Many Faces of Israel

On Sunday, August 24, 2014

This past Shabbat I didn't want to stay home alone all day.  I decided to take myself on a tiyuul and wanted to go for a walk on the Jerusalem talyelet.  The tayelet is a 30 minute walk from where I live.  I went to the Inbal hotel to get directions-which turned out to be nothing close to accurate.  Nobody on the roads to ask, so I decided to walk, find a park, sit in the shade and muse about my journey, to date.

I headed toward the Kotel; found the paths via the artist colony; quickly found a great view.  I heard water flowing and children playing.  I followed it and came to two small stone pools with fountains in the middle of them and steps going from one pool to the other.  There were kids playing; a father sitting on a bench.  I put my feet in the water, the kids splashed, the dad said don't; I said its fine.  A few minutes later I decided I really wanted to talk with this Ethiopian Jewish family-which I did.  Fascinating conversation (in Hebrew) boys: 4, 5 girls 7 and 14.  Father came when he was 10; treked across the desert in Sudan; robbers, bandits, men with long knives and so forth.  Before they left the mother said she would invite me to their house.  The 14 year old girl took my phone number.  Could be a fascinating, family connection.

Then I went up the hill again looking for a shady place to sit.  Saw a group of young people, clearly on a tour; their security guard was sitting separately.  I asked if I could sit and talk to him.  He is an Indian Jew.  The group was a Birthright group from Hungary.  He had been with the group for 8 days; 3 more to go.  He was disappointed to find them without traditional Jewish values; they weren't really interested in anything including the kotel.  He wanted to know what I was doing here. Again fascinating.

I went further up the hill, again to try to find a quiet shady place.  Found a bench under a tree.  There was an 18 year oldish Chasidic young man sitting on one end.   I asked if I could sit on the other end of the bench.  He looked me right in the eye and said "of course"-again all in Hebrew. Ma Nishma? I'm fine; he's fine.  It was a very strange experience.  He kept moving closer to me; looked right at me; no modesty; no hesitation.  Suddenly he said he wanted to kiss me and lunged forward.  I put my straight arm out and said no.  He asked why.  I said it's wrong; not appropriate and it makes me uncomfortable.  He pointed to my cheek and said "right there."  Then he took my shoulders, firmly, kissed my cheek and I pushed him away.  This is crazy I thought.  At the same time, I was quite sure he was gay and quite obviously was living a very tortured life; but hey...that is not permission for how he acted.  I asked him why he did that.  He said he loved me.  I said No you don't; you don't even know me.  He said my soul felt attached to your soul.  Poor guy; I'm sure he's not the only one suffering in whatever way he was suffering.  Another of the many faces of Israel.

Once again, I got up to find a shady place to sit.  I thought:  all this has happened in just 2 hours!  So much life, of so many varieties...I finally found a bench in the shade with nobody on it.  I sat down, took a deep breath and began to relax.  I looked up and saw a 35ish man walking toward me.  He sat down.  (OY!) How am I?  Fine how are you?  I have a problem. (Oy, again) What is his problem? He moved closer; I moved further; he said "I'm married" I said "I don't remember asking about that"  again-all in Hebrew.  He has 2 children; one 3 and the other 1.5.  The little one is sick; he can't breathe; he wears a mask at night and he has to give him a shot 2X a day and it is very expensive.  Ahhh! I thought-he wants $.  I told him I was sorry about his son.  I asked him if he believed in God.  I suggested that praying, maintaining his faith, and working at his job...who knows maybe something good will happen for him.  NOW, fortunately I'm pretty good at figuring out what time it is by looking at the position of the sun in the sky.  I figured it was about 4:45.  I asked him what time it was and told him I had to be at a meeting at 4:45.  He said it's 4:45 and I told him I would pray for him and I left!

I walked home, slowly, on main roads thinking what an incredible 2.5 hours I'd had.  I don't know what it all means.  I hope I've made a connection with an Ethiopian family.  I had a good conversation with a 20 something Jewish Indian security guard with a big heart and strong Jewish values.  I experienced first hand how complicated and painful life can be for a soul that just doesn't fit into the system into which he was born.  Who knows whether the last man really had a sick child or not.

I love that I'm open and curious and want to learn about people.  I learned that there are an infinite variety of ways that people respond to each other.  Being open and wanting to make meaningful connections requires at the same time, caution and awareness and keeping myself safe.  In many ways I had experienced a small sample of the large variety of differences that exist between the many different people who have come here from so many different places, with so many different backgrounds.

I'm tired. Going to sleep.

I love you all and miss you a lot.

Ima/Mom/Ma'ayan