The long 12.5 hour journey from Toronto to Tel Aviv was pre-empted by my own stupidly. What stupidity you ask? When my parents left me at the airport, my mom left my bag on the floor. Somehow I forgot that I had not picked it up. When I finally realized where it was, the bomb squad had already taken the “suspicious baggage” to the lost and found. Later, I learned if I had done that in Israel, the knapsack would have been blown up! Suffice to say, I found my bag (after going all the way to Terminal 1 from Terminal 3) and was thankful that my stupidity didn’t have severe consequences. Had that bag been blown up, I would have lost my new camera, iPod and books!
After finally arriving in Jerusalem, we went for an amazing dinner of humus, chishkabob and all the fine foods that Israel has to offer. It was a nice introduction to the Israeli cuisine.
New Years eve brought very little in the way of festivities in Jerusalem as the majority of people follow the lunar calendar and pay little attention to the Christian, solar callender.
The first full day was spent learning about the landscape of Jerusalem. The archaeology in this city is incredible. We learned about the complicated history of the city which went into many hands from the Babylonians to the Israelites. We were also able to enter into several archaeological sites—there we saw the Jewish bond to ancient Palestine. What I found most fascinating was the Western Wall, which is the site of the Second Jewish Temple. We saw drawings of what the temple would have looked like before its destruction—it was used for the sacrifice of animals. We then had a chance to go to the Wall to view and pray if we felt inclined. It is also interesting to see a holy site restricted by the religious orthodoxy. Everything at the site needs to be done according to the most observant principles of Jewish customs, including the separation of men and women (men get about 9/10 of the space).
On Friday we were given the opportunity to go to Yad Vashem—I was there in 2004, but they have changed it dramatically since I last went. This time a grand building had been erected, with a vast amount of history about the Holocaust. The building is in the shape of a half of a Jew star (the significance of this being that half of the 12 million Jewish population before the Second World War died) with 6 sections of different history of the Holocaust. What is equally interesting is that once you enter you must go through the whole grounds before exiting. Each section is chronologically set and is very overwhelming. One particular event shook me to the chore: the mass execution of Jews in gigantic graves. What made the presentation powerful was the use of actual survivor footage of the event. One testimonial spoke about a man who was fortunate enough to not have been shot in a mass grave. After many hours of lying silent in the grave, he managed to escape. Imagine trying to live after something like that. Another powerful testimonial was about a man who was interned in Auschwitz. After years of surviving the line-ups and emaciation, someone steals his hat when he falls asleep. He knows that he will face either whipping or straight execution. He knows he will not survive if he does not find a hat, so he manages to steal a hat from another inmate. Later that morning during roll call, he remembers vividly the guard passing him and behind him hearing a single shot, knowing that was the man who was executed for misplacing his hat.
In the afternoon we were given time to prepare for Shabbas. After being driven to the Western Wall (before Shabbas), we were able to see thousands of people praying. It was an interesting experience, especially seeing the vast number of different kinds of religious Jews, from ultra-orthodox Hasidim to modern reform.
Like all Birthright trips, we went to typical places like the Dead Sea (we had a fun time floating in water) and Masada. Masada, for those who do not know, is a fortress erected by Herod the Great. In 72 CE it was forcefully taken over by the Romans who fought against Jewish warriors. The interesting part of the story is that instead of dying a brutal death in the hands of the Romans, the Jewish fighters decided to commit mass suicide. The question then is asked: Did the fighters die an honourable death or was is it better to fight until their last breath, no matter the brutality of the death. The story brings forth many obvious questions of the Shoah (Holocaust) and the modern state of Israel. Many Israelis see Masada as the place where Jews died honourably and see direct parallels between the fort and modern day Israel.
A few days ago we had the opportunity to go to the Israel-Lebanon border. It was pretty amazing to see the physical geography of where Israel ends and Lebanon starts. Being there also made it easier to understand why Israel cherishes the Golan and refuses to give it back. It has many purposes but chiefly serves as a provider of much of Israel’s natural water through the Sea of Galilee and of course strategically used to monitor Lebanon and Syria. While we were there we also had the good fortune of meeting some soldiers on patrol (a day before a fringe Lebanese group with connections to Hamas launched missiles through Lebanon). What was fascinating about these soldiers is that they were Druze. The Druze are a fascinating minority group (they’re faith comes from an offshoot of Islam and it completely secret) who serve loyally the state that they reside. All Druze men serve (and are drafted) into the Israeli army. They are fiercely loyal combatants who fight often in the front line. The commander spoke about the danger of the region and how dangerous it was for his soldiers to get too close to the border—in fear of being kidnapped. He spoke about the taunted of many Hezbullah supporters (because they are not Jews but serve in the Israeli army). I was in awe of the trust that Israel has put in these non-Jewish soldiers and very impressed by their loyalty to the State.
Another big issue that struck me during birthright was the concept of the Israeli state as a Jewish state—representing not only Israel but the entire Jewish community outside of Israel. I have always thought that my connection to this land was significant but that the actions of the Israeli state did not in any way reflect on me just because I happened to be Jewish. If taken to heart, the concept of Israel as a Jewish state completely challenges my understanding of Judaism. If this is the case, then Israel has a massive challenge in not only representing its people to the best of their ability, but also the broader Jewish community (re: when it goes to war it does not only threaten the international reputation of Israel but of Jews in general). I was further enlightened when the question of defending Jews abroad was asked by our tour guide to the Israelis who were placed in our group—all of them said they would defend Jews abroad if they were endanger. I wonder what other people think about this issue.
Now that Birthright has ended I find myself in Tel Aviv wondering the city trying to get to know it. I got lost several times today, but I think that’s all about finding my way around this city. It’s crazy how diverse this city is and how different it is from the rest of Israel. It truly is the city that does not sleep. I’m staying at a hostel called Hayarkon 48 for at least 3 nights –its clean, cheap and the people are friendly.
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