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I have spent the last couple of days in Jerusalem, after a couple of days spent in Haifa. Israel is a very pleasant and interesting place, much more so than can be imagined from news reports about political and military conflicts.
Perhaps the most interesting thing to me is what I have taken to calling the 'monomulticulturalism'. It is hard to get by as more than a tourist without knowing some Hebrew, and the whole country is primarily under Jewish law (e.g. shutting down on Sabbath, or the supposed regulation someone told me about that says pig farms have to be elevated on concrete, in order not to come into contact with Israeli ground.) And yet within this rather monocultural framework, and underneath the rather uniform religious garb worn by a significant minority, there are several languages spoken (which I guess American tourists would never realise) and the most complete variety of skin and hair tones that I think I've ever seen among a people who share a culture. That in itself really sort of encapsulates a history of Judaism.
I spent yesterday being a tourist in the Old City (it turns out I don't much care anymore for being "just" a tourist) and spent this afternoon at the Hebrew University up on Mt. Scopus, taking in some of the amazing views in all directions and giving a lecture about my work. This evening I wandered around the Old City again trying to see how many private spaces I could spot. I couldn't see very far in (obviously, as they are private spaces) but I could see enough to begin to understand how much life there is there, hidden away from public view. I also had fun in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, reading some Armenian inscription to an Armenian monk who had started by wanting to sell me something, and translating a Greek inscription to a tour guide who had started by wanting me to take his tour. That's the sort of thing I do for fun these days.
Perhaps the most interesting thing to me is what I have taken to calling the 'monomulticulturalism'. It is hard to get by as more than a tourist without knowing some Hebrew, and the whole country is primarily under Jewish law (e.g. shutting down on Sabbath, or the supposed regulation someone told me about that says pig farms have to be elevated on concrete, in order not to come into contact with Israeli ground.) And yet within this rather monocultural framework, and underneath the rather uniform religious garb worn by a significant minority, there are several languages spoken (which I guess American tourists would never realise) and the most complete variety of skin and hair tones that I think I've ever seen among a people who share a culture. That in itself really sort of encapsulates a history of Judaism.
I spent yesterday being a tourist in the Old City (it turns out I don't much care anymore for being "just" a tourist) and spent this afternoon at the Hebrew University up on Mt. Scopus, taking in some of the amazing views in all directions and giving a lecture about my work. This evening I wandered around the Old City again trying to see how many private spaces I could spot. I couldn't see very far in (obviously, as they are private spaces) but I could see enough to begin to understand how much life there is there, hidden away from public view. I also had fun in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, reading some Armenian inscription to an Armenian monk who had started by wanting to sell me something, and translating a Greek inscription to a tour guide who had started by wanting me to take his tour. That's the sort of thing I do for fun these days.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-10-13 02:24 pm (UTC)A coworker and I were comparing our experiences with the Middle East (her in Lebanon, me in Israel). We had independently concluded that any visit had to be at least three weeks long. Staying with family helped me avoid being too touristy, and bypassed the requirement to speak more than a few phrases of Hebrew.