Get with the program

After 2+ weeks, our orientation is coming to a close. We’ve done so many cool things — I'll try to sum them up.

We were In Jerusalem for three days, and it was great. We took a culinary tour and a comparative religion tour, and explored the ancient tunnels beneath the Western Wall. We also did a lot of ice breakers and social activities to meet the other participants.

After that we took a bus to Tel Aviv and moved into our dorm rooms. My place is alright. Pretty basic and small, and not a lot of cooking equipment, but I’ve accumulated a stash by borrowing from people who don't cook. It was a good call to pay extra for a single, so I don't have roommates. I’m not a college freshman anymore :)

We've had a lot of fantastic speakers. A political expert explained Israel's domestic issues and also the Palestine conflict, in really objective terms that were easy to understand. The group asked so many questions that he didn't even get to the third section of his lecture on Israel and the wider Arab world. I'm trying to get people together to buy him a beer and continue the conversation.

In addition, we listened to the former Mossad agent who led the covert operation to bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel during the 1980s. His story was incredible. These people, until about 150 years ago, thought that they were the last Jews on earth; for this reason, they remained very devout with their practices and rituals through the generations, and their dream was always to return to Zion. When the agent first made contact with the community, they said, "You can't possibly be Jewish. You're white!" But eventually he was able to establish a relationship with them and gained their trust. They left everything behind -- their house, their flock of livestock, their land -- a fortune in Ethiopian terms, to go to an unfamiliar, modern place where the people weren't always welcoming towards them. More on that later.

The Mossad smuggled Jewish families from Ethiopia into Sudan, both of which were wartorn by Communist dictators and did not recognize Israel. They brought the Jews north to the coast, on the only paved road in the entire region, in cover of darkness, often through riverbeds and other difficult terrain, speeding through checkpoints whenever they were encountered. Their cover story was a scuba diving eco-tourism resort, which actually started to attract a lot of European divers and turned a profit! The Ethiopian Jews were dropped at this resort, and then Navy Seals received them and brought them into Israel.

The Mossad guys relied on secrecy, bribery, and intrigue, but their operation was eventually found out. So they planned to use a plane to shuttle the Jews from Sudan to the coast, but first needed to disable a military radar station. So, posing as shepherds for several weeks in order to gain all the intelligence they needed, they finally executed the sabotage operation by faking engine trouble in the middle of the night, making lots of noise and bringing all the guards out to investigate, while two people sneaked in and destroyed the system in a well-practiced two-minute operation. Insane.

It was like talking to the guy from Argo in person!

The most touching part of this guy's story was how he developed close personal friendships with many of the Ethiopian Jews he rescued, and watched their children and grandchildren grow up as Israeli citizens.

We also spoke with the guy who led the campaign to rescue Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who was held hostage for 5 years. We heard from a young gay orthodox man, and his struggle to reconcile his religious preferences and faith with his sexuality, as well as his success in forming a new synagogue for gay religious people here in Tel Aviv. We listened to the leader of Yalla, a Facebook-driven peace organization that brings together young leaders from all over the Middle East to interact, discuss, and push one simple message: There are no more excuses for peace.

I do have one big gripe, though. We were told that we'd have a full three weeks of Ulpan (intensive Hebrew classes) during orientation, but they decided for this session to do Ulpan once a week throughout the entire program instead. Personally, I think it would be ideal to do both. But I feel kind of misled, and now I don't have a good Hebrew foundation to start out with. My friend Madeleine gave me her copy of Rosetta Stone, so maybe that will get me up to speed.

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A few days ago we went on a three day trip to the Negev Desert. Ironically, the first stop on our tour was Mitzpe Ramon, where I had been volunteering the previous month! We went on a couple rad hikes, visited a goat farm, and stayed overnight at a Kibbutz. We also visited a Bedouin village where one woman has really bucked the norm and chosen to study in England, start her own business, and get married later in life. She is a rare success story in this community. While there, we listened to Bedouin activists talk about the plight of the Bedouins and the discrimination and oppression they face from the Israeli government. It sure wasn’t the Disneyland Bedouin experience I got on my Birthright trip. These people, who are Israeli citizens, have it really rough, forced to live in designated villages with high unemployment and poor opportunities. If they choose to stay in "unrecognized" villages, they don't receive access to running water, education, or other facilities.

At the same time, though, I got a strong feeling of entitlement from the activists. The Bedouins seem to want their cake and eat it too. They want to continue their semi-nomadic traditional lifestyle, but also receive top quality healthcare and infrastructure from the government. This problem is no just in Israel, either. The Bedouins in Jordan are in the same situation. It's a clash between tradition and modernity, and there is no easy answer, but you could contrast their plight with the Israeli Druze community, who have faced similar challenges but have advanced themselves through education, motivation and cooperation. I don't know enough about this issue to draw any conclusions yet.

Our visit to the Ethiopian neighborhood was really cool too. We were divided into small groups and taken into individual homes. Our group was lucky enough to have as a translator an American guy of about our age who was living here and working with Ethiopians, so he was really well versed on the subject and was able to get a lot of information out of our shy and somewhat reserved host. Like I said earlier, Ethiopians have not been treated very well by Israelis. They’ve encountered a lot of racism and have struggled to integrate into society. The lifestyle, culture, and economy in Israel is completely different from their home country. These people were very devout Jews, and they did not expect the Israelis to be so secular. The government has created absorption centers to help immigrants settle in, but they’re apparently underfunded and understaffed.

Would this woman go back to Ethiopia? No. The opportunities and education for her children are much better in Israel. But she complained that children here don’t respect their parents as much as Ethiopia.

Would she be ok with her kids marrying non-Ethiopians? She said yes, as long as the person was Jewish. In Ethiopia, it was forbidden to marry non-Jews.

Is her daughter single? I didn’t have the courage to ask.

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Going back to the Negev made me realize how much I miss the open vistas of the desert, and how claustrophobic I feel in the big city. I’ve never lived in a place where I walk outside onto a true city block with taxis and buses zooming by, and I don’t like it. It’s also super expensive. Everything seems to cost 50% or 100% more than in the States, with some exceptions like produce. The bars are ridiculous; I paid less for drinks at the hottest night clubs in NYC. Maybe it takes city life to make me realize how much of a desert rat I really am! At least Tel Aviv has the beach, where I can go soak up the open horizon.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Albuquerque. For me, it was such a perfect lifestyle. New Mexico was similar to the Negev in many ways — 300 days of sunshine per year, mountain biking and hiking galore, beautiful scenery — but the cost of living was so much lower there.

FYI, in comparing Albuquerque, and the US in general, against Israel, I’m going to get on a bit of a pessimistic rant. Here it goes. It appears that the whole country of Israel is buckling under its own weight. Taxes are high, costs are high, salaries are relatively low. About 12% (and growing) of the population are ultra-orthodox Jews who don’t work. And the future doesn't bode well: Ultra orthodox children in first grade amount to 30% of the total population. They don’t serve in the military and they’re a leach on the welfare system, yet they still live in poverty because they have so many children. There is also the high cost (financial and otherwise) of security, which is borne by a population of only 8 million people. A lot of people are struggling to pay the bills, especially the elderly and young people.

I spoke to a young Israeli named Miriam, who is heading back to her home country of France because she’s unable to find a good job. She told me that 87% of Israelis under the age of 40 still live with their parents. 87%! That’s insane. I asked her, what about all these young Tel Avivans who are going out every night and spending $10 per beer? (Seriously, these people are insane. Every night of the week, the bars are packed into the wee hours). She responded that in general, the people living in Tel Aviv are the ones who have “made it;” professionally and financially, and can afford to party hard. She also said that there is a Carpe Diem mentality in Israel, because you don’t know what could happen tomorrow or next week or next year, so people are more inclined to save less and spend more.

Miriam sees a trend in which young, realistic Israelis are leaving the country to pursue better opportunities and a higher standard of living, while idealistic Zionists are coming in, sort of canceling each other out.

And yet. After so many generations of persecution, Israel, despite its flaws, is the ultimate safe haven for Jewish people. Not everyone has the option to live in America. Israel is there for people fleeing from anti-semitism all over the world; young people who were born in Israel may not fully appreciate this. And like I’ve said before, America may not be around forever and may not always be as welcoming to Jews as it is now.

So where does that put me? I’m a young American Jew without any family here. I didn’t have the conviction to come join the army, but of course I feel a tie to the Holy Land. But I also feel strongly that I'm an American. I know It’s a deeper question than cost of living and average salaries. How do you measure quality of life? Where does meaning of life factor into the equation?

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Other than that, things are going well. Kathi came to Tel Aviv and we spent a few days together before she returned home to Germany. I’ve been settling into my little dormitory apartment, getting into a nice routine, learning how to navigate the chaos of the Shuk (huge outdoor market), cooking meals, and preparing to start my internship. After all the time on the road living a life of transience, it feels good to be rooted in a place and go through the daily motions.

I joined up at the Crossfit gym and have been going regularly. I was thinking that Crossfit would be my ace in the hole for making Israeli friends, getting away from the Americans in my program, and maybe meeting a cute Israeli lady with similar interests in health and fitness. But, to my chagrin, the first class was all American expats! Since then, I’ve met a few Israelis, so there's still hope.

Sunset leaving the Crossfit gym. It's a sweet location to work out!

We visited David Ben Gurion's grave during our Negev trip. Ben Gurion dreamed about populating the Negev, which is still a work in progress.

Bedouin workshop making lip balm

Incredible sunrise seen from the Kibbutz where we stayed

 My yoga buddies Joy and Sam doing some sun salutations

Yummy tomatoes on the salad trail, an organic farm / tourist attraction in the southwest corner of Israel. They use gray water for all their agriculture.

Our Ethiopian host and one of her sons. We had a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony, involving three cups of strong coffee. I was tweaking out by the end!

The group hike in the Negev. It was a gorgeous trail.

The winding back alleys of Jaffa

The Church of St. Peter, where Peter dreamed that God told him it was okay to eat all animals, marking the first major split between Christianity and Judaism. I love my shellfish and pork...so Peter is officially my new favorite saint!

Baby sheep at the goat farm

Baking flatbread at the Bedouin village

Candid shot while we were figuring out the pose for the photo. I like this one better than the actual one!

Rotem and Shlomy stayed at Silent Arrow a few weeks ago and we really hit it off with them. They live in Tel Aviv, so we went to the beach together! I think I'm going to be good friends with these guys while I'm here!