Saturday, January 3, 2009

Israel

The El Al agent, a young woman with a severe bun, looked from me to my passport.
“What was the last holiday you celebrated?”
“Um, Yom kippur.”
“How did you celebrate?”
“My aunt and I made brisket.”
She looked disgusted.
"Don't you know that you’re supposed to fast on Yom Kippur?”
“Oh. Right. Well I guess we did kind of an alternative celebration."
“And you went to Jewish day school?"
"Yeah." 
She looked at my passport again.
"Did you light the Hanukkah candles last night?”
“Well, um…I was hoping to get the Hanukkah experience on this trip.”
"Did anyone give you a gift or package to bring on the plane?”
“No.”
“Please do not accept anything from anyone because it could be a bomb.”
“Definitely not.”
“Enjoy Israel,” she says passively, holding out my passport and nodding at the next person.
Though I was genuinely excited for the interrogation, I walked away slightly traumatized.

When we got off the plane, a guy introduced himself as one of the coordinators  of the program and gave us a welcome lecture.

“This trip is a gift, and if you abuse it you will be sent home. Do you know what that means? It means nobody is getting drunk. Nobody.”

We spent the night on a kibbutz on the Kineret or Sea of Galilee (where Jesus walked on water, supposedly…I didn’t test it out though).  Of the 40 people, about 2/3 got drunk.  This was only the first night.  

The little town of Zefat (or Sefad) resembles many little ancient Spanish and Italian villiages such as Casperia, a villiage I stayed in when I was in Italy. Original cobblestones and everything.


On a lunch stop I ordered a schawarma.
“You want chicken?” the guy asks. 
On a cylindrical spinning thing was a large mound of meat that the other worker approached with an electric shaver.  The meat plopped onto the counter. 
“No thank you,” I said.
“But its good!”
“Well okay, but just a little.”
After taking a bite ouf of it, I noticed that the chicken was still slightly pink inside. From there I decided not to eat it anymore.

The next meal I decided to have a falafel instead due to its vegetarian nature.
“Ani rozah falafel im col zman.”
“You are speaking Hebrew?!?” she shouted. “Oooooh Yofee, tov me od!!!”
Then with extreme enthusiasm, the lady threw in two extra falafel balls in addition to the five she already put in. 
Side note to my dad: All that money for my Jewish education: totally worth it just for this moment!

On the way to my seat I tripped over something and was slightly surprised to look down and see that it was a rifle.
“Um," I said to the body guard.  "You left your gun in the aisle."
“Oh,” he said, and proceeded to kick it back under the chair.  I sat next to him.
“That’s a really big gun.”
“I have to take it everywhere,” he said.
“Is it loaded?”
“No. But the bullets are attached to the side, see.”
“Oh good.”
Because the falafel was so enormous, I gave the second half to him. We discussed his time in the army. I asked him what it felt like to be done.
“It is like being free from a big cage,” he said.
“Well, its pretty cool having a former soldier for a body guard,” I said.
“I’ll be your personal body guard!” he said jokingly.
“Fine with me, “ I said not jokingly.

Peleg and Nic with their guns:

We entered Jerusalem from the Zion gate (one of seven), and hung out in about 400 square yards of the Jewish quarter. From there we went to the Wailing (or Western) Wall. It is called the Wailing Wall for a reason. 


Jerusalem:
Close up of the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall:Notes in the wall:


Then in the more modern part of Jerusalem was the "shuk" or Israeli version of a farmer’s market, but a little more chaotic. My favorite part: not the gorgeous fruit or the screaming (and I mean really screaming) vendors, but the street musicians.  

How can you not love the puppet?  Now that's talent. 

The next day we stayed in the hotel because the whole country shut down for Shabbat.  (By the way, the whole country shut down for Shabbat, but nobody even knew what Christmas was). 
 
We were having a nice time hanging out with the soldiers until the tour guide announced the missiles being fired into the Gaza strip and that the soldiers had to leave immediately to serve in the operation. At that point the cheerful mood came to a halt. The tour guide made it clear that the situation, while serious and a long time coming, would not affect us. 

Staying in the Bedoin's tents was quite an authentic desert experience. Real sand, real sunrises, 
real tents, real turbans, real camels,
 and even real polygamists. After sleeping in a dust-mite filled tent, we rode the  camels. They were smelly, angry, and awesome.

Then we hiked Masada. Pictures speak for themselves. Nutshell of the historical significance: after nine months of living on the mountain, a thousand Jews committed suicide just before King Herod and the Roman troupes broke in to take them all as slaves.  Heros or cowards?  You decide. 

I am Queen of the World:

From there we went to the Dead Sea. I didn’t get any pictures of this but being at the lowest point in the world felt like the highest point in my life. Floating in a salt ocean and having smooth skin afterward shows that nature is simply inspiring.  And that's coming from a very un-nature kind of girl. 

The next day when we hiked at another spot where dramatic clifs showed layers of ancient oceans, things started to get a little strange.   In the middle of nature, we heard deafening planes above us, though we couldn't see them.  We were told (just to make us feel better...not) that these were not just planes, but the F-16’s on route to Gaza. This is when, despite the fascinating parts of the tour, I was pretty much ready to go home and not be in a war zone anymore.

Overall I would say that I am extremely glad I went on this trip, and not just because it was free.  
This was pretty much the only time I have put Jewish education to use, and it was worth it. The Middle East is a place that is rich in history, spirituality, and conflict that are all so intertwined and yet separated that it is kind of ridiculous

Seeing Israel up close was both wonderful and upsetting at the same time.  People were right when they said that Israel will change your life, but the principle of killing each other over things that happened so long ago, over one moment in time that nobody can ever really prove, is about as mature as a couple of two year olds fighting over a toy.  That is just my opinion.

It was also quite awe-inspiring and a little guilt-inducing to meet soldiers who are my age and put their lives on the line every day while I don't.  

It made me want to do something with my life to repair the world, not just to repair myself.  

Following the overload of pro-Israel propaganda I’ve had through high school, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this trip did not aim to do that. The tragedy lies in the principle that no human being should have to apologize for wanting to call that place home.

Here are some other tidbits from the journey: 

Me after hiking.  I feel so athletic:  Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's memorial at the place he was assassinated by another Jew:Israeli version of an oxymoron?Jewish sistah's:

Sunset over the Mediterranean:

You have to look real close to see that its Kosher:The grave of Israeli prime minister Golda Meir:Sunrise over Tel Aviv:
One last thing.  I've been home for about 36 hours, and in the last 12 hours Israel the conflict in Israel has officially escalated into a war.  Send your good vibes over there for a peaceful resolution.