obligation to the age of 45 and can last up to 30 days, which has an obvious impact on family life, productivity, etc.
We were assigned the same base as last year, the central medical supply base. There were several familiar faces from last year, so it was like a camp reunion. The work is the same – packing and unpacking equipment and medicines. This is grunt work; mindless and boring, but it has to be done correctly. The supervisors are responsible for any mistakes. Everyone takes it very seriously.
My work partner was an 85 year old retired industrial engineer. Marvin was a pleasure to work with, as was our supervisor. Marvin made some changes in the packing procedures which made the process more efficient, and he was able to motivate the soldiers assigned to our work area to step it up. Again, he was 85, and this was his 6th time as a volunteer.
Our madrichot (there's no good equivalent in English … something between counselors and guides) this year were excellent. They were always visible, stopping in the work areas twice a day, interacting with us after hours, available for any questions, special requests or problems. They were BFFs since they met at induction and worked well together. We were lucky they were assigned to us.
The evening programs were similar to last year's, but done in a totally different way. I attribute this to the creativity of the madrichot. They made up games, put us in teams so there was friendly competition and we learned at lot. Two people in our group had birthdays one day apart and the madrichot organized a little party. Totally not necessary, but it showed they really cared about us.
The tour they took us on, as a reward for 2 weeks of service, was to Mikve Israel, the country's first agricultural school founded in 1870. Sounds dull, right? It was amazing. Not so much the place itself, although the synagogue was impressive, but the impetus for establishing it. At the time Jews lived primarily in 4 cities: Jerusalem, Tiberias, Safed and Hebron. The primary occupation was scholarship and small industries to support the needs of the local population. Herzl's vision of a Jewish homeland included training people to be farmers. The school was founded inland from the port of Jaffa on 750 acres of land granted by the ruling Ottoman Turkish rulers. The rest, as they say, is history. The school is still in business, and has 1500 students of all backgrounds.
But that's not the interesting part. What really captivated us was the role Mikve Israel played in the establishment of the state. The nascent Hagannah held its swearing-in ceremonies in the underground wine cellars, which also served as shelters for child refugees from Europe and the Arab countries. (Bet you didn't know there were Jewish refugees from Arab countries, did you? More on that later.) The Davidka mortar (google it) was invented there, as was a multi-station mechanized workshop that operated with only 1 motor.
I finished my two-week tour of duty on Thursday May 26, which is the day we moved into the apartment that will be our home for a month. It's located in the Musrara section in Jerusalem, an integrated (secular, religious and a few Arabs) and up-and-coming neighborhood, about midway between downtown and the Old City. The apartment has been nicely renovated, rooms are big, ceilings are high, walls are thick and there are 2 large patios. We were greeted by a multi-media neighborhood fair, meaning loud fusion music across the street. It was supposed to end at 11PM, but there must have been multiple encores because it didn't quiet down till midnight. The fair was organized by a nearby media school and there were exhibits and performances throughout the neighborhood.
We took a walk to Ben Yehuda Street, the main drag of downtown Jerusalem. It was turned into a pedestrian mall years ago, and it was jumping. Hundreds of people, mostly young, milling about, street performers who passed the hat, cafes open and doing brisk business. It was a great atmosphere. Thursday night in Israel is like Friday night elsewhere. Most people don't work on Fridays, so Thursday night is when people let off the week's steam. We also learned that Jaffa Road, the second of the 3 main arteries that make up the downtown triangle, has become a pedestrian mall. This is due to the light rail system (more on that later) and the shopkeepers on Jaffa are furious for obvious reasons. But it was fun to walk down the middle of a street that used to be clogged with traffic.
So, back to being a miluim widow. Miluim is Hebrew for reserve duty. Even though Sar-El saves the army hundreds of thousands of man hours, people still have a reserve obligation. Sid signed up for a third week, and when he left the apt at 630AM yesterday to return to the base, I really felt like so many Israelis who kiss their spouses good-bye as they leave for their reserve duty. I felt even more Israeli when I did laundry and hung it outside to dry.
What will I do while he's in the army? There's no end of options. This morning I took a class with our friend Vicki from Chicago who spends several months here every year. The lecturer was brilliant and I'm sorry I won't be able to attend the whole course, which is a survey of modern Jewish history in Western Europe and the new world. The list of classes, lectures, exhibits and concerts is endless. Of course I'll spend every possible moment with my Israeli family; I don't like leaving Sid out of the conversation and they don't speak English. Sid's Hebrew isn't as bad as he thinks it is, but isn't good enough to participate in a conversation.
Enough for now … more to come.
