Jaded

On Friday, Adam and I went to the Palmach Museum in Tel Aviv. I had heard wonderful things about it from friends and really wanted to go before we left Israel. (For those who aren't familiar with the Palmach, it was a defense force established in 1941 to help the British protect Palestine from the Germans. Later, it morphed into the strike force of the Haganah, the unofficial army of the Jewish community in Palestine, and helped to fight against the British occupation. The Palmach has a very special place in Israel's national myth -- something akin to Paul Revere in America, I suppose.)

The Palmach Museum is an "experiential" museum, which means that it doesn't contain the kinds of historical artifacts that you'd find in a regular museum. Instead, you follow the story of a group of Palmach recruits from 1941 until the end of the War of Independence. There are videos, sets (like stage sets), mannequins, lighting effects and all sorts of tricks to make the story "come alive" for the audience. Sound cool? It wasn't.

I actually found the whole experience really off-putting. The story of the recruits was melodramatic, rather than moving. Moreover, it lacked subtelty, romanticizing the Palmach generation to the exclusion of all critical, academic discussion of its politics and policies. This was straight-up Zionist myth, and it wasn't even good Zionist myth.

Something else bothered me about the museum, too. The characters and dialogue were so Israeli in their attitudes, mannerism, etc. that I found it difficult to relate to them on an emotional level. Maybe I would have reacted differently had I listened to the English translation instead of the Hebrew, but as it was, I trailed after our guide for an hour and a half feeling detached and cynical. I'm a Zionist, and I enjoy a good tug at the heartstrings as much as the next ideologically-motivated immigrant, but this didn't work on me at all. I guess I'll just have to find a different heartwarming Zionist activity to do before we leave!

To Be or To Be Something Else? That is My Question

Israel doesn’t have the greatest reputation when it comes to Jewish pluralism. If you could order pluralism on a menu here your choices would basically be religious or secular. With an occasional serving of Haredi on the side. In fact, most Israelis aren’t even aware that there is a difference between Conservative and Reform Judaism.

In general, as a Conservative Jew, the lack of a Jewish pu pu platter often leaves me a little hungry. And it’s not because I just fill up on rice. However, there are some benefits to the ubiquitousness of Orthodox Judaism. One of the biggest advantages, in my experience, is that Israelis with any religious background tend to be more knowledgeable than your average (i.e. not completely secular) Conservative Jew. For example, when a neighbor of ours recently passed away, every single one of our other neighbors could actively participate in the Shiva Minyan. And they could all address the mourners with the traditional Hebrew verse when they departed the Shiva house.

Now I grant that being native Hebrew speakers gives Israelis a distinct advantage, but I think the fact that their religious education, however one dimensional, is more thorough allows them to connect with observant Jews more meaningfully. There could also be a generational bias at work as my neighbors are all older, but it raises an interesting question. If I could have only one, what would I prefer my neighbors to be knowledgeable about - Jewish plurality or Judaism?

Overheard

Another anecdote from my travels on Jerusalem's bus system:

Yesterday, I was on my way to Hebrew U, as usual. There was an American kid on the bus, probably a post-high school yeshiva student, who was asking for directions (in English) to "Sheshess Yumim" street. No one seemed to know where the street was, which confused the kid, who knew that it was a relatively main thoroughfare. He kept repeating it, "Sheshess Yumim," "Sheshess Yumim."

After a minute, I figured out that he wanted ששת הימים, which Israelis pronounce "Sheshet Ha-Yameem." The kid's yeshivish, Ashkenazi pronunciation was just totally incomprehensible to the people on the bus! Before I had a chance to intervene, the kid had managed to describe the area that he wanted, and he got off the bus at the correct stop.

But I was hard-pressed to keep from laughing.

Jewish Republicans

Yesterday, I read an article for my class "The Jewish World Today: U.S. Jewry" that really agitated me. It was called "The Jewish Social Welfare Lobby in the United States," by Joel M. Carp, from a book called Jewish Polity and American Civil Society. The article was basically celebrating the organized Jewish community, and the Federations in particular, for successfully lobbying on the side of various social welfare issues -- against the tax cuts of the evil Reagan administration and the "draconian provisions" of later pieces of Republican legislation.

As my green highlighter whipped furiously across the pages, I kept thinking to myself, who decided that government social welfare programs are the realization of the imperative of tikkun olam? Moreover, who elected the Federation spokesperson for all American Jews? What about those of us who believe in limited government, free enterprise and personal responsibility -- do we have a voice (as Jews, that is) in Washington?

Not having the time for more than a token protest, I added a new link to this blog, right. (J, thinking of you!)

Babies and Buses

Yesterday, as I was making my way home from the National Library on the 24A*, a woman boarded my bus with a baby in a stroller. She glanced around at the other passengers, and her eye landed on me. She then took her baby out of the stroller, plopped him in my lap with an offhanded, "Hold him for a sec," and proceeded to pay the driver, collapse and secure the stroller and adjust her shoulder bag. The whole process took about two minutes, after which she sat down next to me and took the baby back with a casual, "Thanks."

A few minutes later, noticing that I was making funny faces at the baby, she asked me, "Do you have experience with kids?"

Now, maybe I'm just an uptight American, but...isn't that the kind of question that you ask someone before you plop your baby in her lap? Moreover, isn't it a bit dangerous to hand your baby over to a total stranger on a bus? For all the mother knew, I could have had a highly contagious disease, or been a crazed baby-napper!

While I was mulling this over, I noticed another mother get on the bus and go through the same process, handing her baby to a middle-aged woman before paying the driver and securing her stroller. I wonder if this is just the accepted practice in the particular neighborhood...?

*Note: As I later discovered, this was the wrong bus to choose. Unlike the 24, the 24A doesn't get to my neighborhood. If you're ever trying to get to my apartment from the National Library, take the 9 into town and switch to the 4, the 4A or the 21.

Food for Thought

I had an interesting experience in class today. My professor was lecturing about the concept of competing identities (e.g. national identity, ethnic identity, religious identity, class identity, etc.). To illustrate his point -- and to wake us up, as it was a very theoretical lecture -- he put the following statement on the board:

We're Jews, as opposed to they, who are...

The students were supposed to finish the sentence. The range of responses was fascinating! Some people said non-Jews, while others said Christians, Muslims, Arabs, goyim (not sure if the slightly pejorative connotation was intended), "Reformim," "potential Jews" and -- my personal favorite, from a fellow immigrant -- Israelis.

Then we did a similar exercise. This time, the statement on the board was:

We're Israelis, as opposed to they, who are...

This time, we got Arabs, Palestinians, Americans, new immigrants, Ethiopians (immigrants to Israel, that is), Russians (ditto), foreign workers, Diaspora Jews, "חוצניקים" (which I don't really know how to translate, but it means people from outside of Israel) and even Haredim.

Then we talked about the fundamental assumptions underlying each response. Are the Jews primarily a national or religious group? Is being Israeli a matter of citizenship, culture or adherence to a particular political ideology?

I wonder, if the statement has been, "We're Jewish, as opposed to they, who are..." the answers might have been different. Is it an adjective-noun thing?

Up For Grabs

As our impending departure from Israel speeds ever closer I’ve begun to detect more and more subtle changes in my life. Here are a few examples:

• At work I’ve begun documenting everything that I know how to do.
• I’m trying hard to get in shape for the family cruise that we’re going on as soon as we get back.
• We no longer have a small crock pot (it was sold on Friday).

As more and more of our belongings get sold off, Michelle and I have also tried to focus on things that we would like (or in some cases need) to do before we leave. This ranges from canceling our phones, to eating at our favorite restaurants, to visiting the Kotel. It’s reached the point where I worry that if we don’t actual schedule a time to do all of these things, they might slip between the cracks.

So. What would you do if you only had 38 days left in Israel?

Hat-tastic

I might have found something of a sideline career.

When I was first starting to buy hats, just before Adam and I got married, I looked in stores all around Jerusalem. It seemed like every hat I liked had the same label: Imaga. And, as chance would have it, Adam knew the company's owners, because J-Town Productions (Adam's employer) hosts the website for Imaga Hats. They now give me a discount whenever I go to the factory store. And Edoardo, one of the owners and a native Italian speaker, helped us when we were planning our trip to Italy last February.

Well, it turns out that the Boston-based Imaga sales representative recently gave up selling the hats when she had a baby. Edoardo is looking for someone to replace her, and Adam volunteered me! It would be a way to make some extra money and maintain access to my favorite hat designer, and we're setting up a meeting to discuss the possibility. I think it would mostly involve arranging tables at local Israel fairs, or at synagogues with hat-wearing populations on occasional Sunday mornings. I'll keep you updated!

Voice of (a Handful of) the People

I went to a rally last night! It was organized by Ne’emanei Torah vaAvodah to protest the Supreme Rabbinical Court's ruling from the end of April, which invalidated thousands of conversions carried out in Israel over the past few years by Rabbi Haim Druckman, head of the Israeli Conversion Court. Some background:

Rabbi Druckman is a prominent religious Zionist rabbi who was called upon by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon back in 2004 to form and modernize the Israeli Conversion Court. The goal, at that time, was for Rabbi Druckman to facilitate the conversion of the approximately 300,000 non-Jews who have come to Israel from the former Soviet Union over the past decade and a half.

According to the Court's latest ruling, all conversions that were conducted by Rabbi Druckman -- before and after his appointment to the Conversion Court -- will no longer be recognized by the Chief Rabbinate. They're apparently not kosher enough for the ultra-Orthodox rabbis who make up the Supreme Rabbinical Court. Adding insult to injury, about two weeks ago, Rabbi Druckman was summarily dismissed from his position as head of the Conversion Court. The whole debacle signifies not only the capitulation of the Israeli government to pressure from the ultra-Orthodox community, but also the total failure of the religious Zionist community to stand up for its halakhic integrity and address the desperate need to find creative halakhic solutions to the problems of conversion and, among others, agunot and mesuravot get.

Tonight, a group of converts and religious Israelis who oppose the delegitimization of Rabbi Druckman -- and, more broadly, the delegitimization of those who are seeking solutions to serious religious-social problems in this country -- staged a rally across from Jerusalem's Rabbinical Court. Adam and I went to add our voices to the mix. We were disappointed by the relatively low turnout and lackluster atmosphere. I was also unhappy when one speaker, berating the ultra-Orthodox for "inventing" their own Torah, said derisively, "There's one type of Reformim and the other type of Reformim." I thought the rally was meant to stress the openness of the Jewish people, not move the line of hatred a millimeter to the left.

Still, I'm glad that we went. And I'm proud of Jerusalem's Anglo community for being so well-represented at the event.

My teacher Esther looks on as my friends Sarah and Alexandra sign a petition.

Rabbi Riskin of Efrat speaks against the ruling.

The small crowd at the rally.

Success!

That's right ladies and gentle folk. My proposed one day boycott of Fox News by super left leaning liberals was a smashing success. Of course it was helped by the fact that by definition, anyone who watches Fox News, even accidentally, can no longer be considered a super left leaning liberal.

That may sound unfair, but at least I'm not as bad as the Michigan Democratic Party. Because apparently they can do anything they want. Even tell you its members who they would have voted for if somebody theoretically had been on the ballot.

Pizza Sababa....Where Everybody Knows Your Name, Address, and (Probably) Credit Card Number...

Yeah yeah, the title of the post really goes with Michelle's post from earlier tonight, but I highlight that to demonstrate that there are some things here in Israel that we'll miss when we get back to the US. One thing in particular that I DO enjoy about Israeli society is that it is significantly less litigious than the States. For example, when an intercity bus fills up here, the bus driver will let people stand/sit in the aisle even though it's technically illegal. The bus driver knows that everyone is in a rush and bends the rules to help a few people get to where they are going a little faster.

That kind of legal nonchalance would never fly in the US because the first person to take a tumble would sue the bus company for millions. I mean how could you ever use any mode of transportation ever again? An example of this was recently found at the Fox New offices. This crazy lady sued Fox News because her office had an infestation of bed bugs. The infestation was so bad in fact that over the course of 7 months she was bitten 3 whole times! In honor of her suffering I think that all super left leaning liberals should send a message to Fox News by officially boycotting Fox News in favor of CNN for the next 24 hours. Even if the article intended to write that she was bitten on 3 separate occasions, I still don't see how she can suffer from post traumatic stress disorder severe enough to stop her from working. Sounds to me like she had an infestation of the crazies.

Check back tomorrow to see if the boycott was a success.

You know you order in too often when...

This evening, with an almost-empty fridge and low energy levels, Adam and I decided to order a pizza. I called our favorite provider, Pizza Sababa, and gave the guy our address. Halfway through, he interrupted me:

"Shain, right? Regular cheese pizza?"

Oh, dear. It might be time to move...

Um, right.

I was walking home this afternoon and ran across a strange site. In an alleyway near our apartment, around 200 large cardboard boxes had been stacked against a garden wall. According to the stickers on the outside of the boxes, they had come from Canada, and each contained 1000 cartridges of a lidocaine/epinephrine injection. (That's an anesthetic used in dentists' offices, as I discovered later.) No shipping address was visible. Across the alley were 10 plastic garbage bags full of the paper instructions that come with prescriptions. And the boxes and garbage bags were totally unattended.

I waited a few minutes, thinking that the responsible party would come back, but no one appeared. I opened a box (they weren't sealed) to check that the contents were as stated, and sure enough, they were. It seemed ridiculous to leave 200,000 cartridges of a drug sitting alone, in the hot sun, on a Jerusalem street corner, so I did my civic duty and called the police, then sat down to wait for them.

When the police cruiser arrived 20 minutes later, I explained the situation to the two cops, who seemed at a total loss as to what to do. They poked around in a few boxes and stared at them, scratching their heads. Finally, one declared, "The boxes are stacked neatly, so they haven't been abandoned." Um, right. I'm so glad you're in charge.

The cops proceeded to tell passers-by not to touch the boxes while they started knocking on doors, looking for the owner. At that point, I left. It was hot, and I need to get some work done this afternoon. A while later, I popped back outside to see what had happened and saw some men loading the boxes into a big truck. Whether the owner was found or the police just hauled the boxes away, I'm not sure.