Exploring the Golan
Today was great, it began with the nauseating tumbling of the bus bouncing to the syncopated beats of mizrachi music. We reached the Syrian border to marvel and fear the site before us. We stand amidst the remnants of a war not too long past. Land mines still coat the land juxtaposed commemorate fallen soldiers, in the valley of tears in the upper Golan, and the Hula valley. As we left I noticed a piece of garbage in the middle of a demolished bunker. It was not from our group, but it was unfortunate to see such a selfish act reproduced. Dubbed the self-proclaimed ‘dashing’ Eran exposed us to his body in the form of the state of Israel and his own unique language; it is somewhat complex as Eran, the inventor is not fluent in its syntax. It uses z’s and harsh tones to communicate anger, and smooth almost elvish tones to calm an individual. He is quite the character with the look and facial expressions to match. Everyone is here, as they relish in the opportunity to expand their own concept of individuality as they pop a collar or tell a joke, socialize or awkwardly shy away, we are all being to commit to our personal ideas of ourselves. As we evaluate ourselves we try to understand our individual relationship to a holy and biblical nation we have heard of for years. Shabbat is a good time for this, as it is a time for rest and reflection. Speaking with Avi really helped to change my perspective. As I was raised I thought coming to Israel would have gods presence, and aura of enlightenment. I thought all Israelis were raised to believe in the benevolence and importance of the army, while this is not so. Many individuals in the army are secular and serve out of necessity but are not raised to be violent, and wish that the army was not necessary while in America we glorify military actions; its validity is taboo; its true sole purpose to be dominant and claim superiority while Israel seeks the bare essentials of life; escape from death and the reclamation of their scarce water supply, dammed and diverted by Syria. The night is almost at a close. We’ve learned much today including there are even a few Americans more religious than the Israelis. Now we sit, and relax reminiscing about our past lives somewhat disconnected from the greater history of the land upon which we rest; somewhat distant from our own pending and intruding futures. – Sababa, C’est la vie.
Sitting here trying to learn an Israeli card game, perhaps American not sure.
- Alan and Amit
