Peace and Purim

Here is something I wrote right around Purim (a week and a half ago).

I’m debating being political... What isn’t political anyway? So, here goes. Last week, someone made a comment to me that aggression from Jewish settlers towards Arabs around Purim increases. I didn’t understand why at first, but I thought about it more. The story of the origin of the holiday of Purim is documented in the Book of Esther (one of the books in the Hebrew Bible). In the story the entire Jewish population is about to be annihilated because the King’s right-hand man, Haman (the quintessential villain), issues a decree calling for it. With the help of two Jews, Mordechai and his cousin Esther (who happens to be Queen), the Jews are saved and Haman is hung. A reverse decree gives Jews the right to defend themselves on the day they were set to be killed. (The story is much more nuanced and detailed but that’s the very basic idea.) One of the customs of Purim is to get so drunk you can’t tell the difference between good and bad. So the problems between Palestinians and settlers around Purim is that these Israelis look at Arabs as Haman or those who sided with Haman and decide to “defend themselves”. Obviously this is horrible... But what I want to focus on here is a particular way this reapplying of the Purim story to modern day really troubles me.

In my Tanakh class at Pardes we’ve been reading the Megillat Esther for the past 5 weeks. We talked today about not letting the story fade from our memory. It’s true that I don’t have the same feelings about the Holocaust as someone who survived a concentration camp. Memories slip away and often lose their meaning when we’ve no longer lived them. So how do we make sure not to lose them? By applying them to our current lives. The Torah is absolutely beautiful in this way- we can take things that happened thousands of years ago and apply these situations to our lives now. Torah continues to be actively lived and is what arguably connects us all as Jews.

So we look at the Megillah (Book of Esther) as applicable to our lives today. We call our enemies Haman. Haman who, seemingly out of nowhere, orders all Jews to be “massacred, killed, and destroyed.” (Ch3v13) We want to go after him/them as the Jews did in the story. We think it’s important to stand up for who are. Preserving our identity is worth killing for.

However, this means we are continually caught up in the binary of good and evil. If we say “the Jewish people will always have enemies,” then we’re going to find or create those enemies, whether or not they existed in the first place. I think we need to take note of how the Megillah gives us a more nuanced portrayal of Haman- we can see his weaknesses and his enormous insecurities. Why is the text written this way? Why do we get this window into what makes him tick? During his ultimate humiliation, when he has to parade Mordechai, the man who represents everything he is not, around as a hero, I almost feel sorry for Haman. He’s driven crazy by his obsessions with image, power, and money. Haman, as a person, becomes just sad for me, rather than a threat.

So what do we do about this “enemy” dilemma? The perpetuation of an us/them mentality isn’t getting us anywhere- and it just makes it easy to dismiss those we disagree with and/or don’t get along with, as opposed to trying to engage them or understand why they feel the way we do. By examining the character of Haman, we can see the importance of understanding who we call our enemy. Perhaps this may be a way to work towards a more peaceful world.

Article referencing violence on Purim:
http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=169801

Musings of the week

Hey! So last week was amazing. Full of so many awesome experiences, and here's some info about a few of them.

Sunday- the Hebrew month of Adar began and we had a festive service at Pardes (Pardes is the school where I'm studying). Adar is when everything gets turned upside down and nothing is as it seems. People wore funny costumes and we sang loudly...

Monday last week was Yom Iyyun Shel Hesed (day of loving kindness) for the Pardes community. Here's a great description of that day by another Pardes student, plus a picture of me!
http://theseandthose.pardes.org/?p=234

Tuesday I went to Ramallah with a friend. I got to see some Seeds of Peace people and just experience the city. It's very commercial, very busy, lots of people, and has a very different feel than Jerusalem. It feels like a completely different country. I got to meet some activists working for ISM and hear about the demonstrations they attend and how they document what's happening for the Palestinians. I admire what they're doing, even if it's not the kind of work I feel drawn to. I'm looking forward to revisiting Palestine soon.

Thursday night I went to Tel Aviv. It was fun to be in a light, easy-going city. To visit an art gallery, see the sea, palm-trees, eat chinese food. Jerusalem is very heavy, and I certainly became aware of that when I was gone from here.

Friday I went up to Tzfat for Shabbat to the Livnot campus. Livnot was the beginning of my return to Judiasm and my spiritual journey in a lot of ways. Being there is so rejuvenating for my soul. It also makes me realize how far I have come.

And now it's tuesday again. Purim is upon us! The crazy holiday where everyone disguises him/herself and gets drunk and we listen to the story of Esther. It's also about giving to the poor, giving food to friends, and eating a bit meal. Plus I have 2 days off of class! Should be fun...

New Food

I ate a delicious felafel yesterday. I'm trying to enjoy all the awesome fruits and vegetables here (they really are especially delicious and very cheap). Unfortunately I have yet to get to the shouk (the large outdoor market), where there are so many foods to buy and things to see. I know, it's crazy that I haven't been there since I arrived. But it's far! And I'm in class all day nearly every day. I'll get there soon. Some things I've been enjoying: persimmons, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and dates. The only problem with dates is that for some reason I think they look like cockroaches. What a horrible association! I still eat them anyway.

I also have to yet to go into the old city... for many reasons.

However, I did go to east Jerusalem last night to a fun restaurant with Seeds of Peace friends. It's crazy how you can be in a neighborhood where everything's in Hebrew, then turn the corner and suddenly you're in a whole incredible new place. Different people, different atmosphere, Arabic everywhere in place of Hebrew. I love experiencing the different cultures, but it's amazing how segregated it feels.

lo ivrit?

First of all, I attend the Seeds of Peace binational seminar this weekend at Neve Shalom. I'm exhausted, but it was an incredible 2 days. Seeing some of my campers from last summer made me so so happy, even if I didn't really have much time to talk to them at all. Hopefully I'll be seeing many of them again soon on a more individual basis.

The point of this blog post is just to say that it is infinitely frustrating for me to not speak the language here. I firmly believe that if you're going to be in a country for more than just a couple weeks you need to make every effort you can to meet the culture you're living in at least halfway. While I am learning a little bit of Hebrew in my classes at Pardes, it's not modern conversational Hebrew, and I'm spending the vast majority of my time around English speakers speaking English. And I'm not in an English speaking country!! Yes, it is true, most people here speak English. But not everyone. Not necessarily the checkout lady at the grocery store or the cab driver who took me home this evening. And I may be able to manage sometimes with just a couple words, but it's not because I understand what's being said, it's because I'm picking up on social cues. When the cab driver turns to me and asks a question and the only word I understand is "yerushalayim" aka Jerusalem, I can figure out that I need to give him the name of the street where I want to go.

However, I am building my vocabulary. This weekend I gained a bunch more Hebrew words (yay for being around Israelis!), and I even learned a few new Arabic words as well (yay for being around Arabs!).

More to come... lilah tov!

Jaywalking, or How I've Become a New Yorker

Here in Jerusalem, people wait for the green walking man before they cross the street. Even if there are absolutely no cars coming. And sometimes you have to wait for for 3 green walking mans- for example on Derech Hevron (a major road I live near) where the street is divided into 3 sections. This means crossing the street can take a long time. I have to cross stop lights at least 4 times on my way to school, this equals about 10 walking mans. Years ago I would never have thought that waiting for the walking light to appear before crossing the street would be strange. But after living 3.5 years in New York City, where no one EVER waits for the light to change, I find this Israeli custom severely annoying. Heck, in NYC no one even looks at the light- if there are no cars, you just cross, and sometimes even if there are cars you cross (at your own risk). It doesn't seem like jaywalking to me- it's just being logical. But New Yorkers move at a faster pace than most of the world I think. And I hear that people actually get tickets for jaywalking here. So I'm trying to be more careful... But standing there waiting when I'm late for class just seems ridiculous. This is how I've become a little bit of a New Yorker.

Israel?

So I left New York City. I came to Israel. It was Tu B'Shevat this weekend, also called new year for the trees. We have a seder and drink wine and are thankful for nature.

This was used in a seder I attended. I really like it.

Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav's Prayer

Master of the universe, grant me the ability to be alone;
may it be my custom to go outdoors each day,
among the trees and grasses, among all growing things,
there to be alone and enter into prayer.

There may I express all that is in my heart,
talking with God to whom I belong.

And may all grasses, trees, and plants awake at my coming.

Send the power of their life into my prayer,
making whole my heart and my speech
through the life and spirit of growing things,
made whole by their transcendent Source.

O that they would enter into my prayer!
Then would I fully open my heart in prayer, supplication, and holy speech;
then, O God, would I pour out the words of my heart before Your presence.

Rabbi Nachman was a pretty cool dude.

Why is arts education important?

So i'm in Cape Cod for the Thanksgiving holiday, which I am so happy about. I'm so lucky to be out of the city, in a beautiful place, and especially to be with amazing people! Lots of good discussion about the mid east conflict, and I'm thinking about how we can get people to think out of the box. Seriously, where can one challenge how she/he thinks about the world in a different way? Where can we challenge our identities and forge new ones? My answer is the arts, but I'm really curious if other people have other answers.

Here's a brief article I just ran across that provides some answers to the importance of arts education in a straightforward way. I think it simplifies things a bit, but still, it makes some points!

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/arts-education/willingham-six-practical-reaso.html

My favorite quote:
"children today would typically watch television or roam the internet, activities that are frequently passive and which encourage conformity. The arts, Kagan argues, offer that sense of agency, of creation."

Happy Thanksgiving!