Israel 2015-- Ode to the Human Spirit

5/12/15

         Today was, plain and simple, a testament to the human spirit. On the way to Ein Avdat there were a number of kids that had serious concerns as to whether they would be able to complete the strenuous hike that lay ahead. Not only did every kid complete the hike, but according to Yishai, our guide, we did it in record time. Which is kind of a shame, because Ein Avdat, a literal desert oasis full of magnificent birds, wildlife, plants, and magnificent cliffs is the kind of place you want that makes you want to linger about for a while. Perhaps our kids were motivated by the fact that completing the hike was a precondition for our eventual arrival in Tel Aviv.

         The Hagar School in Beersheva is 1 of 5 schools in Israel that is completely bicultural and bilingual. We learned about the Hagar School while sitting in their library that happens to also serve as their bomb shelter. Hannah, their development director and our host, helped us understand how important it is for Jewish and Arab children to be able to encounter one another in authentic ways. Located in a run down part of the city, the Hagar School’s ambitious and hopeful message inspired us all to think about how we can be more empathetic, tolerant, worldly, and knowledgeable. Particularly powerful was when Hannah shared that two of the school’s children were injured during a rocket attack last summer. The children, both Bedouin girls, were playing in their village—a village that, due to Bedouin culture, has no bomb shelters. The children of the Hagar School hold the promise of a brighter and more peaceful future for Beersheva and all of Israel.

         Tel Aviv with its crowded streets, graffiti covered walls, Bauhaus architecture, street artists, and shuk vendors is the cultural capital of Israel and, in many respects, the most vibrant city in the Middle East. When taken together, the shouting, the noise, the music, the street art, the smells, and the sheer amount of sensory input is invigorating. If you don’t feel alive in Tel Aviv then you really should check your pulse.

         Tel Aviv is a great place to unload shekels. And that’s exactly what we did. Watching kids browse and bargain, thinking first of their various lists of folks back home and only then of themselves is really a joy. Our kids know that their gift isn’t a tchotchke from the shuk or even a beautiful piece of Judaica from the artist’s market. Their gift is the trip itself. Their enthusiasm for shopping doesn’t come from a desire to memorialize this trip in a particular item or souvenir. It comes from their desire to share this trip with all of you. Sure they love shopping, but whether they realize it or not, they love shopping for y’all and not (exclusively) for themselves. That’s why we’re only too happy to give them more than enough time to visit every single store, stall, and booth. It’s a celebratory moment when they show up at the meeting point and tell their friends and chaperones who they’ve shopped for and what treasures they’ve found (all at a very reasonable price). As we we’re leaving the Tel Aviv shuk our tour guides pointed to an elderly lady who was singing in the public square. “Look at her,” they said. “Tomorrow we’ll learn all about her because she sang the song for peace at the rally where Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated.” Tel Aviv.

         Our evening took us to Jaffa. 4,000 years of human history. A testament to the fact that the human spirit longs to commune with the sea. King Solomon had the wood for the Temple delivered via Jaffa and Jonah ended up there when he was trying to avert the Divine command. The Ancient Egyptians and many other cultures conquered Jaffa and, more recently, Jaffa has become a home to many Arabs and Jews and many artists in particular. It’s hard to do Jaffa justice in words. It’s just a majestic and humbling place to visit. It brings out the hopeless romantic in each of us and invites us to look out at the Mediterranean and the Tel Aviv coastline and wonder what life has in store. We wandered through Jaffa, gave the kids time for Pizur (many had Shakshuka for the first time) and then went to see a theater performance by a theater company called “Na La’gaat.”

         Na La’gaat (“Please Touch”) is a theater company comprised of people with disabilities. All of the actors are either blind, deaf, or both blind and deaf. The performance tells their stories and honors their unique voices. It focuses on their hopes and dreams and their humanity. In focusing on their hopes, dreams, and humanity we in turn are invited to focus on our hopes, dreams, and common humanity. The central motif of the play is “bread.” The Biblical verse, “Man cannot live on bread alone,” is repeated throughout, and the actors actually bake bread during the show. At the end of the show the audience is invited to come on stage and enjoy the bread. Both our tour guides were worried that our kids would fall asleep during the show, or worse, laugh from a place of discomfort. Even more moving than the content of the show was the way our kids honored the intent and the entire experience. Many sat on the edge of their seats and were among the first to find themselves on stage at the end.

         We started our day wondering if we had the ability to hike up the side of a cliff at Ein Avdat. We ended the day at Na La’gaat where we were invited to think about what humans being are capable of, even under difficult and sometimes disabling conditions. In between we caught a glimpse of a utopian vision of education in the midst of a sometimes dystopian society and we encountered the full force of humanity on the streets of Tel Aviv. 4,000 years ago Jaffa was alive with the human spirit. Today the human spirit was alive all around and within us.