E pluribus unum

Dear chaverim v’mishpocha, the past two weeks have been eventful despite my lack of posts. The weekend before last I had a very late brunch – more lunch, really – with my friend S., her fiance T., a gay friend of hers who was celebrating his birthday, and a half dozen of his friends at a funky, laid-back Indian restaurant in Tel Aviv. Afterwards it occurred to me that the whole scene was in many ways a testament to the vibrant ethnic and cultural diversity of Israel. Shirin’s family immigrated to Israel from India, not Europe, and there is far more tolerance of homosexuality here in Israel than the rest of the Middle East, where it is severely and often violently repressed. Of course, one can find violent hostility to gays in Israel too, especially in ultra-Orthodox Jewish circles, but homosexuals are still able to live more freely, openly, and securely here than anywhere else in the region.

I have also been traveling outside of Tel Aviv since my last post. Last Thursday I made a return trip to the city of Rishon LeZion. I remember going with my friend D. to a cheap but amazingly good falafel stand there run by Iraqi Jews (Jews who had immigrated to Israel from Iraq) ten years ago. And three years ago I went with some fellow Madisonians to a nice fish restaurant near Rishon LeZion that overlooks the sea. The reason for my latest trip was to attend a lecture by my colleague H. at HaMichlalah LaMinhal (the College of Management) in Rishon LeZion.

I hoped to do a little sightseeing before the lecture. After all, Rishon LeZion has an interesting history. It was founded by Jewish chalutzim (pioneers) from Russia in 1882, fifteen years after Mark Twain's visit to Palestine. Its name (meaning “First to Zion”) comes from Isaiah 41:27. Apparently there is a history museum there and some historical sites for tourists to visit, but unfortunately I didn’t find myself anywhere near what they call the Old City (which is admittedly not so old). I suspect that I was in the newer parts of Rishon LeZion that were built in the 1980s, because the area around the central bus station and the college looked very American to me: sprawling instead of compact and walkable, criss-crossed by highways, and filled with residential apartment buildings and shopping centers. Not very appealing, if you ask me.

H.’s lecture was on pragmatist conceptions of the self, emotions, and protest movements, and it was admirably clear, well organized, and interesting. (I wish I could say that was true of all the sociology lectures I have attended, but unfortunately these qualities are not as universal as one might hope.) After the lecture, I joined H. and some Israeli colleagues for dinner and ended up by chance at the same fish restaurant I went to three years ago. There I discovered that one of the Israeli sociologists who joined us had received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, which gave us a chance to swap stories and compare notes about it.

There were more friends to see at the end of the week. Last Friday my friend and colleague M. arrived in Israel from Wisconsin, and I had a good time showing him around Tel Aviv and trying out some of the local restaurants with him. But the highlight of this week came already on Sunday in Jerusalem, where -- after M. found himself at the head of a Palm Sunday procession earlier in the day -- we met another of our Wisconsin colleagues and his wife for dinner. At some point it hit me how amazing and extraordinary the whole scene was. I could hardly believe it. Was I dreaming? Every year for thousands of years, Jews have concluded their Passover seders with the words “Next year in Jerusalem!” There we were, three Jews and a Muslim raising our glasses and proclaiming “THIS year in Jerusalem!” I couldn’t help but think how privileged I was to live in these times, and I couldn’t help but find some hope for peace in the laughter and camaraderie of this mixed company.

Hinei mah tov u'mah naim:
Shevet achim gam yachad.

(Rough translation: Here is what is good and what is pleasant: to sit together as brothers.)