Hello, friends!
The second half of December has been a busy time here in Israel; my parents have been visiting, Israel is retaliating against Hamas in Gaza, and we are all buried with papers and studying for final exams as the semester comes to a close. My parents came in on the 21st just in time for my first night of Hanukkah party! It was a lovely party-great food and good friends as always. We lit the menorah and sang songs...A few nights later all of the Cantorial students went to the head of our program's house for another Hanukkah celebration. Another very fun evening. A young couple with an incredible story was visiting from S'derot, the town under attack from Gaza. Laura is a film maker from LA who moved to S'derot about a year ago to film a documentary which focuses on life under constant fire as well as the incredible music scene there. Some of Israel's most successful rock bands come from S'derot. In the process of filming she fell in love with her main character (a producer and musician) and they got married a few months ago. Laura and Avi told us a bit of what life is like in S'derot, ironically, a few days before the situation escalated as Israel took a pro-active stance in Gaza. Here is a link to the blog on her movie's website- it's definitely worth reading this entry, it details her year in S'derot and what she's taken from the experience. A Year in Sderot
The 'rents and I spent the next few days relaxing up North at a gorgeous spa/health farm called Mitzpe Hayamim. Mitzpe Hayamim
Mitzpe Hayamim is a little slice of heaven. It has an incredible view of The Hermon Mountains (we saw them covered with snow for the first time this year!), The Golan Heights, and The Sea of Galilee, and is situated between the artist village Rosh Pina and the deep-rooted Kabbalistic City of S'fat. They grow all of their own food using organic farming methods-fruit, veggies, cheese, desserts, milk, meat. They also make their own furniture, soap, and candles. We took a tour of the grounds and had a chance to visit with the herds of sheep, goats, cows, and chickens. They were adorable and so friendly. The best part about this place is the food- each meal is an incredible gourmet buffet (main dining room is fishaterian, there is a separate meat restaurant) of the freshest, most creative, fishaterian food you have ever eaten in your life. I have never tasted lettuce so crispy and delicious. If I could eat like that every day, I would never eat chicken or meat again.
When not consuming the glorious food, people lounge around on the puffy couches and chairs in the many sitting areas, read, and play cards and backgammon. They walk around in their bathrobe and slippers all day and just relax. I COULD MOVE IN. There are also flower/herb gardens, walking paths to explore, a library and an art gallery, as well as a spa, pool, and jacuzzi area. Another highlight is the tea/coffee bar with tons of fresh herbs and exotic dried teas-an endless, delightful flow of hot beverages available at any time of the day. What could be better?
This is a great quote from the website, "The composition, values, beliefs and exclusive location of the Hotel Spa Mizpe Hayamim creates an island of ecological harmony between man and nature."
We also took a quick trip over to S'fat and visited the small artist village of Rosh Pina. Bought some more beautiful candles at the S'fat candle company. Came back to Jerusalem Saturday and caught an awesome Jewish music/Jazz fusion show at a great live music joint called The Yellow Submarine. It was funny to see this orthodox guy with payot and tzit-tzit jamming on the tenor sax- the band was incredible! All of the guys (drummer, bass player and pianist) made weird facial contortions as they played which was kind of distracting, but I guess "feeling the music" is part of jazz improv...They lit the menorah on stage which was definitely something unique to Israel that you would never see anywhere else...
Sunday night we went to a presentation of the graduating class films from the Orthodox film school, Maale. These films were not as good as the ones we saw when we visited the school, but I'm glad we went. My parents and I went out to dinner with Lisa and her Mom, Jaclyn, Adam, and my friend Kelly. (extended her birthright ticket, she's staying with me) We went to Sol, a great restaurant/tapas bar near school.
That's the past 2 weeks in a nutshell. Oh! Last night we had dinner with Benny (our tour guide from June), he is in town touring a family from the States. It was AWESOME to see him and he even did an interview for my Israel Seminar paper about the ethnic gap btn. Ashkenazim and Mizrachim Jews from the 50's until today.
My parents are leaving tonight to go home. It's been fun hanging out with them, introducing them to all of my new friends and my life in Israel...And tonight is New Year's Eve! I'm having dinner with some friends and then our class rented out a Karaoke Bar for the evening. Needless to say there will be lots of singing and dancing...stay tuned for pictures.
As far as the Gaza situation. I am going to include a brief summary that one of my teachers wrote. It is written in a way that is very easy to understand, and it explains the whole situation. For those of you curious to get a better handle, hope this helps.
As far as how it effects me- of course security is tighter, and there are certain places (like the old city and east Jerusalem) that we have been advised to stay away from. Daily life goes on as normal here. People don't stop living and stay inside all day. There is absolutely a quiet fear about what might happen next, but for now, things are okay- Israel is taking care of business. There was no way they could sit back and let Hamas continue to rain rockets on S'derot, they waited long enough. It is a shame how Israel is portrayed in the media world wide. They look like the bad guy when that is absolutely not the case. Israel is the little guy, being picked on, defending their right to exist. Jerusalem Post and Haaretz (both available online) give the most up to date, as well as accurate depiction of the current situation.
I leave you with some pictures and the S'derot article...
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love,
Leslie
Shabbat dinner at our liturgy teacher's house
Hanukkah at Leslie's
Ditto
Strawberries in Shuk
Pomagranate in Shuk
Sufganiot (Jelly donuts) for Chanukkah
Mitzpe Hayamim
Cantorial Hanukkah Party at Tamar's!
Pretty Candles
Hanukkah in Shuk!
Nirens minus the little mush
Mitzpe Hayamim
S'fat
Rosh Pina View
View
Cool Menorah at Mitzpe Hayamim
Art Gallery at Mitzpe Hayamim
Animals at Mitzpe Hayamim
more animals
more animals...
View of Mt. Hermon covered in snow from Mitzpe Hayamim
THE LITTLE TOWN OF SDEROT
By Paul Liptz
December 29, 2008
Sderot is a small town close to the north east border of Gaza. It's like many of Israel's peripheral areas with an undeveloped town center, monotonous buildings, lower middle class inhabitants and by and large, citizens who don't really have the money to sell their apartments and move anywhere else. However, the difference between Sderot and most other areas in Israel is that this particular town has been the object of attacks from Gaza for the last eight years.
Sadly, Sderot had little influence with the decision makers. As long as they only suffered a little, it just wasn't worthwhile making too much of a fuss about it. For many Israelis, it was preferable for a small group of people to be under attack than to get involved in a major war. Anyway, there was a widely held belief that Hamas would agree to some form of a minimal cease fire and even though there is unlikely to ever be a peace treaty with them, many Israelis imagined that one could continue with this low level of conflict for an extended period of time, especially since it was "out there".
Some Sderot residents even seemed to be coming to terms with their vulnerable position. They realized that they had few powerful supporters and while the politicians periodically traveled to this outpost to have their photos taken with the locals, the really important issues of Israel were perceived as the events in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa and in the banks, stock exchange and high tec firms.
In the historical context there was clearly a precedent for an "expendable" group. During the long years between Israel's Independence in 1948 and the 1967 Six Day War the kibbutzim and moshavim (collective villages) in the most northern area of the country had constantly been under Syrian fire. It hadn't seemed worthwhile going to war to ensure the safety of a relatively small group of citizens. Thus, year after year, children in the upper Galilee spent hours and days and sometimes weeks in bomb shelters while the Syrians shot down from the Golan Heights onto the defenseless villagers. It was only in June 1967 that the position changed radically and Israel took control of the Heights. I well remember my weeks on Kibbutz Dafna in June and July 1967 speaking to a whole generation of innocent people who would still look up to the mountains and wonder when the next alert would be sounded and the rush to ensure that their children were safe, waiting quietly in the harsh concrete bunkers until the all clear signal was sounded.
In many senses, life in Sderot was more difficult. There were few bomb shelters, despite continuing government promises that they would be built. As nuclear families populate this southern town, they didn't have the same kind of caring community and infrastructure that was of such importance to their northern brethren.
In 2005, during the painful unilateral disengagement process whereby several thousand Israelis were forcibly removed from their homes in the Gaza Strip, most people were convinced that now, with Gaza back in the hands of the Palestinians, everything would be just fine. And I was one of those optimists. However, on the second night after the Israeli withdrawal as I saw the Palestinians destroying the greenhouses and hacking at the water pipes, I realized my dream was ludicrous. I had so hoped that this was the first stage of Palestinian independence and slowly but surely, they would build their infrastructures - hospitals, schools and roads and that life would really become better for them.
The skeptics were correct. The Egyptians also quickly recognized that a Hamas controlled Gaza was a threat and so closed the border between them. Israel was troubled by the realities on the ground. Iranian military equipment was flowing into the area and it were designed for one purpose and one purpose only-to be used against the innocent residents of Sderot and the other small towns and villages in the area. The Israeli government decided to control the entry into Gaza of military equipment but permitted food and humanitarian supplies to flow in. However, tunnels built from Egypt were effectively developed and soon the attacks on Israeli citizens increased. The government stated again and again that it was responsible for the well-being of its citizens and thus could not allow a significant area of the country to be under constant attack. Israel's politicians appealed for understanding and asked global leaders a simple question- "What would you do if there were continuous attacks on your sovereign territory?"
More recently Israeli society came to a harsh realization. The attacks were not merely on Sderot, but some one million citizens in cities like Ashdod, Ashkelon, Kiryat Gat and even Beer Sheva would find themselves threatened. The government had no alternative but to take stern action. It was clear that Israel would be widely condemned for defending itself. It is hoped that civilians in Gaza would not unduly suffer but one can never ensure that in military conflict, innocent people won't suffer.
Israel's goals are clear and simple. Allow our citizens to live in peace and the people of Gaza can live their lives undisturbed. Few Israelis ever want to occupy Gaza again. There are too many good things happening in Israel itself and still numerous challenges before us. Now the time has come to try and establish a new reality.
As far as I'm concerned, the people of Gaza can live their lives as they want. The type of government system is up to them. How they behave towards their women is no longer my concern. Their relationship with other Arab countries is an issue only between them and the Arab world.
I hope our goals are rapidly attained. I have no wish to cause suffering to the Palestinians but there has to be an understanding that we, Israelis, are not just going to sit on the sidelines and allow ourselves to be decimated. We've worked too hard to build what we have and no-one, but no-one, is going to destroy us.
Paul Liptz (Pbliptz@netvision.net.il) immigrated to Israel on June 4, 1967. He was on the faculty of the Department of Middle Eastern and African History, Tel Aviv University for 35 years. He is on the staff of the Anita Saltz Center of the World Union of Progressive Judaism and lectures students at the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem.
