Unplugged on the Golan Heights

December 22, 2008 - 9:06 AM by Harry · 4 Comments
Filed under: Travel 

Moshav YonatanThis past weekend the family and I took a jaunt to the north to stay with our friends on Moshav Yonaton, a small national religious village of approximately eighty families on the Golan Heights. Yonatan was founded by Didi Yadin, brother of Yonatan Rosenman who was killed in the Yom Kippur war. The founders of the moshav, a collective agricultural community, included members of Yonatan’s army unit and today is a bustling community whose industry includes a large dairy farm, massive chicken coops, a vineyard which is one of the numerous places that supplies grapes to the Golan Heights winery and a healthy mango and apple industry. You can actually find a variety of apples in all Israeli supermarkets called the “Yonatan.” My friends moved there a couple of years ago to truly live Zionism. The anglo bubble of Jerusalem just wasn’t doing it for them. I can see the appeal. The air is clean, their tap water comes directly from the same spring as Mei Eden bottled water, their kids run freely and in our short time there I couldn’t help but feel the overwhelming feeling of vibrant community (something that is lacking in every place I’ve ever lived). I’m not the shomer shabbat type, but felt pretty refreshed after an unplugged weekend.

The Golan will always have a special place in my personal history. I spent months upon months there during my military service and had the opportunity to explore many of the nooks that are off limits to normal residents (i.e. closed military zones for tank training and the like). It’s always nostalgic for me to visit, much to my wife’s chagrin. God bless her but the poor woman is endlessly subjected to my silly army stories.

Part of me yearns for a more rural existence. I can really use the quiet. And the people who live on the Golan are certainly a different breed. They are just so chill. So relaxed. We’ve spoken about it a lot and in our ten year plan we have plans to move north but I’m not sure I’m quite ready for such a gargantuan life change…yet.

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The one where Harry chats with Shaul Mofaz

September 21, 2008 - 6:09 PM by Harry · 5 Comments
Filed under: Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, War 

Harry in the armyWell Shaul Mofaz lost the Kadima primary to Tzipi Livni who is now lined up to be our next prime minister. It’s not clear how long her tenure will be since its most likely new elections are just around the corner. It all depends on the strength of the coalition she can muster up. But that is not what I am here to talk about. I was hoping that Mofaz would win. Not because I support his agenda or anything like that but because you see, Mofaz and I go way back….

1998. My advanced tank training was held on the southern Golan Heights. We spent about 90 percent of our time out in the shetach (field). Upon returning to the base on Sunday we would drive our tanks through military only areas of the Golan, passing decimated and rusted Syrian tanks that are now used as target practice. Advanced tank training consists of obstacle courses spread over several kilometers. Each week, we would ship out to a different part of the Golan, training on different types of terrain. This week we happened to be near the city of Katzrin, the only city on the Golan Heights, sitting about 12 kilometers northeast of the Sea of Galilee. It was a good place to be, because we knew the chances of receiving an “after,” (free time) in the city was fairly high. Now, Katrzin isn’t a city per se, but it had a couple of cafes, mini-markets and shwarma joints. More than we had on the volcanic rock of the Golan where we spent most of our time.

On Wednesday morning we woke up shivering as usual, anxiously waiting for the sun to rise to rewarm our bodies. Our morning rituals of cold water shaving, eating crappy food, putting away our sleeping gear and preparing the tank for the days activities was done in silence. Everyone too tired from the previous night’s events. After breakfast we were told by our commanders that we’ll be having a special guest today – the new IDF Chief of Staff, Shaul Mofaz. It was his first week in his position and he was going around to random units to meet with the troops. He would be arriving at 11:30, so we’ll need to straighten up the area, put up some new flags and choose a representative to tell him about our unit.

Mofaz and his entourage of advisers, security and photographer arrived promptly. Eitan, a born leader who we chose earlier to speak about our unit spoke eloquently and intelligently about who we were and what we were doing. Mofaz then spoke briefly to our unit about the importance of the armored corp and upon completing his short speech asked if there were any questions. A few of the guys had some questions – though nothing too serious. Mofaz then said “Anyone else?”

I happen to be sitting dead center in the group and foolishly looked to my right and my left to see if anyone had their hands up. No one did. And that was my downfall.

Mofaz looks directly at me and says, “You there! The one looking around, please stand up.” I was so nervous that I thought my heart was going to explode through my chest and I immediately broke out in a heavy sweat.

There was a collective “Oh sh*t” among my commanders and the officers. The guys in my unit all tried to mask their smirks because they knew this conversation was going to be awesome.

I was a good soldier, but as you can imagine, a bit of a jokester. Now, this is the chief of staff of the IDF, so I wasn’t planning on messing around. But sometimes, things just happen. My Hebrew wasn’t all that great. Good enough to understand orders and converse with the boys but I couldn’t have a intellectual conversation about Kant’s categorical imperative. all my answers below are translated in English directly from the Hebrew I used.

I stood up and saluted the highest ranking officer in Israel.

“What is your name?” Mofaz asked.

“Harry Rubenstein” I answered with an intentionally strong accent.

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Gone in the Golan

August 10, 2008 - 8:31 AM by David · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General, History and Culture, Life, Travel 

What do you do when you want to take a summer vacation, but can’t afford Italy, France, or even Slovenia or Cyprus, and you don’t want to go to one of those glitzy Eilat or Dead Sea hotels where doing the “Macarena” and singing karaoke  is still part of the nightly entertainment fare?

Well, vacationing at a ski resort in the summer may seem a bit backwards, but in this case, it provided a refreshing break from the city hustle bustle, some spectacular views and hikes, a rustic environment without a huge crowd of noisy vacationers, and a chance to spend some time in a part of Israel whose future is not so solid.

Neve Ativ, a moshav at nearly the northernmost edge of the Golan Heights, just south of the formidable Hermon mountain range, turned out to be the perfect location for a quick family getaway. The Rimonim resort there offered quaint, red-tiled Swiss-style chalets, a spacious pool and Jacuzzi, and a breakfast that made lunch extraneous.

 

Only three hours or so away from Jerusalem, the Golan is like another country. Highlights – we took the ski lift to the top of the 2,000 meter Hermon peak and enjoyed a 2-hour guided tour that focused not only on the topography but also the history of the area, and then the kids go-karted down part of the mountain on the “Extreme” track; we spent a morning exploring the expansive Nimrod Fortress built in 1228 by the Ayyubi governor Al-Aziz, and  reenacted scenes from  Gladiator and Spartacus (alright, different eras, I know); we ate some great humous in the nearby Druze city of Majdal Shams, and heard from the locals that they’re not very happy about the prospects of going back to Syrian rule; and we did an amazing water hike in the Masjare River in the southern part of the Golan. At Rimonim, we joined the other vacationers for a hike and ‘kumzitz’ (bonfire) in the area with Avi, a gruff with a heart of gold ex-paratrooper type, who regaled the kids and parents alike with stories about the area, delicious herbal tea made from plants within hand’s length, and some good old fashioned ‘walking the land’ Zionism.

And like Where’s Waldo, Avi showed up everywhere else - checking us off at the dining room, filling the Coke in the vending machines, and manning time at the front desk. Therefore, when we decided to attend the nightly entertainment show in the nightclub, it wasn’t surprising to find Avi leading the karaoke (alright, so it isn’t really another country). If you’re here, you should get up to the Golan now and enjoy its multitude of charms. And if you’re not, then make sure to include it on your next visit instead of one of the tourist traps.

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