Nexus of Religion, History, and Film
Rahel writes about a visit to one of Israel’s little-known cultural treasures, a film school that caters to religious and culturally-steeped Jews, and produces some very high-level, thought-provoking work:
Tonight I met some friends at the Ma’ale School of Film, Television and the Arts, where we watched four films by their graduates. They were amazing, and what was even better was that I got to meet a good friend who is herself a graduate of Ma’ale and whom I hadn’t seen for some time.
What’s extraordinary about Ma’ale is that its students come from the religious population … and no subject is taboo. The school’s students and graduates do fantastic work, often making films about topics that require a great deal of courage to take on.
Here is a list of what will be showing when. Highly recommended. I hope to go back tomorrow night as well.
Homesick
Katherine explains how it is that her one-year trip to Israel turned, almost by accident, into immigration . . . and that though she has decided that she likes it here, she misses her family in Cape Town terribly:
The problem now is this. While we have acquired some really good friends here, and we have all of Bob’s family here (which means a lot of family), we have left behind in South Africa both very good friends, and all of my family. This was evident at the two wedding parties, where in Cape Town maybe 10% of the guests were there for Bob, and in Israel even less than 10% were here for me. At first I was here in this country because Bob convinced me it was a great place, and we would enjoy a good quality of life here. In the beginning I was not so convinced, and neither was he, truth be told. It seems visiting is a different thing to living here. Slowly though I have become convinced here about the quality of life, and the relative advantages of living here compared to Cape Town. If Bob were to suddenly settle for a newer fresher less talkative model, I would still stay here to do my Phd. So it appears in my head I am convinced living here, while difficult at plenty of times, is also something sweet.
My heart on the other hand is somehow not so convinced. My heart is confused and would like to buy a magic flying carpet which could allow me to live here, and to see my family on a regular basis. In our first year here, I think I was back in South Africa 3 or 4 times. It has now been 6 months since my last visit back, with the next visit only tentatively scheduled for possibly April or July next year. Studying full time with half a salary does not allow much leeway for international flight tickets at 1200 dollars a pop. While I know that inevitably one moves away from one’s family, I find it a very difficult thing to deal with. It is even more difficult when not only do I miss them, but I worry about them too. While my brother would like nothing better than to tangle with a would be criminal, and my sister seems to lead a charmed criminal free life in Johannesburg, a little old lady was murdered in the little seaside village where my mother lives, not 5 minutes up the road. This is the sort of thing that makes me feel bad that I am so far away, and that there is effectively nothing I can do to make her safer. If I was there I would probably also not be able to do anything about it, but at least I would not feel so far away.
At the same time, I also feel like I am missing out on experiencing what is going on in my siblings and my mother’s life. I don’t know if this is something that would naturally have happened, if we would have gone somewhere else, or if my brother would have gone and lived somewhere overseas. My sister left Cape Town a good few years back, but still moving cities is not the same as moving countries. I really don’t know how people do it, coming here, leaving all their family behind, and with the intention of staying permanently. I don’t think I could have made such a difficult decision, rather that decision, at least for the next few years, somehow just got made.
A Hike in the Hills
Filed under: General, Immigrant Moments, Life, Travel
Yael has some great pictures and explanatory captions from her hike near Bet Shemesh (a large town between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv)
Click here for more.
Woo hoo!
Great news for fans of Israeli soccer!!! The under-21 team is headed for the European Championship!!!!
Israel’s under-21 soccer team qualified for the European Championship for the first time last night, beating France 1-0 in Herzliya to complete a 2-1 aggregate victory.
Amir Tega scored the winning goal in injury time, after picking up a deflection off a French defender and slotting the ball into an empty, with the visiting goalkeeper stranded. Tega had come on as a substitute only four minutes earlier.
France had dominated the first half, but at 9:20 P.M., the fireworks went off over the Municipal Stadium in Herzliya to celebrate Israel’s historic victory.
Only eight minutes earlier, the 7,500 fans in Herzliya skipped a heart beat when Albin Ebondo sent a shot crashing against the post for France. Memories of previous occasions when Israel had failed at the last moment haunted both the fans and the Israeli bench, but this time things were to be different as Tega blasted the ball into an open net to put things beyond doubt with less than a minutes remaining.
Coach Guy Levi had said all along that he would play to win even though a goalless draw would have been enough to send Israel through to a place among Europe’s top eight. The first half provided little coverage for Levi’s bold predictions.
. . . . France piled on the pressure in the final minutes and suddenly it looked as if a goalless draw might be to much to ask; but in the end, Tom Almadon in the Israel goal stopped the visitors from ruining the party, and Tamuz set up Tega for the finale – and the celebrations began.
Annual Sukkot Parade (of our non-Jewish friends)
Thousands of years ago, back when the Jewish Temple stood on the Temple Mount, its doors were thrown open on the first day of Sukkot so that any non-Jew who wished to worship there could do so.
Today, the tradition continues, with an annual parade of non-Jewish supporters of Israel during the intermediary days of Sukkot.
Dan Sieradski was there with his camera. His complete album of the parade, replete with beautiful photos (and snarky comments, and a snarkier soundrack) is here.
A taste:
The Brazilian contingent
Our friends from the Philippines
One of many Christian Zionist groups
Um, I think, based on Dan’s caption, that this is a group from Israel’s Postal Service workers. Not positive though.
Happy Holidays. :-)
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