Constructing Kasun, Educator

For any group of people who want to understand Israel, they have to understand Judaism.  The State of Israel, as you know, was created to be a Jewish State.  The laws are secular, but the identity is Jewish.  Religious people are supported by the state, so not all activity is entirely secular (for instance, a certain population of Jews is supported by the state to study religious texts without adding productively to the economy).

So, where to begin?  From a cultural standpoint, you could go to the Museum of the Diaspora, which tells the story of the Jewish people who were forcibly removed from their land and ended up settling all around the Mediterranean and beyond, setting up Jewish communities.  Central to this is the Temple, which was destroyed twice, the second time in 70 AD, and the Jews were left without their most holy of spaces to worship.  There is a debate whether or not exile has been creative or destructive to the Jews.  Many of the Jews who now live in Israel obviously believe that a return to their land is creative, and that’s why they’re here. 

We’ve also looked (at a microscopic level) at a few religious texts to understand the kind of discourse and analysis that belongs to Judaism.  While the Catholic part of me wants a Magisterium to determine which texts and interpretations are correct, the Jews refuse to do this.  The result is a certain kind of tolerance and wiggle room among interpretation that seems to ultimately resolve itself through history.  Several group members have commented that when they ask a question of our presenters, the response is either, “I’m getting to that,” or another question in reply. 

There’s a huge question here also of, “Who is a Jew?”  For about an hour, our group discussed with our very patient advisor what might be an appropriate answer to that question.  There are lots of possible answers—culture, religion, history, being the son or daughter or a Jewish woman, and so on.  Just like the religious tradition of the Jews, there isn’t a solid answer.  I suppose this is true of many groups and the way they do and don’t identify themselves.

We also listened to an explanation of basic demographics here in Israel, begun with a map that showed physical distances in miles of how small Israel is, and, according to the presenter, how real the danger of the Palestinian territories are.  We’ve found that Israel is at the front of international research in various fields and that its economy is becoming increasingly capitalist with the issues that come with it—increased inequality but also increased GDP per capita. 

I keep wondering if any religious state can make it on the international stage.  We’ve learned that Muslim Arabs (and maybe other Arabs?) who live in Israel are considered citizens yet don’t have the right to vote.  It goes without saying this is a real problem.  The Israeli Jew will likely explain that if you give those Arabs the right to vote, they’ll lose their Jewish state.  The same people who are the subject of anti-Semitism throughout the world, a people who would like to be able to be part of their culture and religion in one geographic place.

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Last night, four of us ventured into Tel Aviv proper from our suburban hotel, about 20 minutes from the city.  What a great city.  We had dinner on the beach of the Mediterannean with the most expertly prepared food I’ve had since the trip began, my plate full of red rice, mango sauce, and perfectly grilled blue bream.  We walked along the soft sand and could see the water was very clear even at night; some locals were still bathing in the warm waters.  Later we took a taxi to the restaurant called, “Max Brenner’s Chocolate Bar.”  Yes, your imagination is correct in picturing a chocolate lover’s dream—white, milk, dark chocolates in liquid and solid forms.  The atmosphere was vibrant along the Port area where we passed restaurant after restaurant full of locals and visitors having a good time.

I’ve been in Israel for two days now.  We landed at Ben Gurion Airport, and that was where I experienced my first glimpse of culture shock.  There was a lot of order, people talking quiety, far fewer guardsmen with guns than in Egypt.  We then came to our hotel and had a buffet style lunch.  Much of the food was the same; we are in the Middle East, after all.  Hummus, white cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers, in addition to other foods which Iam not certain are representative of Israeli culture.  After a couple hours of a break in the afternoon (where I scoped out the pool and was not pleased to find it full of local kids and teenagers in bikinis—another point of culture shock).  Then an orientation meeting and dinner with folks from the US Embassy and local universities.  There was a speaker whose message I had difficulty discerning (he referred to a lot of Jewish history and ancient history—both areas where my background knowledge is lacking—other colleagues said they liked him).

Yesterday was what felt like my real initiation to Israel.  We went to Ben Ilan University first, where we toured the library and handled old texts, including an autographed copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass (which I began reading greedily after a three week hiatus from any poetry).  We also visited a brain research center, a massive complex where specialists from many fields research collaboratively to understand the brain—there is NIH funding involved in the project.

After another discussion related to the 9^th of Av, which began last night and is being celebrated today (it’s a historic memory holiday commemorating several tragic events the Jews have lived through, including the destructions of the Temple), we went to the Old City of Jerusalem. 

I had hoped to have feelings that lent themselves to contemplating the places Jesus had visited. Our guide tried to point many of those places out.  Unfortunately, when we went to the Last Supper room, several of the Catholics in our group were figuring out if that was really the place it was supposed to be.  After our visit, our Lonely Planet guidebooks said it wasn’t and we had missed it.  Our guide had explained that he typically deals with Israeli tourists, and I doubt they’re as interested in the sites Jesus went to.  The city is old and contains traces of ancient history as well as rebuilt areas from 20^th century conflicts.

We went to the Church of the Assumption, and I was glad to be in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament for a few moments.  Several of us lit candles and sat contemplatively.  It’s a beautiful 20^th century structure with a crypt room commemorating what is supposed to be the location where Mary was assumed to Heaven.  We later went to the Mount of Olives, ate a picnic style meal, and made our way down to Gethsemane.  From there we went to the Western Wall, where observant Jews were preparing to pray throughout the night in observance of the 9^th of Av.  We were separated by genders and approached the wall, several of us putting prayers into the cracks where we could find spaces.  We stood facing the wall, absorbing the chants of the men to our left and the quieter, more singular prayers of the women before us.