The Holiday Season

I’ve written a lot of my travels but I thought I should include more of everyday Israeli life at least for one posting. Don’t worry I’ll get back to the adventure in the next installment. As if anyone is actually sitting at home waiting for these things.

After only a week of classes, (which include Economics of the Middle, Dynamics of Conflict, Arab-Israeli Relations, and Iraq: Politics and Society), we began the holiday season. This is three weeks of vacation in which Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukko are the central holidays. For Rosh Hashanah (New Year), I spent much of my time with my Rotary Host Counselor, Yisrael Lazar. Yisrael has been a very gracious host to me through my first few months, involving me with all of the Rotary activities related to his club as well as inviting me to many extra-curricular activities that he and his family take part in. I was first invited to a Rosh Hashanah party with the entire club at one of the member’s houses that overlooks the Mediterranean. Most of the club was there with their significant others, which put the party around 50 or 60. Yisrael then read a story from the last book published by Jews in Europe before the Holocaust. Then a hired comedian entertained the club with a rather lengthy set. Throughout, Yisrael and his wife tried to keep me included by translating all of the jokes from Hebrew to English. This made me feel rather conspicuous, made worse by the comedian repeatedly glancing in our direction even asking once why we were talking. He thought we were heckling him. I was told not to worry, that he wasn’t funny anyway.

The next day I joined the Lazar’s at their home for a Rosh Hashanah meal. Along with a couple of Rotary Club members with their wives, Yisrael’s son, Asher, who had just returned from the US was present with his girlfriend. He had been discharged from the Army the previous spring after 3 years of service (like every other young man in the country) after which he visited his two older siblings that live in New York and New Jersey. Yisrael and his wife, Ruth, live in a rather small apartment by American standards but the furnishings are simple and elegant. The staircase winds up from the entrance foyer and as you enter the main living room that contains dark wood cabinets, a large leather couch and comfortable armchairs, it is impossible to not first notice the assortment or artwork covering each wall. They range in style from modernism to abstract to expressionism. There is even a Dali in one of the bedrooms. They are all originals. The other thing I noticed, being an American, was the lack of a television. An elegant table-setting, candles and a center-piece of pomegranate seeds (representing the 613 mitzvote or commandments in the Bible), had been carefully placed on the large dining room table. The men proceeded to be offered martinis then sat on the couches and spoke of the upcoming election and the current economic situation in the Middle East. After a few minutes, Ruth called us to the table and with little religious ceremony began the meal. First, slices of apple were passed around, which were then dipped into honey to welcome a sweet New Year. The other traditional food at a Rosh Hashanah meal is gefilte fish, popular among Ashkenazi Jews (literally German Jews but representing Eastern European traditions). The fish (usually carp) is usually ground into patties with eggs, carrots and onions then poached and chilled. They can be either sweet or savory and taste kind of gamey. It doesn't sound particularly appetizing and I think the taste does not come as any surprise. I took seconds, though not particularly enjoying either serving. The meal finished with cigars for the men and cigarettes for the women on the balcony overlooking Haifa Bay. Yisrael, in-between puffs from his Cuban, told of the Lebanese rockets which had landed just down the hill from their apartment two years previous. I looked down the hill where he pointed, at a cluster of bushes no different from the rest. At that moment, with my first Cuban in my mouth and a stomach full of traditional Jewish dessert, it was hard to imagine such a reality.

-N