A Baker's Dozen of Extracurricular Activities

Rabbi Michael Feshbach
Temple Shalom
Chevy Chase, Maryland

Studies continue for many hours a day, with so much to say about them.
But there have been a few "extracurricular" activities as well.  Some of these (such as the West Bank tour and the movie night) were organized by the Machon, the Shalom Hartman Institute, and the program I am in.  Others were things I did on my own.  Each of the baker's dozen of activities below would be worth a blog of its own, and I may expand on this, but for now, a quick survey:

1) A tour of the West Bank was one of the most interesting and eye-opening experiences I have ever had in Israel.  (Or do we even say "in Israel" for part of the day?)  We began the tour with an American-born Israeli attorney named Daniel Seidemann, a colorful character who has advised American and Israeli governments on security issues in an independent capacity, whose claim to have had significant influence is backed up by others, and who often has taken the Israeli government to court to attempt to force it (also sometimes successfully) to change the route of the security fence.   His claim is that there remain only two or three more years for a viable two-state solution, that the creeping settlements will soon surround Jerusalem and make a workable and contiguous Palestinian state almost impossible.  Our first stop was where the border will probably run in any future agreement, and our second one at the infamous and controversial Sheik Jarrah, where Jewish settlers and squatters have taken up homes in the middle of a Palestinian neighborhood, attempting to demolish homes and brandishing the very new and historically dubious claim to have found the grave of an ancient figure known as Simon the Just.  The very first sign of a typical "Israeli" type of complications that day came when we tried to go back to the bus, only to find it locked, and all of us waited for 20 minutes in the sun while, we later discovered, the bus driver had gone off to daven (pray) and put on teflillin!

After meeting with Daniel Seidemann, we then headed north from Jerusalem, entered the heart of the territories, discussed what the implications of language were for the region (anything that one chooses to call this area reflects a political bias of one form or another), and then picked up another Danny... this time Colenel Danny Terza, the former chief planner of the "Seam Zone" Barrier.  In other words, he is the one who designed the route of the fence, which the man we met with earlier challenged.  The two men have often met on opposite sides of court cases!  We visited the settlement of Beit Aryeh, and looked down from what Palestinians want as their territory... right onto the runways of Ben Gurion, and the coastal plain of Tel Aviv.

And then things got... really interesting.

We had plans to go into Area A, the part of the West Bank totally controlled by the Palestinians.  Israelis are not allowed to enter this area, and we were going only with permission from the Israeli army and an invitation from the Palestinians.  But one of the bus drivers -- our friend from the morning, of course -- refused to go in.  I put up my hand and asked the organizer incredulously why the company had not known, in advance, where we were going; the reply was that the company had but the driver had not!

So somewhere near Bir Zeit we pulled over, and, at the entrance to Area A, in front of a sign in Hebrew indicating that one was risking one life, we hopped off our bus, and waited... while the other driver shuttled the first group in.  Eventually, escorted on the other bus, but a white van with a sign in Arabic saying something like "don't worry that the bus behind us has Hebrew on it, because they are with us," we went in... and headed to the site of the new Palestinian city of Rawabi.

The place is incredible.  The presentation was slick, professional, with fund raising videos outlining future plans, envisioning a thriving, middle class, environmentally friendly, world-funded but eventually self-sustaining city of thousands, bringing jobs to the Palestinian areas, ameliorating a significant housing shortage, and serving as a cornerstone of what the planners call "the peace economy."  And yes, 12 of 13 steps of the approval process needed from the Israeli government have been met -- the last one being the Prime Minister's approval.  And yes, there are issues with access roads and water rights.  But if you see me in person, ask to see the fancy brochures and detailed plans; it seems that these Palestinian entrepreneurs, at least, have learned from the very best of Israel's Zionist successes.  Hearing from the developer, Bashar El Masri, was inspirational, and a source of hope in an otherwise bleak landscape.  I am not sure that the fact that they are being attacked by both Palestinian extremist and settlers who do not want to see Palestinian development succeed is automatic proof that they are doing something right, but it was certainly an argument in their favor.

2)  Abu Ghosh.  On returning from the tour of the West Bank, it seemed appropriate to maintain the theme of the day, so two friends piled into my car and we headed off to the Israeli Arab town of Abu Ghosh, for a meal at the Lebanese Restaurant, widely considered one of the best places for hummus in all of Israel.  It was interesting being in a friendly, educated, thriving Arab village outside of Jerusalem.  In its own way, breaking bread in total comfort was another sign of hope.  It certainly felt like a perfectly normal thing to do.

3) Two days after the tour of the West Bank, we got a dose of Western culture at the highest levels imaginable.  The entire Hartman program -- at this time both my group and the much larger Rabbinic Torah Seminar -- had a special guided tour of the newly renovated Israel museum.  We went off into different sections; I made a mistake, I think, in choosing Archeology, the one section of the museum I had seen already, last year, thinking I could learn more from the guided tour (other friends reported great satisfaction with their tours of the other parts of the Museum), and then we gathered on the balcony overlooking the Knesset and the Judean hills, for a first-rate dinner and a world-class talk by the Museum's Director, James Snyder, who had been at the MoMA in New York before coming here.  He was a New York figure of a certain type, holding on to the leash of what I later found out was his wife's dog while gesturing and describing the renovation.  The Israel Museum is now one of the ten largest museums in the world, and their display of items went from 10,000 objects in 100,000 square feet to a much more spacious, intentionally calming arrangement of 7,000 objects in 200,000 square feet.  The Museum is, indeed, totally world class; an amazing evening of art and culture.

4) We returned to the Israel Museum tonight for a concert by Israeli artist Chava Alberstein.  In some ways I felt as if I was in the heart of the (older) secular Ashkenazi elite... The performance was packed, and in the beautiful setting of outdoor upper level of the museum.  (At the same time, on the same night, I heard that almost 200,000 Israelis are gathering up north for an annual Israeli folk-dance festival in Carmiel... hard to believe those numbers but I am assured that I heard that correctly.  And Paul Simon, tonight, perfomed in a northern suburb of Tel Aviv, defiantly breaking the informal artists' boycott and bringing joy and comfort to thousands who were able to attend,)

5) The same spot, on the upper level of the Israel Museum, featured in the opening scene of the new award-winning, critically acclaimed and amazingly popular Israeli movie "Footnote."  It stars Israeli actor Lior Ashkenazi, who Julie and I loved in "Walk on Water."  He looks totally different here, barely recognizable as the same actor... and this movie is about the cutthroat competition in the ivory-tower academic world of arcane Talmudic research.  (Really.  Seriously.  Could I make that up?)  It is a surpisingly powerful film about family rivalry, academic insularity, honesty, truth and integrity.  We saw the film together with a group of academics... we rabbis accompanied the Hartman Institute's North American Scholars' Circle to the Jerusalem Theater to see the film, and some of the academics were deeply disturbed by the movie.  I hope it comes to the States with subtitles soon, and I recommend it.  (The Hartman Institute had a subtle mention in the movie, product placement which certainly made the organizers of our evening proud!)

6) Another cultural experience was a bit different from the world of academia and museums.  Apparently there is American funding for cultural renewal in Jerusalem in a setting that is neither political nor overtly religious.  So, this past Monday night, the Hartman folks made sure we had an evening out... at Balabasta, the musical and dance extravaganza held every Monday night, during the summer, in the already crowded corridors of Machane Yehuda.  Amazing to see bands playing from rooftops, people dancing on balconies, clowns and costumed characters walking all around.  Great experience, great meal at an Eastern (Iraqi?) style restaurant called "The Skewer."  I would not have known this whole thing was going on without it being on our program, so I am grateful... and I think we were the only English speakers for miles around. 

7) The school I visited the other day, with Arabs and Jews studying together, I described in a previous posting.

8) We heard earlier today from one of our teachers, Alick Isaacs, a postmodernist philosopher who brought us all squarely into the world of the unity of opposites... and who is now leaving Hartman to pursue what he views as his calling... an organization called "Talking Peace," which he founded with others, aimed at bringing about an internal, Israeli, Jewish values discussion of what peace really means, with participation from committed right-wing settlers to well known leftist peace activists, who are having an impact on each other by listening to each other in ways they never have before.

9) Tel Aviv last weekend was... amazing.  Both the service at the Tel Aviv port (which I first wrote about last year in a post called "Facing West" and which I will return to again in a future post) and wandering around the Carmel Market and newly redeveloped areas of southern Tel Aviv, Nachalat Binyamin and Neve Tzedek, were amazing experiences.  The contrast between the two cities, an hour apart, could not be greater; different worlds, truly. 

10) Se'udah Sh'lishit -- the third meal, referring to a Saturday evening meal held before the end of Shabbat -- was a wonderful experience last week, as an American-born Reform rabbi who made aliyah upon his retirement a decade ago invited me over, along with some local and some other North American colleagues.  It was a great chance to hear a "home" perspective from relatively new Israelis, in the Anglo community here.

11) Driving and parking in Israel has been an adventure.  My trip to the municipality to get a "tav chanaya," a parking sticker, was a double adventure.  My colleague and roommate Rabbi Jonathan Hecht had paved the way for me with three hours worth of aggravation the week before I arrived.  He kindly took me downtown to show me which the right buildings (plural) to go to were, and in which order, and which papers I would need... but, of course, the offices were all closed on the Friday morning we went there.  (We thought they would be open until early afternoon.)  So I went back on Sunday, went through everything he told me to do, and then found out that I could not get the sticker because we were here for less than a month.  I pleaded (having gotten nailed with a ticket just that morning), indicating that I had already been here a week, had had no time to come in earlier... and the lease was for a month.  I was told that "only Shuli can decide" what to do, and had visions of said Shuli being off on a honeymoon in India or something.  But eventually they found Shuli, got approval... and, after giving me a real run-around, then reached out, took my ticket, stuck a note on it... and told me not to worry about it.  What a stereotypical taste of what I imagine Israel to be!  Impossible... and then a close family feeling... all at once.

12) I visited a colleague who was at Hartman, but had to go to the hospital.  I learned several things about Israeli hospitals.  First, there are no televisions or phones in the rooms.  Second, the doctors are good, but are out on strike.  And third, no clergy parking spaces.

13) I am looking forward to a return visit to some other places outside the city, including a visit to a home in Tzur Hadassah this coming Sunday night.  Jerusalem may be one of the centers of the world, but it is, in its own way, not necessarily the center of Israel.  Getting out and around is a reminder that the country is bigger than one enchanting, enraging, magical city...  that the magic and miracle that is this country is not limited just to Jerusalem.

More soon.