Shvitzing together
As I drove up the road toward Ramat Rachel the other afternoon, I thought about the fact that I was looking forward to a long-awaited Swedish massage — to offset the very physical aspects of new motherhood — while people living in the south were huddling in bomb shelters and sealed rooms, dealing with a very different set of expectations for the day.
But as usual, albeit unexpectedly, I found myself in a fairly altered reality sitting in the Jacuzzi before my massage. I had stepped in, gingerly, as one does, and relishing my first dip following the long months of pregnancy. As I slid down, savoring the hot bubbling water, I realized that the men around me — the Jacuzzi always seems to be filled with men with pot bellies — were all speaking Arabic. For better or for worse, that’s fairly unusual in the surroundings of the Ramat Rachel complex, which is a popular swimming pool and gym owned by the kibbutz and frequented by local, mostly Jewish, Jerusalemites. And it felt even more unusual, given the fact that Israeli Arabs haven’t been too pleased with Israel’s Gaza offensive and now the ground offensive.
I went on with my afternoon of relaxation, and soon realized that there must be some kind of company outing, because the entire complex was filled with Arab men; in the lockers near the massage rooms, in the sauna, in the steam room, and again, in the Jacuzzi. They didn’t seem bothered by my presence in the Jacuzzi, during the three minutes that I grabbed before my massage. I couldn’t help but wonder what they were talking about, and whether they were contemplating how unusual it was to be in fairly Jewish surroundings during this particular week. Moreover, the Ramat Rachel Jacuzzi looks out onto the towns of Gilo and Bethlehem; good choices for controversial views.
But as usual, people are people, talking about the most banal of subjects and issues, which was confirmed when the man to my left turned and asked me if it paid to go into the sauna and steamroom. I laughed at myself, and told him that it was all part of the ‘shvitz’ experience, and one that shouldn’t be missed.
When we bumped into each other in the sauna later on, he thanked me for the recommendation, and told his buddies — in perfect Hebrew, better than mine — that I was the one to be thanked for their relaxing round. We smiled at each other, and maybe, I think, thought to ourselves that it should always be like this. I know I did. I hope he did as well.
Paper boats for three solstices
Filed under: Art, coexistence, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Religion
Every year, Chanuka is arguably the biggest week for children’s entertainment offerings across Israel, with options ranging from lavish pop stage productions like Festigal to museum activities to themed expositions at shopping malls.
Somewhere in-between all of the above is the free Origami Festival set to take place at the Jaffa Port tomorrow and a week from today. The festival explores the nautical theme inherent to its setting by offering workshops on how to fold square pieces of paper into sailboats according to Japanese craft traditions. Participants will also be given the opportunity to race their boats against one another on a specially prepared track, complete with fans to help replicate windy conditions, and prizes will be awarded to the victors.
The other theme to the festival that resonates with its setting is coexistence. Jaffa is home to sizeable Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities that live side by side, so the festival is a celebration of the winter solstice holidays of all three faiths – hence the justification for its pre-Chanuka launch.
Origami actually has a tradition of being tied to coexistence-themed initiatives. Famed Hiroshima atomic bomb victim Sadako Sasaki, who died in a hospital in 1955 of leukemia, spent her final days folding paper in to cranes, inspired by an old Japanese adage that those who fold 1000 cranes are entitled to a wish. Since then, Sadako and her folding efforts have been employed as a symbol for mankind’s longings to get along, and it was based on these teachings that Miri Golan founded the Israeli Origami Center, based in Ramat Gan, in 1993.
Golan and the IOC have held many ethnic-encounter workshops and events, including a major convention in Jerusalem’s Old City this past July, which was attended by many of the world’s ambassadors to Israel, many of the superstars of the international Origami scene and 1500 folded works of art sent as blessings for peace in Jerusalem by craftsmen of many faiths. The organization’s activities have also included Folding Together, a series of workshops bringing Israel’s Muslim and Jewish youth together via origami since 2002.
Hardly a Lemon
Filed under: coexistence, General, History and Culture, Life, Movies, Pop Culture
For those of us who live in the Modiin area, the reality of being surroun
ded by Arab villages is a part of daily life. The 443 Highway, which connects greater metro Tel Aviv with greater metro Jerusalem Modiin sitting ab
out halfway in between snakes alongside the Green Line for its main
stretches. I used to live in Jerusalem, though, where the Muslim call to prayer could be heard many times daily. The Sharon region, which stretches north and slightly east of Tel Aviv, is itself adjacent to Samaria, where the bulk of the non-Gazan, non-Galilean Palestinian population is located.
So for much of Israel, the reality of living in a Jewish homeland thats situated in a Muslim-centric region extends well beyond our news headlines, our military-security efforts as a collective and the diplomacy moves of our politicians. The children of Isaac and the children of Ishmael are neighbors here.
Fictional community Tzur Hasharon, apparently located in the Sharon region, is the setting of Eran Riklis recent movie, Lemon Tree (trailer streams here), which serves to juxtapose the public-collective Jewish-Muslim relations with the personal-neighborly ones. Of course, its the latter that comes off as more connected to reality in the movie not such a stretch when the Israeli defense ministers wife forges an unlikely friendship with a Muslim neighbor, whose lemon grove ends up in the middle of an international media and diplomacy firestorm.
Riklis likewise nuanced 2004 movie The Syrian Bride garnered several international awards following its overseas cinematic distribution run. And now Lemon Tree has joined the stable of local films enjoying critical, box office and statuette-based success outside of Israel.
We at Israelity have our fingers crossed for at least one win for the movie at the European Film Academys European Film Awards tomorrow night in Copenhagen. Held somewhere different each year (except every other year, when it always takes place in Berlin), the 2008 European Film Awards have nominated Lemon Tree in two categories: Hiam Abbass for Best Actress, and Suha Arraf and Eran Riklis for Best Screenplay. The latter category impressively includes another Israeli nominee, the beloved animated documentary Waltz with Bashir.
While our hopes are high, The Jerusalem Posts Hannah Brown points out that The Bands Visit won Israeli actor Sasson Gabbai a 2007 Best Actor award, which might make more Israeli prizes less likely. We shall see very soon.
Good neighbors
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Religion
Like many communities in Israel with a substantial English speaking population, my Jerusalem suburb of Ma’aleh Adumim has an active chat group on the Internet.
Usually, it’s pretty mundane stuff – looking for a good electrician, some old kids clothes to give away, advice needed on some immigrant issue. But occasionally, there’s a posting which sparks some excitement.
For a while now, an enterprising resident has been organizing interfaith meetings between Jews in Ma’aleh Adumim and Arabs from the neighboring town of Abu Dis in east Jerusalem.
Called the Interfaith Encounter Association group – ADAMA – the meetings of the two worlds have taken place six times. According to the organizer, Leah Lublin, “we do not talk politics, but get to know one another through our respective religions and customs.”
Sounds like a nice idea, especially considering most Ma’aleh Adumim residents only have dealings with Abu Dis residents when they decide to remodel their kitchens and need inexpensive contractors and day laborers. I haven’t attended a meeting yet, so I don’t know if the Jewish participants are primarily English-speakers like Lublin, or native Israelis, and if the Arab participants are professor types or mechanics.
Anyway, Lublin recently posted on the MA chat a notice about the next meeting, to take place at her home this week, focusing on fasting in Judaism and Islam and featuring a special vegetarian and kosher meal celebrating both the High Holidays and Ramadan.
In response, another Ma’aleh Adumim resident quickly posted a response claiming that meeting with Arabs in Ma’ale Adumim will only encourage them to move in to the neighborhood, and “will change Ma’ale Adumim from being a
safe neighborhood” to one wrought with potential terror.
She cited the Jerusalem neighborhoods of French Hill and Pisgat Ze’ev, which both have tiny Arab populations as examples of places that have seen “terror with Arab gangs fighting Jews in the streets, terror in car thefts etc. Do we need to encourage this on the MA Chatline?”
I’m not going to respond to her assertions, but I am certainly going to try to make it home tonight in time to attend my first Interfaith encounter.
Sheffield Sends Coexistence
As previously discussed on these pages, the summer of 2008 is shaping up as a respectable time for Israelis to see international rock shows. Acts like Dinosaur Jr. and Cypress Hill have already wowed us. Bjork and Leonard Cohen might have canceled their planned Israel concerts, but The Breeders, Macy Gray, Low, Air and even Snoop are reportedly on their way.
While many A-list names are certainly being increasingly associated with concerts here, the biggest trend seems to be for nostalgia acts – classic rock brand names that play small auditoriums and rock clubs in Europe or the US but come here and succeed in selling out amphitheaters full of Baby Boomer sabras. Hence Ra’anana gigs last week from Air Supply as well as Blondie. Deep Purple and Blood, Sweat and Tears have also recently announced that they’re headed this way in the coming weeks.
And now wall-of-white-man’s-soul pioneer Joe Cocker has entered the ring as well. The Woodstock-bred performer has just two non-North American shows booked for this summer: an environmentalism-themed festival in Germany and a coexistence-themed festival in Gilboa, set to take place on August 26 through 28.
The appropriately titled Gilboa Coexistence Festival’s program consists mostly of outdoor nature activities, seminars and Jewish and Muslim folk music performances. A Bible-Koran quiz and the two-day “Gilboa Women’s Jeep Challenge” are also on the program. According to The Jerusalem Post,
“This will be one of the biggest events ever put on in Israel promoting coexistence,” says Daniel Atar, head of the Gilboa Regional Council, “In the Gilboa, coexistence is our reality and proves that a way of life of brotherhood and equality forms a solid foundation for cooperation, understanding and mutual recognition that we believe can be established in all of Israel and beyond.”
Cocker’s last performance in Israel, at Jerusalem’s Sultan’s Pool in the fall of 1994, was certainly fun. Even if we’re talking about someone who hasn’t broken new ground since the early Seventies, how can one not enjoy mildly enthusiastic (alright – somewhat spastic in the Belushi tradition), real-time renditions of classics like “Summer in the City” and “With a Little Help from My Friends”?
Subscribe
Subscribe to Israelity via email:
Social Media
Categories
- A New Reality
- Art
- Blogging
- Business
- coexistence
- Crime
- design
- education
- Entertainment
- Environment
- Food
- Foto Friday
- General
- health
- History and Culture
- Holidays
- Immigrant Moments
- Israeliness
- Life
- Medical Breakthroughs
- Movies
- Music
- News
- Nostalgia Sunday
- Picture of the Week
- Politics
- Pop Culture
- Profiles
- Religion
- Science
- Social Justice
- Sports
- Technology
- Travel
- tv
- War
The Face of Israel Today
-
About Israelity
Free newsletter
Stories from ISRAEL21c.orgPopular Posts