All Night Hike, All Day Artsy, All Weekend Kedumim

I realize now why it's a blessing to sleep one night each day: When you're about to go to sleep, sometimes you drift first into your activities and experiences of the day, before the brain enters hibernation. If you don't sleep for an entire night, you have the mental homework of recounting everything you did as your level of consciousness decreased, over two days. Follow?

Thursday night, 22:30, A tour bus drove south to the lower tip of the Dead Sea, at the edge of the Judean Desert, and a group of college students hiked all night around a river called Nachal Pratzim,as well as Mount Sdom. Yeah, like Sodom and Gemorrah. It was salty at the end, but at the beginning the river was all very smooth with this powdery type of rock that got on everything, and was nothing like sand. We even played hide and seek, one of my personal favorites, for at least an hour, following an in depth lecture into the art of camouflage. There's a Hebrew acrostic that covers all the details, from shadows and smells to the glimmer of a weapon. The pictures were near impossible to take, because I had to keep the exposure open for as long as was possible, 15 seconds. Because of that, I had to put the camera on a surface, and usually chose the ground. Still pictures came out, and we humans really adjusted well to the night vision. The moon was almost too bright, and it prevented us from seeing the stars for most of the night. Fortunately, the darkest hour really is right before the dawn, so we lay on the salty sands of Sodom and learned how to navigate using astrology. We arrived at the end on a lookout of the Dead Sea and watched the sky brighten up before returning to campus.



Pictures of the Night


We arrived back in Jerusalem at 8. I barely slept considering I was a bobble head on the bus ride. But instead of following the track of any normal tired human being, I spent half an hour looking up bus schedules, and packing for the weekend, and then went right back on another bus to Tel Aviv to see the creative works of the artists of Tel Aviv at Nachalat Binyamin. This street hops with performances and a crafts market on Tuesdays and Fridays. Knowing the limited time I had left, I chose to go now rather than at a later time when I would probably be awake. Moreover we had a relaxing breakfast/lunch nearby, but it left with a little more than an hour to run through the market and explore. Some of the stuff was really nifty. See for yourself.



That one hour time limit was due to the fact that I had to get back to Jerusalem to go back to Kedumim, the the West Bank settlement near Nablus and home of my wonderful madricha Na'ama who hosted me on Passover. This time I wasn't going with Will and Chandler, but rather three girls, from Rothberg, and when we arrived at Na'ama's house, her mom immediately recognized me as התרנגול היחיד בלול, meaning the only rooster in the coop. Altogether there were six girls, and me. It probably would have made a bigger difference if I were awake, but I gathered all the energy I had for the wonderful Shabbat meal, and then slept the night and day away. Saturday, we took a nice stroll around the neighborhood, and enjoyed much intellectual conversation about the Conflict. There were also a lot of visitors and eating, all the time. It was simply a great way to wrap up a busy few days.

A Day of Sides, Not Corners or Angles

9th Grade geometry was my worst year of math, and probably in spite of it, some stuck. Try to find a corner in this run around (excluding pictures):

Today the Archaeology of Jerusalem class toured a mountain with a wonderful view (except today because it was foggy and rained pelts of water) of the Old City, called Armon Hanatziv. How do you tour a mountain? By walking through it; that is, through a water system created at least a hundred years before the common era, and then used and renovated until about a hundred years ago. Clearly the water problem in Jerusalem has a history of its own.

There were two aqueducts established to carry water in the city of Jerusalem,  before or during the Roman Period. Water, and great amounts of it, were necessary for the animal sacrifices which took place at the Jewish Temple, for the civilians and tourism as it increased with King Herod's revamping of the Temple Mount, as well as for Jewish Ritual Baths. However, in order to schlep water from a far distance, you need the aid of gravity, and Jerusalem was already in the mountains. South of the city the ridges are higher, but not by much, and water is still hard to come by. An area was chosen a little south of Bethlehem, and a site now known as Solomon's Pools was created (it bears no relation to Solomon). From there, water was channeled to various areas, including Herod's retreat and self-erected memorial known as Herodion, and Jerusalem. There was an upper and a lower aqueduct that ran to the city. The upper went directly to the Jaffa Gate, where Herod's Palace, as well as cisterns and pools were located. The lower one though wound around the Jerusalem hills, eventually feeding right into the Temple Mount for use with sacrifices. Timing is uncertain, plaster colors different between the two trackes. Therefore, the lower aquaduct may have been from the Hasmonean period (167-63BCE) before Herod's time (37-4BCE). We took the lower one for a spin, walking along a very narrow path, which the Turks had dug a few meters deeper during the Ottoman Period. This allowed for us to fit through without crawling, and also demonstrated how long this system was used for bringing water into Jerusalem. There were six shafts along the way which were cut through to the top of the mountain, allowing for air and light.

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Thankfully we didn't need to round any curves, but some people got stuck.

Then in the evening, for a change of pace, I joined school organized trip to the National Paraplegic Basketball Championship between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. This was an amazing experience, not only by admiring the tremendous upper body strength and physical play on the court, but also by seeing the fans shouting and cheering. The game was honored with the attendance of the Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, and the Knesset speaker, Reuven Rivlin, who gave the speech at the Har Herzl Independence Day Ceremony. Jerusalem never led, and while they brought the lead down from 11 to 6 in the 3rd quarter, they never caught up to Tel Aviv. Regardless, it was a fast paced and very exciting game, with kosher hot dogs and halftime entertainment!

Israeli Civic Religion and Education Through Har Herzl

What happens when a religious minority in exile achieves statehood after two millenia? For one thing, there is a crisis in the convergence of memory and history.

Since Independence Day, my JESNA class has been concentrating on Israel education in America. It's become more and more apparent that teaching Israel is extremely difficult when confined to a classroom in another country. Americans have been trained to see and spread news of Israel under the headings of a nation at war, in crisis, or in poverty, and while these characteristics are true of Israel, they are shared as well by any living nation. We looked up photographs from the New York Times and other Jewish Agencies, making Israel out as a bloody and dangerous place. We remembered our family members and friends telling us to be careful before we left for study abroad. We read about children raising bar and bat mitzvah money to send school supplies to Israeli students, under the assumption that most can't afford them. Simply not true.

In contrast to these negative lenses of Israel, there is the overly positive paradigm, attempting to illustrate the country as the Silicone Valley of the Middle East, with the most computers per capita, headquarters for Intel, etc. These facts are true, but paint another inaccurate picture. Certainly not everyone here has a computer, and Jerusalem's poverty rate has increased significantly in the recent past. So once again, there is a problem with the story.

What it comes down to, and what our sources suggest, is that culture can't be taught. It can be analyzed and criticized, but only after first being understood. Nobody in the United States, or really anywhere else in the world, understands Israel, aside from those who have been there. Furthermore, it takes more than a Birthright trip or a two week sight-seeing to begin to grasp what is felt here. I won't say I know it, but I recognize better than before its flaws, as felt by its citizens, as well as its image as shared with other countries. What bothers me further is the immediate rejection of those in the U.S. with conflicted views of Israel. The pro-Israel movement doesn't take any criticism, but they may not know that Israelis have serious problems with their government, and of course they're not tagged "anti-Israel" or as self-hating Jews.

It's very important to have these conversations about education and support from abroad, and perhaps to highlight Israel's flaws before its accomplishments, so that it can be evaluated and understood in all its fascinating qualities, and not as either an angelic technological enterprise or an impoverished war zone.

Our talks carried over to a very interesting trip to Har Herzl, the national cemetery, led by David Mendelson. I'd been here before a little more than a month ago, but David's goal was unique: to analyze the sacredness of time and place in Israeli society (not religious). He was very clear that this was not a visit to pay homage to Israel's leaders or soldiers.

Har Herzl Pictures

We first talked about Jerusalem's surroundings and sacredness of place, recognizing an area called Givat Ram where the Dead Sea scrolls are showcased in a well defended structure (similar to the US Declaration of Independence), where all the government buildings are located, as well as the Israel and Bible Museums. This is the equivalent of Capitol Hill. Then in terms of sacredness of time, Israel just went through a week of sadness, first with Holocaust Memorial Day, and then with Yom Hazikaron. This seven-day period connects to Jewish mourning, or Shiva (from the word for week). The Holocaust Museum Yad Vashem is located at the bottom of Har Herzl, and there ceremonies took place the week before. Then last Tuesday a military memorial ceremony took place on Mount Herzl, but not at the top. The top was reserved for the ceremony I filmed. So you see a physical and emotional climb up the mountain, following a pattern of sadness and then happiness.

Mount Herzl is owned by the World Zionist Congress. Herzl, who died in 1904 and was buried in Vienna, asked in his will to be moved to the Jewish State if/when it was established. While he finally arrived in 1949, he made no mention of place, and so it was young Israel that decided to make a cemetery in the hills of Jerusalem, rather than Tel Aviv or another area partitioned by the U.N. This statement that Jerusalem was of supreme importance to Israel was therefore made even stronger. Interestingly though, other leaders responsible for the establishment of the State had a harder time getting to Mt. Herzl. Jabotinsky, for example, wasn't moved until the 60's, when he was buried in the 40's. This was because Israel was ruled by leftist governments until later, and any recognition of significant figures would legitimize their roles. But following the shift to a right-wing, Jabotinsky arrived, and streets in his name also began to sprout up.

Right behind the bleachers where the Tuesday night ceremony took place, we discussed the torch lighting, and how Israelis, including Arabs, and even those from outside of the country, have lit them. The hardest group to get has been the ultra orthodox, who have their qualms about celebrating such holidays that have no grounding in Jewish Law. However, there has been at least one to do so. Meanwhile, during the lighting, a song in the background plays about how miracles don't come from afar, but are the products of action, just like Hannukah, a holiday that has no grounding in miracles according to the Book of Maccabees, but was later attributed to miracles.

We walked along to the Prime Ministers' plots, discussing Yitzhak Rabin, and the problems Israelis would have if he appeared on a bill shaking Arafats' and Clintons' hands. Israelis had a real problem with what Rabin was doing, but would probably be more supportive of a famous picture of him walking outside the Old City during the Six Day War. We also discussed the famous song now forever linked to his assassination, called "Song for Peace," which he had in his breast pocket and was splattered with blood when he was killed. The song was influenced by Hair and discussed once again the need for human action and involvement, not turning to God for dreams to come true.

Continuing, we discussed special memorials around the military cemetery, including those for terrorist victims, a sunken ship from Morocco, and an Ethiopian memorial for the four thousand people who died on their way to Israel. There is even a war memorial for the hundreds of thousands of Jews that died while fighting in the Soviet Red Army during World War Two. Each of these sites legitimizes the activities of those involved, from Jabotinsky to the Communists.

We then concluded by discussing the military cemetery, emphasizing a transition from the collective to the individual. The soldiers' stones were very simple, stating date of birth and death, age, service, and reason for death. The reason for death could be specific, such as "died in battle," or very ambiguous, like "died fulfilling his duty" or "died during service." The stones also stated where the soldier came from, and if he/she made aliyah, when that took place. Eventually, the dates of birth and death came to include Gregorian dates as well as Jewish dates. However, these details are not nearly enough to explain the life of the person, so more recently there have been placements of pictures and stones bearing biographies and scriptural verses. There were also flowers all around, and while the recognized Jewish tradition is to put stones on the graves, it's simply tradition, and Israel has developed its own of using flowers.

One such stone that we visited contained a very lengthy personal statement, explaining that the soldier was an only child (which meant he needed his parents permission to serve), was tall, liked volleyball, and was actually younger when he died than the stone said. Our teacher explained how the details give the soldier much more of a face and personality, as well as explain what his family is like. For example, a stone saying he died for God's promised land would suggest that he came from a religious family. Then someone behind us said "and I am his mother."

Everyone went very still, and even our teacher had no idea what to say. It was a very uncomfortable moment, but also very chilling and moving, to see this woman still visiting her son, days after Yom Hazikaron. Our teacher hadn't really talked so positively about the stones, since it was an analysis class, but the moment she spoke, our visit lost its academic curtain, because we were sharing in the emotions of a mountain of lost children and family.

We walked on, passing a husband and wife buried together, the result of a terrorist attack during their service, and read more personal statements, exploring the political and religious connotations associated with them. We ended at Michael Levin's grave, perhaps the only one with a personal statement in English. Our class spent the most time here, reflecting on his life and how many roads crisscrossed with his. The memorabilia collection had been canopied with flowers, and many in the class had visited just three days before.

The visit to this cemetery provided us with various glimpses into what has become Israeli civic religion, not simply the culture of a Jewish state. We passed plots of non-Jews who served Israel, and I remembered in Peki'in hearing that Druze who die during their service follow the same Israeli memorial ceremony as Jewish soldiers, with a speech by a government official, and a 21 gun salute. Only their memorial prayer is different. This information is so difficult to teach because it's current and all encompassing. Even this site would be ill-effective in fully capturing Israel, because people won't know that the roads here are paved, it's illegal to pick wildflowers, and saving the lives of 7 million people everyday for 2-3 years before the age of 22 is a source of unspeakable pride. You can try to capture the personality of your family with words or photographs, but you'll always come short, and if you don't, there'll be more to say the following day.

I contend that the only truly effective way to study, explore, and educate one's self about Israel is to visit.