Report #6 - March 1999 - Yishuv Alon, Israel
Greetings friends - Here is the monthly report from Israel. It is a mix
of
personal impressions from our experiences here. Please feel free to
send your
comments, critiques and suggestions. Feel free to forward these
reports, and
equally free to ask that I remove you from our list.
It has been a busy month of work and this report will be proportionally
shorter
because of that. The winter is almost over, and the hills have
developed a green
hue on the Northern slopes, that looks very much like the face of a man
with green facial hair, who has not shaved in a few days.
News and Current Events
Wanted for Murder
There is a young man here wanted for murder in the US. He allegedly
brutally dismembered
and burned a man. His alleged accomplice committed suicide in jail in
Maryland when first
incarcerated. This guy has an Israeli father, so he paid bail and ran
to Israel.
The courts just decided NOT to extradite him, but instead to try him
here for murder. It
brings up all sorts of questions and has prompted all sort of
editorials and talk show
discussions. There is another man who is currently wanted for a high
crimes in Texas who
also is believed to have fled to Israel.
I remember vaguely that Meyer Lansky the infamous Jewish mobster, tried
unsuccessfully to
gain Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return, under which any Jew
can immigrate to
Israel and get citizenship.
Hussein Dies
King Hussein of Jordan has died. His funeral was carried on local TV
for many hours, and
most people here mourned his loss. It is not clear how the new King
Hussein (his son - 38)
will relate with Israel. In the meantime, there is still a peace treaty
between Jordan and
Israel, although Assad the President of Syria made a surprise
appearance at the funeral,
presumably to set the stage for softening of the strained relationships
between Syria and
Jordan, ever since the elder Hussein reached out toward Israel. Two
weeks after his death,
radio Jordan was still playing only a chanting dirge all day long.
The Yishuv, and Local Culture
Purim
Purim is a Jewish holiday celebrating the Persian Jews' success over a
villain
named Haman who attempted to commit genocide against them. The story of
Purim
is hard to document historically but the time period is generally
estimated at
4th or 5th century B.C.E.
The holiday is commemorated by a public reading of the scroll telling
the story
of what happened. It is a VERY happy time. There are numerous parties,
both for kids and
grown-ups. Everyone dresses up in costumes, dances, sings etc. Zosh was
Spiderman and Yair
was Superman. For masks, we cut eye holes in the sleep masks we got
from Swissair when we
arrived here 5 months ago.
People give each other baskets of prepared foods, and send money to
poor people.
Every store sells baskets, wrapping material and various delicacies to
assist those who
are not so enterprising. Our Yishuv has something like "secret Santas"
for
christians in the US at Christmas time, where each person is given the
name of two other
families, for whom they must prepare a basket. Of course this is in
addition to any
baskets that family is preparing anyway. The kids in school do
something similar, each kid
picking another one's name out of a hat, one from their own class and
one from another
class. Culturally it has some of the feel of Halloween and some of
Christmas. Although, it
is Jewishly considered one of the minor Holidays, (it is not biblical
like Passover and
High Holidays), it has taken one a greater role in Israel, just as
Hannukah has.
The holiday is one day long but here it is a week long event. This is
because:
1. The holiday is preceeded by a fast day, in memory of the heroine
Esther's fasting.
2. It is celebrated a day later in Jerusalem and other ancient walled
cities. 3. The kids
get off from school all 3 days, which this year are Monday-Wednesday.
Since Sunday is the only day in school before the holiday, the kids all
come to school in
costume that day, and it makes for some great pictures. The day-later
celebration allows
people to party in their home town, and then travel to Jerusalem to
continue their
celebration.
A Wedding
We went to a wedding party on the Yishuv for a couple who because of
Rabbinical problems,
were forced to marry in Cyprus, and then have the party back here. They
are a Hiloni
(secular) couple, but he is of the Priestly lineage (a Cohen), and she
is divorced. It is
not permissible for a Cohen to marry a divorced woman, so the Rabbinate
here who is in
charge of all sanctioned marriages would not marry them.
A Circumcision
We attended a circumcision in the Old City of Jerusalem. It was very
traditional with men
and women sitting separately. In fact the women's section was
effectively outside the
actual service. I did get to bump into some very old friends, whom I
was glad to see.
The Kids
Zosh
Zosh helped me for the first time in Hebrew last month, when I could
not remember the word
for sharpener. He knew it, as well as the words for pencil, folder,
looseleaf, eraser,
pencil case, blackboard, recess, chair, table etc. He still doesn't
speak real sentences
of Hebrew, but he is improving all the time with his comprehension.
Zosh also seems to have learned a popular gesture here, which Americans
find rude. A
person will raise his hand with the thumb and fingers pointing upward
together, showing
the backs of the fingers, and move the hand towards you, to indicate
"wait a
minute". Well that is the polite interpretation. Although it is and can
be used
politely, it is more often used, to indicate impatience and
impertinence. As if to say
"I am in the middle of something, wait your turn, are your blind?" I
was a
little taken aback, when I came to school to pick him up, yelled out
his name, and saw him
run to the car using that gesture.
We invited Zosh's girlfriend and her family over for a Shabbat meal. We
often have her
over by herself during the week, but we thought it was time to get to
know the family :)
They are very nice people. The husband is a Dental Technician, and the
wife is studying
for her Master's degree in environmental science. Her thesis is on how
to prevent the
infestation of sand flies, into desert homes. It seems that they easily
jump right through
normal screens. So the trick is to keep them out but still allow views
through the window.
I can vouch for their horrible bites, so I am all for this research.
They have two daughters Paz and Moran, one in Zosh's class and one in
Yair's. The
kids played well together as usual.
The most interesting part of the get together, was because her family
is Hiloni meaning
"secular". Jews here often identify themselves as being Dati
(religious) or
Hiloni (secular). In many ways the country polarizes on this
distinction, yet it is really
a continuum, as you might expect. For one thing, the average Hiloni
knows a great deal
more about Jewish life and culture than many identified Jews in the US,
so it is a little
funny to call them "secular". In point of fact, the typical Hiloni
here, is like
the typical secular christian in the US - they participate in the
celebration of the major
holidays at least culturally if not religiously, and perhaps go to
Temple when it is time
to circumcise a boy or name a girl, or have a bar-mitzvah. While the
typical
"secular" Jew in the US, is more like a secular christian... dressing
the kids
up for Halloween, and buying presents on Christmas.
The whole experience of having people over for a ritual dinner, who
have decided not to
include those particular rituals in their lives, is interesting. It
becomes necessary to
judge the sensitivities. Sometimes, they are quite happy to have the
opportunity to do
what they otherwise don't do, but other times the expectation of their
participation in a
particular ritual can be presumptuous if not rude. I suppose it is same
thing in the US,
but I never noticed the difficulty there. Perhaps that is because our
guests in the US are
well known friends.
Yair
Yair is getting better at understanding his world but still has a long
way to go. The
other day, his teacher in my presence, told him to get his coat and
project before he ran
out the door with me. Yair, quickly ran and did what he was told. When
I asked him later
what she said, and quoted the sentence, he got the content completely
correct but could
translate very few of the words in the sentence individually.
He has become a bit mischieveous in class, prompting his teachers to
have me remind
not to make faces and run around during circle time. They attributed
his behavior to his
finally feeling comfortable in class. I attributed it to exactly the
opposite.
Yair is in "Gan" or KIndergarten, which is a combo of Pre-K and
Kindergarten for
kids ages 4-6. It is in my opinion and in that of other people I have
talked to here, the
height of the Israeli education system. He learns and does more than
any of us. They spend
weeks on each holiday. If it is Tu Bishvat (the new year for trees),
then they go plant
trees, pick olives, pickle them and bring them home. For Purim, he
listens non-stop to
songs of the holiday. They put makeup on and dress up every day the
whole two weeks before
the holiday. He makes pretend scrolls with the story of Esther on it.
This kind of
involved learning, plus all the socialization is great. Also, the style
here is to treat
kids more independently. So they all walk to school by themselves and
go home by
themselves. They take them on trips all over the place. All in all he
has had a super
exposure to the culture here. When they are not doing holidays, they
play games meant to
teach proto-reading and simple math. The games are fun and the kids
learn without knowing
it.
Once school starts in first grade, then they get thrown in front of
desks with 35 other
kids and are given workbooks and very little personal attention. I
think Zosh has learned
a lot despite this environment, but no doubt that the Gan experience is
superior.
Yona
Yona now seems to say Abba (Daddy), although it is not clear that he
always means me. We
bought him his first pair of shoes, and he is hesitatingly getting used
to them. He walks
very well now, and spends 12 hours a week with an Israeli daycare
provider who has a boy a
half year older than him. Yona like music and seems to dance now that
he has his
"legs". He is doing very well.
Trips and Outings
Qumran
We visited Qumran, the home of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This is one of the
30+ National Parks
of Israel, of which we have been to about 12. It was very disappointing
both for me and
the kids. It was very touristy, and had almost know reproductions or
information about the
scrolls themselves. The place where the scrolls were found can be seen,
but is on the edge
of a cliff and inaccessible both legally and practically. The kids
enjoyed it, until a
guard told them not to climb on the ancient walls of the Qumran sect.
Negev
We spent a weekend in Be'er Sheva, a large city in the Negev desert,
just for the heck of
it. We went to what is best described as a convention business hotel,
with a pool and a
lot of fitness facilities, for local members. The most interesting part
of the weekend was
the way the Hotel catered to our needs religiously providing Kosher
meals and a setting in
which to do all the appropriate rituals, even though the Hotel could
not have been more
secular in its style and clientele. There were perhaps two other
religious families with
kids... otherwise the place was filled with jet-setters, business
travelers, local fitness
freaks and wealthy tourists.
Caves
We visited Beit Guvrin, another national park, which has many caves
quarried out as
basements under ancient homes. The caves have spiral staircases going
down, and one has
thousands of little niches in the walls, presumably for the raising of
pigdeons. This was
fun for everybody. It is a popular class trip in schools as well.
Tefillin
We visited a Tefillin factory. These are ritual objects worn on the arm
and head for
weekday prayers. The detail of what goes into making these objects, a
combination of
leather, with bibilical passages on parchment inserted, and adorned
with leather straps,
was fascinating. The artisan, a Rabbi, took great pride in explaining
his trade and skill.
The kids needed to hear my translation since the Rabbi spoke little
English, but they were
more interested than I expected. Zosh asked the Rabbi if the ox used
for the leather had
to be ritually slaughtered. The Rabbi was impressed with this question,
because in fact it
does not. You can find the dead animal on the road, as long as the skin
is removed and
left in one piece. Perhaps just as fascinating was the road to this
place which threads
its way through the Judean Desert and then Palestinean controlled
territory, where one
might just spot a dead ox on the side of the road.
Visitors
We went into town to visit a teacher from Zosh's and Yair's school in
Sharon, who was
visiting her daughter for a week. The kids loved it, because it
connected them back to
their old lives, and they got to eat out at McDonald's again. I don't
know how they will
ever get used to the fact that all the McDonald's near Sharon are not
kosher and thereby
off limits, after this year off fast-food mania. They have more happy
meal toys from
McDonalds, KFC and Burger King than the total we brought with us to
this country. I guess
we are now part of the "billions" served.
Alladin
We plan to see Alladin with the kids this week, at the Jerusalem
theatre. I imagine the
timing is to coincide with Purim.
Nightlife
Andrea and I went to see a local folk singer who has been around quite
a while and has a
mixed following of old and young, Matti Kaspi. He reminds me of what
Harry Chapin would
have been like had he lived on. The artist had a terrible sore throat
during his
performance but joked about it with the audience. The audience, knew
every song word for
word. I knew one song. Andrea loves this guy and it was a dream come
true for her to see
him in person. I enjoyed watching the crowd, and getting a sense of the
local music scene.
The place reminded me a Greenwich Village Cafe, serving hot drinks, to
200 people sitting
on stools, crowded into a small room to watch and listen to the artist.
They have a
different artist every weekend.
Jackie Chan
The place is right near a huge mall with a multiplex cinema and lots of
climbing
rooms for kids. Andrea agreed the following week to go with me to see
the
newest Jackie Chan movie, which no doubt has left US theatres many
months ago.
My Work
Research
The last month has still been an intense work time for me. I spent
10-12 hours
a day doing the most tedious part of my work, cross referencing the 12
manuscripts with my
own composite version. I finally finished last week, resulting in over
a thousand
footnotes. The whole paper is now about 100 pages, and it seems that it
will be no trouble
to publish it in two parts. Now I can get back to the more fun job of
checking the
translation and analyzing content.
Religious
I have been doing a lot of Torah reading in Temple, since the other two
regulars have been
taking lots of vacations recently. I will do one of the three readings
of the Scroll of
Esther on Purim.
My Play
Bridge
I looked up an old friend who moved here 10 years ago, who was my
Bridge partner way back
when. He is now a Professor of Economics with four kids. We got
together to play in the
big International Tournament that occurs here once a year in Tel Aviv.
It was quite exciting to see the hundreds of Bridge players, some world
class players from
foreign countries, and some like us - local folks. He and I had a
decent game and an
enjoyable time. Plus I got to show him all the local places to eat
supper at the nearby
Tel Aviv University area, where I had worked years ago.
For the few duplicate Bridge players on this list, be aware that in
Israel, you are NOT
allowed to have your convention card or agreements with partner in view
during the
competition. This is exactly the opposite of the rule in the US, where
the ACBL insists on
identically filled out convention cards for each partnership. Also,
there are a number of
conventions here which are much more popular than in the US. For
example, a 2 Diamond
opener showing (a) either a weak 2 opening in hearts or spades, or (b)
a 20-21 balanced
hand or (c) a strong minor opening. We played this and it was fun.
Andrea
Work
My job is going well. My boss is back from after his heart attack, in
good health and good
spirit. Many of his clients pop in just to wish him good health. I've
been doing about 3
hearing tests per morning on the average. I've been managing well with
my broken Hebrew,
and I even write out notes on the bottom of the audiogram in Hebrew,
although I'm sure my
spelling is atrocious. Sometimes, I'm too flustered, and I write the
whole thing in
English. I like my boss very much, but I don't always agree with his
recommendations to
clients about hearing aids. He's not a crook or anything, but he's not
nearly as thorough
or scientific as I would be if I were making the recommendations. I
would not be happy at
the job long term for that reason, but for a short-term experience,
it's great.
Volunteer job
I was getting bored watching people work at Hadassah, and considered
quitting. I switched
from watching regular hearing tests to helping out with ABR's (auditory
brainstem
response) for a few weeks. But then, I decided I still felt too
unnecessary, and attempted
to quit. Instead, the director and I came up with a project for me to
do. They have a few
hundred used/refurbished BTE hearing aids that were donated for people
who can't afford to
buy new ones. So now, I am measuring and categorizing those hearing
aids in a room where I
can also observe many of the hearing tests that go on. I feel much
better there now that I
have a purpose. All of the staff were pleased to hear that I decided to
take on this
little project.
Exercise
I joined an aerobics class two evenings a week. It's fun. It meets
upstairs from Yair's
gan. I cut back the morning swims to once/week. I have also starting
running on Friday
mornings. Running here is very different than in Sharon because of the
hills. I have a
2-mile roundtrip route that is mainly uphill on the way out, and
downhill on the way home.
The last stretch of the uphill is too steep for me to run (so I walk
it), but we'll see if
that improves over time. The most interesting thing about my starting
to run again, is
that I've been taking Julie and Dovi's golden retriever with me! I am
not a dog-person,
but I've really enjoyed his companionship for running. I take him with
his leash as far as
the gate of the Yishuv, and then let him run free on the hill alongside
the auxiliarry
road that I run on. This past week, another dog from the neighborhood
came along with us
uninvited. As we got to the auxiliary road, we came upon about 8
donkeys, which both dogs
enjoyed chasing around the hills. We're not sure if the donkeys are
owned by anyone in the
vicinity or not, but we see them occasionally grazing nearby.
Shai covered the update on the family. I'll just add that I spent a few
hours in Zosh's
class with him. I found it very unstructured. I also spent some
time with Yair in
gan, and found it to be a very nice environment, like Shai described.
Best wishes to all our friends and family,
Shai and family,
Yishuv Alon
Adar 5759