My Israeli flag, love it or not
Filed under: A New Reality, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Movies, coexistence
The blue and white of the Israeli flag has never been more closely analyzed and inspected than in the documentary film My Flag by Toronto filmmaker Igal Hecht.
The 30-year-old, Israeli-born Hecht has made about 40 documentaries over the last decade, with most of them in recent years focusing on Israel, which he calls his “obsession.”
My Flag , which is having its Israeli debut on Thursday night at the Sixth Jewish Eye Film Festival in Ashkelon, finds Hecht traveling around the country during its 60th birthday year and asking those he encounters one question – ‘what does the Israeli flag mean to you?’
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=36087766The answers range from humorous to biting to reflective, accurately mirroring the fractures of Israeli society and the attempts by its citizens to understand the nature of their country amid their first identity crisis.
Hecht traveled to Sderot where a man whose wife was seriously injured in a Kassam attack angrily says, “This flag is nothing to me – if you weren’t here, I would burn it like the Arabs do.”
In Mea She’arim, he walked around with flag wrapped around him, like a more thoughtful Bruno, evoking residents to respond, “It’s a rag, I wouldn’t even wash the floors with it.”
“We don’t need a flag, we have Hashem,” another says.
But for every negative connotation, there’s patriotic responses, from singer Saraleh Sharon who says, “The flag of Israel is our home.” Or from a Druze Israeli in the North who says “I am proud to be a son of this nation.”
In a process similar to that in the US, where in recent years, the symbol of the flag has been coopted by a decidedly right-wing, nationalist viewpoint, the Israeli flag has also inadvertently become a symbol of the Right. My Flag is an attempt to return the flag, representing both the achievements and blemishes of an imperfect country, to the Center.
“I learned that there’s frustration in Israel,” Hecht told me. “I end the film with a speech Ezer Weizman gave in 1996 in Germany. He talked about the country standing at a crossroad and unsure of where it was going. Unfortunately, that’s the thesis of the film ultimately. There’s a lot of uncertainty and lack of vision for many Israelis. That can be still translated into love and appreciation of the flag, but it also provokes hesitancy and grasping at trying to understand what’s going on in the country. Is it Zionism, or post-Zionism? What is the new Israel?”
That’s the question we’re all trying to grapple with.
Nostalgia Sunday – Lod Mosaic
Filed under: Art, General, History and Culture, Nostalgia Sunday, Travel
It may be more historic than nostalgic, but the big news in archeology last week here was that the Israel Antiquities Authority made an interesting discovery while detaching a magnificent floor mosaic for transfer to the IAA conservation laboratories in Jerusalem. They found ancient footprints! Apparently, while working on the plaster bedding (done before laying down the mosaic) the artisans trod on it in sandals and in bare feet.
The floor is a story in itself. According to the IAA: “The 1,700 year old mosaic, which is one of the largest and most magnificent ever seen in Israel, was exposed in the city of Lod in 1996 and was covered again when no resources could be found for its conservation. Thirteen years after efforts were made to raise the large amount required to treat the unique artifact, the IAA received a contribution from the Leon Levy Foundation that is specifically earmarked for the purpose of conserving and developing the site, in cooperation with the Municipality of Lod. The mosaic was re-excavated, exhibited to the public and is now being removed from the area for treatment in the IAA conservation laboratories.”
“The mosaic, which constitutes a real archaeological gem that is extraordinarily well-preserved, is c. 180 sq m in size. It is composed of colorful carpets that depict in great detail mammals, birds, fish, floral species, and sailing and merchant vessels that were in use at the time. It is believed the mosaic floor was part of a villa that belonged to a wealthy man in the Roman period.”
Hopefully, the floor’s restoration holds the key — along with other innovative social welfare efforts reported on by ISRAEL21c — to turning Lod around from the center of drug-related crime to the tourist haven it ought to be. The IAA stated that, “The municipality, in cooperation with the Israel Antiquities Authority, plans to integrate it into a tourism circuit that will include a number of historic sites in the city.” Given the magnificence of the artifact, there is every chance that the plan could work.
When’s the right time for a rite of passage?
Filed under: A New Reality, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Religion, Travel, health
It’s generally accepted that the Israeli perspective on the bar/bat mitzvah ceremony is different from its counterpart in the US.
I remember when Susie and three of her closest friends decided to celebrate their bat mitzvahs together – they were all around 40-years-old at the time.
They had been studying Torah as a group in Jerusalem for a year and a half. It all started when Boston-born Susie, who had already been in Israel for more than 20 years, started to feel that while her Jewish identity was her primary identity, which is why she had moved here, it was time for her to confront her “awe of the Torah.”
Sally, Ruti and Janet had also been in Israel for a couple of decades and for various reasons, none of the four had had a bat mitzvah back in the States. In fact, the first bat mitzvah was held by American rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan, a major figure in Jewish thought and the founder of the Reconstructionist movement, for his daughter Judith in 1922.
So the culmination of 18 months of study and learning to read from the holy book was a ceremony at Jerusalem’s Kol Haneshama .
Now the idea didn’t resonate with everybody, but at that June ceremony 12 years ago no one could fail to be moved by the four women’s obvious quiet joy and pride in their achievements.
The bat mitzvahs of those forty-somethings inevitably came to mind when I received an e-mail recently, telling me about another group of delayed bar/bat mitzvah celebrants, en route to Israel.
Some of the participants at the upcoming celebration will be using walkers. Oxygen and wheelchairs will be available for emergencies. Five nurses will be traveling with the group. The average age of the participants in this particular version of the Jewish coming-of-age ceremony? Eighty-five.
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Kfar Blum’s Pastoral Pastures
Filed under: Environment, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Travel
I’ve always had a thing for the kibbutz, that is, the kibbutz lifestyle, where you live in a tight-knit community of people whom you hopefully like, can avail yourself of the kibbutz pool and have the opportunity to eat freshly fried schnitzel at almost any given time. I mean, hey, that’s living, right?
So you can imagine how pleased I was to be spending part of our Sukkot vacation at Kibbutz Kfar Blum’s hotel, now known as Pastoral Kfar Blum. What was once just a run-of-the-mill kibbutz hotel has become a higher-end version of this Israeli standard, with lush grounds, a truly stupendous breakfast and dinner spread and great access to all the local attractions.
As a New York Times article quoted back in 1990,
“When I asked the manager of Mitzpeh Rachel, whom everybody calls Juhah, to explain the difference between his hostelry and ordinary hotels, he answered: ”At the kibbutzim the staff owns the hotels, so everybody cares. It isn’t just a job. And where else will you see a guest and a waiter – a kibbutz member – sitting after dinner and chatting over a cup of coffee?” A guest there put it this way: ”A hotel is a place where you sleep. Here, I am at home.”
19 years later, much of what Nitza Rosovsky wrote in her review of Israel’s best kibbutz guesthouses still rings true, and many of the kibbutzim have taken it a step beyond, with renovated guestrooms, sumptuous spreads, spas — yes, spas — and a very casual, easy atmosphere that makes it comfortable for all sorts. There’s even a Kibbutz Hotels Chain, with a website, although it seems to be closed until October 19, strange.
In any case, as the website points out, kibbutz hotels are everywhere — well, anywhere where there are kibbutzim — from Eilat’s Red Sea to the snowy slopes of Mount Hermon.
Kfar Blum, which is an easy ride to Mount Hermon and other northern destinations, was founded in November 1943 by the Labor Zionist Habonim (now Habonim Dror) youth movement, according to Wikipedia. The founding members of the kibbutz were primarily from the United Kingdom, South Africa, the United States and the Baltic countries, and the kibbutz was named in honor of Léon Blum, the Jewish socialist former Prime Minister of France who was the focus of a widely-publicized, and ultimately unsuccessful, show trial in 1942 mounted by the collaborationist Vichy regime.
Besides working with agriculture, light industry and tourism — including the hotel and the kibbutz kayaking/rafting company, the kibbutz was once home to Hapoel Galil Elyon, a top division basketball team, which in 1993 became the only club from outside Tel Aviv to win the championship. I’ve also heard that its Olympic size pool was once the only one around for miles, and was used for Olympian trainees, but couldn’t confirm that particular fact.
Prices are not cheap, particularly during the high season of the holidays. But if you’re looking for an easy getaway, and for a guestroom that doesn’t have a Jacuzzi next to your bed — a common feature in many Israeli tzimmers — I’m voting for Kfar Blum.
Foto Friday – The Israel Photography Exhibition
Filed under: Art, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Pop Culture
POV, a retrospective of new works by Israel’s leading photographers/curators took place this past week at Tel Aviv’s newest landmark, the refurbished old train station structure in Neve Tzedek (pictured left). For those who missed the show (and that includes your humble scribe), POV has provided video portfolios for the group, as well as individual photographers. A portion of these works are presented in this Foto Friday column, with more to follow. Enjoy! And for those who can’t wait, visit the POV website and YouTube channel.
Show Portfolio
Moshe Shay
Yuval Tebol
David Perlov
2 days of pluralistic learning (and sex) in Jerusalem
Sex sells. And in Jerusalem, with its large religious population, a session on how Orthodoxy can come to terms with sexual activity – both in and out of marriage – drew an overflow crowd at the recent Gateways Festival of Jewish Learning and Culture.
The festival is a remarkable event: modeled on the popular Limmud conference that originated in the U.K. it featured two days of pluralistic learning throughout the city in English and Hebrew.
Some of the sessions that were offered: “Mystery of the Mikveh,” “Religious-Secular Coupling in the Gemara,” “Torah for Moderns,” Jewish Meditation, “Do the Ends Justify the Means?” “Loving Difficult People,” and “The Whole of Jewish History in One Hour” – a tour de force by recent immigrant David Solomon.
There was also a free concert of the all women’s A Cappella choir Kolot in the sukka of the ICCC (the German Colony’s community center).
The session on “Sexuality and Orthodoxy” was led by two women – Beverley Damelin, a secular sex educator, and Dr. Jennie Rosenfeld, a religious woman who wrote her doctorate or sexuality in the Orthodox world and was named one of the “36 under 36” by the Jewish Week in 2008.
They were remarkably open, pulling no punches and eschewing the kind of uncomfortable euphemisms one might expect from such an explosive topic, as they covered thoughts and feelings about sexuality; premarital sex; masturbation; and sexual practices within marriage.
The Gateways festival was sponsored by a bevy of individuals and non-profits, under the auspices of the city’s newly revitalized Department of Culture. It was one of the most exhilarating days of Jewish learning I’ve had in years. I’m already looking forward to next year’s event during hol ha moed Sukkot.
Inglourious Basterds strikes a chord in Israel
Filed under: A New Reality, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Movies
Nazi scalper Brad Pitt talks to his Jewish revenge recruits in Inglourious Basterds.
It’s not that I didn’t immensely enjoy the over-the-top Tarantino blood and dialogue trademark and the standout performances by Brad Pitt and Christoph Waltz as ‘The Jew Hunter.’ I could even turn a blind eye to the Holocaust revisionism for the sake of comic book adventure heroic Jews who give Hitler and company what they deserve.
What proved most unsettling, more than the scalpings and crushed skulls via baseball bats, was the audience reaction at the screening. A good percentage of the sold-out crowd consisted of teenage Israelis and young American, religious students apparently studying here for a year.
Whenever another Nazi got his just reward, the crowd broke out in lustly cheers as if Alex Rodriguez had just hit another one out of the park. I know they’re heartless Nazis, but I felt like I was at a Kach rally.
On the one hand, it was liberating to be the avengers of the six million Jews killed by the Nazis, but on the other hand, maybe we shouldn’t have been so happy about it.
It turns out that my colleague Dina Kraft over at The Faster Times related to the same issue in her much better post .
It is this ingrained Holocaust consciousness that colors Israelis’ alternating repulsion, delight, and fascination with the movie hailed abroad as “Kosher Porn,” a fantastical universe of Jewish revenge on the Nazis. It’s been playing to packed theatres and in some cities seats need to be ordered at least a day in advance. The audiences heartily cheer, clap and laugh through their cinematic ride with a band of Nazi-scalping U.S. Jewish soldiers alongside the accompanying parallel plot of a beautiful, blond Jewess plotting her final revenge.
Kraft quoted some of the viewers walking out of the screening, who had differing opinions on what they had just seen.
It was a pale, shaken-looking Erez Makovy, 31, who emerged from a darkened 500-seat theatre, filled to capacity. The crowd had gone silent watching the carnage climax in which the Nazi leadership is devoured by flames and automatic gunfire. But it broke into loud applause when Brad Pitt’s swash-buckling U.S. lieutenant character carved what became a trademark swastika into the forehead of the S.S. officer who serves as the film’s villain in chief.
“The movie left me with a bitter taste in my mouth,” said Makovy, a musician who was disturbed by the audiences’ cheers.
His friend, Itai Zangi, 27, a music producer, however, was among the laugh-out-loud, clapping masses. “It’s nice to be on the winning side, for once. I liked that he (Tarantino) turned things totally upside down.”
Nearby, also contemplating the experience, was Hila Schuman, a 32-year-old biologist. “It’s a bit too over-the-top. For Israelis, it’s hard to take a story out of the context we know so well. So we’re left asking: Is this a parody? Is it serious? … Or is this just what revenge would look like on LSD.”
As the film goes to DVD in the coming months, more Israelis will be able to ponder the same questions.
Nostalgia Sunday – Mercedes Sosa
Filed under: Art, General, History and Culture, Music, Nostalgia Sunday
Amidst all today’s Sukkot holiday hoopla came the sad news that folksinger Mercedes Sosa, “The Voice of Latin America”, was dead. Sosa, who for over four decades, influenced singers from Joan Baez to Shakira, was a champion for social justice and a great friend to Israel.
She was a great friend to Israeli singers, too. Her last tour here was just a year ago, in October 2008, when David Broza took the stage with her during those performances.
She also collaborated with Argentinian-born singer-songwriter Shlomo Idov, who spoke movingly about her on Israel Radio today, as well as Aviv Geffen.
Last year, Israel’s Channel 2 ran an item about the long-standing relationship between Sosa and Israel. The video (in Hebrew only) can be viewed here.
The Argentinian community in Israel is planning a memorial celebration of the life of Mercedes Sosa on at 8:00o pm on Tuesday, October 6, and invites people to bring guitars and other instruments, food and friends to Park Herzliya (near the Seven Stars Mall). They, as do we all, will always remember Sosa in her heyday, performing one of her best-known songs, “Gracias a la Vida” (“Thanks to Life”).
Pin-ups
I’m a sucker for calendars, because I love the feeling of filling up the days of the month with what’s happening, from dentist appointments and school events to visits from friends, deadlines and, hopefully, vacations. So the advent of a new year is always advantageous for me, because everyone is passing out calendars these days.
There’s my fruit-and-vegetable guy, who always prints a magnetic one for the fridge:
And Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, which runs the pool and gym complex in our area, was offering their own version this year:
My mother-in-law always buys one for us each year, because she’s also a big fan of calendar-filling:
And then I noticed this item in Ha’aretz, pointing out that this year’s Carlsberg Beer calendar is using Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef as the pinup figure to be admired, rather than the usual photos of good-looking young folk quaffing a few cold ones. According to the report, the calendar, which was distributed along with the Shas newspaper Yom Leyom, was seen as disrespectful by more than a few in the ultra Orthodox community. I can see that. But I gotta get a copy…
Shake your Gazan lulav
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Religion, coexistence
The upcoming holiday of Succot is providing an offbeat oppportunity for some actual mutual benefits between Israelis and Gazans.
During the Succot celebration, three species are wrapped together in a waving ritual: the ‘hadas’ (myrtle), the ‘aravah’ (willow) and the ‘lulav’ (date palm frond), which are held together with the ‘etrog’ (citron).
Because Israel doesn’t grown enough of the lulavim, they’ve regularly imported them from Egypt. However, due to a cartel there, the prices have skyrocketed, and Israel has found an unlikely source of affordable lulavs – Gaza.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has signed orders lifting the Gaza blockade to enable the lulav to be imported for the holiday which begins on Friday. The request to import the branches came from the religious affairs ministry, which fears a local shortage as well as the high Egyptian prices could lead to people being unable to afford them.
However, Nehemia Rappel, head of the religious kibbutz movement, called this week for Israelis to buy only Israeli-made lulavs. According to reports, Israelis are expected to purchase approximately 600,000 lulavs in advance of the holiday; with prices will range from seven to 67 shekels.
The next test is whether we begin importing sufganiyot (jelly donuts) from Gaza on Hannuka.
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