Remembering

With less than three weeks to go, it sure feels like the home stretch now. Jennifer’s visit has been great. I will blog about our trip to Eilat and Petra separately, but in the meantime, here is an update.

Heading back toTel Aviv from Eilat

We got back from Eilat late Wednesday night, and yesterday (Thursday) we got up early and she got to grab a coffee “at the usual place” on the way to the gym, she got to meet and work out with Emanuela, we got our nails done with two very nosy women, and we had lunch at this great place called Goocha on Dizengoff, which so many people had recommended (thanks people!). 

Lunch at Goocha

 After lunch, Jenn took the bus and went to Jerusalem to visit her cousin Roy and returned this afternoon. She got dropped off at the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (or IPO – how ironic!) where she met me as well as Rita, who had invited us. From the IPO she got picked up to go to a Lag BaOmer bonfire. Whew!

The IPO is the leading symphony orchestra in Israel. Founded by violinist Bronisław Huberman in 1936, at a time when many Jewish musicians were being fired from European orchestras, its inaugural concert took place in Tel Aviv on December 26, 1936, and was conducted by Arturo Toscanini. It has performed under some of the world's greatest conductors, including Leonard Bernstein and Zubin Mehta. 

It was certainly on my To-Do list when Rita called me a few weeks back and told me she had tickets for us.  And what a treat it was! 

We got to experience Conductor Ryan Mcadams and Guitarist Angel Romero performing Symphony NO.2 (Sinfonia India) by Chavez, Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo and Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov.

The other type of IPO

After the Concert

Normally performances take place at the Mann Auditorium but it has been under renovation since August 2011 “with no end in sight,” so we went to the Tel Aviv University's Smolarz Auditorium instead.

Bonus: here is a link to documentary on the anniversary of The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra - a cultural icon of Israel and one of the greatest classical ensembles in the world - as it celebrates its 75th Birthday on December 26th, 2011. 

After the concert, Rita and I went back to Coffee Bar ("it is not a coffee bar") for dinner, one of Tel Aviv's finest restaurants and where Rafi and I had been twice - and the waiter remembered us and asked where Rafi was! I emailed Rafi a photo of the pate for him to guess where we were - and he did!

Rafi, where are we?

Now, I will go back in time... to Tuesday April 24.

Before I came on the trip, I worried a bit I would not have enough human contact and/or structured activities, so I signed up with Machon Avshalom for adult education classes and field trips. For a variety of reasons (primarily that, thank G-d, I have not lacked either human contact or activities), I have never gone to a single lecture but have joined in two field trips. On April 24, Rafi and I participated on their field trip to Ashkelon.

I had already been to Ashkelon at the end of March (coincidentally, to visit Rita) and blogged about it, but this time I would be going with Rafi – and with a Post-Doc from Harvard in Archeology as a guide. The objective of the trip was to learn about Ashkelon’s National Archaeological Park.

The group heading into the hike at the Ashkelon National Park

The guide did a good job  in our 2.5 km walk, and perhaps as a PhD she did a "too good a job" as at times she went on and on about something seemingly unrelated to the archeological remains we were looking at.

Ashkelon National Park, with the sea behind us

Some of the more interesting things I learned had more to do with what it must be like to be an archeologist, as well as about the tension between the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA). 

In Israel, the IAA is in charge of the country’s antiquities and antiquity sites, their excavation, preservation, conservation and study. The INPA is charged with the protection of nature, landscape and heritage in Israel. The latter has to make sure parks have adequate facilities for visitors (such as washrooms). 

Both have to function on precisely the same land.  Israel is a small country but with a 4,000 year history (the Caananite era dates back 2000 BC) archeologists have layers and layers to dig and find. There seems to be endless archeological sites in the country, many are not active probably due to lack of funding (or, as I have been told, "so next generations of archeologists also have something to discover").  At the same time, Israelis love nature and hikes and camping, especially the very popular Israel National Trail, a hiking path that crosses the entire country.

Our tour guide shared with us several stories of real conflict between the INPA and archeologists sharing the same space but with diametrically different goals, to the point where she is considered persona non grata in this park.

As it was the eve of Yom HaZikaron, the Day of Remembrance of Israeli Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism since 1860 (when Jews were first allowed to live in Israel outside of Jerusalem's Old City walls), we returned to Tel Aviv before 5 pm.  

Blood Donor van outside Rabin Square ("No, it doesn't hurt - me" said the attendant)

Israelis commemorate Independence Day starting off the day before with Yom Hazikaron to remind people of the price paid for independence and of what was achieved with the soldiers' sacrifice.

 

There are memorial ceremonies all over the country, and Rafi and I went to Rabin Square, two blocks from the apartment. It was a real privilege to be there. Enormously moving, from the minute of silence and the siren, where everyone everywhere stops what they are doing, to just thinking about the meaning of being there, surrounded by 50,000 (?) mostly young Israelis who have experienced so much in their lives.

At the ceremony everywhere in the country, for the first few minutes after the siren there was the lighting of the memorial flame, a few memorial prayers and an inspirational presentation. At Rabin Square we had Yair Lapid, a controversial political figure who started off as a media personality, hosting “Singing in the Square.” It featured popular singers performing songs about fallen IDF soldiers, as well as short documentaries about the fallen.

The narrative as well as the videos were moving and at no time tried to exploit the sentiments of the crowd. Across the borders of Israel, similar ceremonies are marked with violent outbursts and cries for revenge. There was absolutely none of that there.

I genuinely felt there was a real sense of empathy and one-ness among everyone, either onstage or off. And the songs were beautiful and haunting, and I heard many people hum along softly, knowing all the words.  I was impressed by the calmness of the crowd. Even Rafi, whose Hebrew comprehension is precisely zero words, was moved by it all. Words were not needed.

Rabin Square as the quiet crowds gathered for Yom HaZikaron

The next morning, the actual day of Yom HaZikaron, I wanted Rafi to experience at least one short trip by train in Israel so we decided to go to Haifa in the spur of the moment. 

It was mid morning and the train going there was pretty empty, just a few people and a couple of soldiers on our compartment.

One minute before 11 am, on the train.

We were about 10 minutes from arriving in Haifa when, precisely 1 minute before 11 am the train stopped mid-track.  The tracks run alongside the sea, and I could see people on the beach boardwalk. Outside the siren began to sound. Everyone on the train stood up; the beach-goers outside did as well.  We all bowed our heads and stood in silence for two minutes; some people had tears.

I know that a real understanding of what went on around me during Yom HaZikaron is a lot a function of shared experiences which I don't have. And this is probably the most crucial difference between Israelis and Jews in the diaspora (something that those Israeli-made TV commercials that were shown in the US clearly picked up... before they were pulled off the air).   The lack of broad based awareness of Yom HaZikaron among Jews outside Israel seems to me to be a cornerstone of the differences between us. I was privileged to have shared this day with them.