I hate the wall.
I feel it is a scar cutting apart our beautiful land, setting us back to a space that does not allow healthy dialogue.
I grew up in a settlement called Efrat and now live in Tekoa. They are right by Bethlehem. I speak Arabic and have maintained a relationship and dialogue with Palestinians my whole life.
The wall is not there to seperate people based on their religion or race. it is only there as a means to protect israeli citizens. men,women and children from getting killed by suicide bombers.Ever since the security wall has been built there has been a statistical drastic drop in the number of bombs exploding inside Israel.
As Quickly as it has been built it can as easily be removed when the support of Palestinian citizans and Government will be against Terrorism and recognize Israels right to exist. As of the present moment Hamas (who were voted for by more than 70% of the palestinians) support terror attacks against civilians and do not recognize our right to exist. as I write this an Israeli city of Sderot(not behind the green line) is being bombarded with Kassam rockets.If Israel feels it is safe, the wall will be removed.If it will save one life, it has served its purpose.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
Losing ones home- a response to Jasmoon
After reading Jasmoon's Blog about the destruction of houses I had a lot to share on the subject.
My sister lives with her husband and three children in a settlement called Amona. A little over a year ago all the houses built there were destroyed by the Israeli government. people who gathered to protest were brutally beaten by the police. I witnessed the entire thing. the only reason I was left alone was because I had a professional looking camera so I looked part of the foreign press.
Over the weekend I spent time with friends of mine living in a temporary trailer home( In Israel they are called Caravans.) in a Kibbutz called Ein Tzurim. During the disengagement from Gaza less than two years ago 8000 people lost their houses and communities. for more than a year they had no new relocation to rebuild their lives. They were put up in different hotels and guest houses around the country.They still await proper compensation and a new home.
Interestingly, the Kibbutz itself was relocated from its original place. It was founded by Holocaust survivers and Israelies in the forties. After Jordanian troops conquered the area during the war of Independence in 1948, the Kibbutz members spent over a year in a prisoner camp in Jordan before returning to Israel to rebuild their homes in a different part of the country. the Israelies of a nearby Kibbutz by the name of Kfar Etzion did not relocate since they were all killed(over 125 of them) after surrendering to the Jordanians. Their children, who were evacuated prior to the Massacre, were the ones who 19 years later after 1967, decided to return home to where their fathers were killed and rebuild the kibbutz. This started what is called "Gush-Etzion" and it is where I grew up (Efrat) and where I currently live (Tekoa).
My own family carries the pain of my Grandparents who had to leave everything behind- their families, property and possessions in their homes in Germany when fleeing as refugees from the country that had been their home for generations.
And I carry the Jewish Collective memory of a people who have been mourning about a destroyed Temple for almost 2000 years...
So all I'm trying to say is that losing a home is very difficult .
The meaning of exile "Galut" is a central idea in Judaism and is deeply connected to that painful loss. To the deep pain of feeling lost, disconnected and as if we have no place in this world.
A deep Yearning has awakened within me. A yearning I have carried within me for thousands of years. I have received it from my ancestors and will pass it on to my children.
Perhaps that is the source of my Zionism.
I pray that my pain and loss shall open my heart to others that are suffering.
That my yearning to overcome my exile should not be at anyones expense.
There are many verses in the Torah in which God commands his people to be sensitive to the strangers living among them for they too had once been strangers in Egypt.
For thousands of years the Jewish people would celebrate passover, the holiday celebrating our freedom from Egyptian slavery, by gathering families together wherever they were in the world for a Beautiful ceremony and great meal. I would like to end this comment with a closing prayer that we wold end our passover "Seder" with. "Leshana Habaa BeYerushalaim Habnuya" May we merit that next year we shall be in a Built Jerusalem.
No destruction should take place in this holy city, in this sacred land.Not to Israelies or Palestinians.We pray for all parts of Jerusalem to be built. For everything broken shall one day be fixed. From our destroyed homes and communities to our broken hearts.
Reb Nachman, a Chassidic Master once taught "If you believe it can be broken, you must believe it can be fixed".
My sister lives with her husband and three children in a settlement called Amona. A little over a year ago all the houses built there were destroyed by the Israeli government. people who gathered to protest were brutally beaten by the police. I witnessed the entire thing. the only reason I was left alone was because I had a professional looking camera so I looked part of the foreign press.
Over the weekend I spent time with friends of mine living in a temporary trailer home( In Israel they are called Caravans.) in a Kibbutz called Ein Tzurim. During the disengagement from Gaza less than two years ago 8000 people lost their houses and communities. for more than a year they had no new relocation to rebuild their lives. They were put up in different hotels and guest houses around the country.They still await proper compensation and a new home.
Interestingly, the Kibbutz itself was relocated from its original place. It was founded by Holocaust survivers and Israelies in the forties. After Jordanian troops conquered the area during the war of Independence in 1948, the Kibbutz members spent over a year in a prisoner camp in Jordan before returning to Israel to rebuild their homes in a different part of the country. the Israelies of a nearby Kibbutz by the name of Kfar Etzion did not relocate since they were all killed(over 125 of them) after surrendering to the Jordanians. Their children, who were evacuated prior to the Massacre, were the ones who 19 years later after 1967, decided to return home to where their fathers were killed and rebuild the kibbutz. This started what is called "Gush-Etzion" and it is where I grew up (Efrat) and where I currently live (Tekoa).
My own family carries the pain of my Grandparents who had to leave everything behind- their families, property and possessions in their homes in Germany when fleeing as refugees from the country that had been their home for generations.
And I carry the Jewish Collective memory of a people who have been mourning about a destroyed Temple for almost 2000 years...
So all I'm trying to say is that losing a home is very difficult .
The meaning of exile "Galut" is a central idea in Judaism and is deeply connected to that painful loss. To the deep pain of feeling lost, disconnected and as if we have no place in this world.
A deep Yearning has awakened within me. A yearning I have carried within me for thousands of years. I have received it from my ancestors and will pass it on to my children.
Perhaps that is the source of my Zionism.
I pray that my pain and loss shall open my heart to others that are suffering.
That my yearning to overcome my exile should not be at anyones expense.
There are many verses in the Torah in which God commands his people to be sensitive to the strangers living among them for they too had once been strangers in Egypt.
For thousands of years the Jewish people would celebrate passover, the holiday celebrating our freedom from Egyptian slavery, by gathering families together wherever they were in the world for a Beautiful ceremony and great meal. I would like to end this comment with a closing prayer that we wold end our passover "Seder" with. "Leshana Habaa BeYerushalaim Habnuya" May we merit that next year we shall be in a Built Jerusalem.
No destruction should take place in this holy city, in this sacred land.Not to Israelies or Palestinians.We pray for all parts of Jerusalem to be built. For everything broken shall one day be fixed. From our destroyed homes and communities to our broken hearts.
Reb Nachman, a Chassidic Master once taught "If you believe it can be broken, you must believe it can be fixed".
Monday, May 14, 2007
I wear a necklace close to my heart. It represents for me the deep connection that I feel to this land. I chose to say connection rather than ownership. We belong to the land more than it belongs to us. The Torah teaches us of the Jubilee year whereby every fiftieth year the land you have acquired or lost returns to its original owner. This prevents the illusion that man is owner. Within a century we return to the earth where we once came from, yet the land remains.
As a tour guide I have the honor of sharing the experience and imparting the significance of this holy space onto my groups. The necklace was a manifestation of my ideas and my identity. While touring with a group I had been collecting earth from the various sites we visited. Upon completion of the trip the participants made their own necklaces with the earth and water we had collected. They returned home with a piece of Israel close to their hearts. A friend of mine with a business mind put the necklace out on the market where it was originally known as the 'Common Ground Necklace.' In the midst of all of this fighting we tend to over look our common love of the land.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Hello to all,
My name is Mordechai Zeller. I am 26 years old and am studying psychology and jewish folklore. I was born in California to spiritual hippie parents who came with our family to Israel as tourists for the summer and have been here ever since. I live in a settlement at the edge of the Judean desert called Tekoa. I am in "Yeshiva" which is an orthodox place of study. I am more than halfway thru with my Rabbinic studies.
I teach psycho-spiritual-Chassidic classes at different places around Israel. To Israeli youth at risk at a youth village in the south, at an organic Eco-farm to an educational farming program, and at israeli hippie festivals.
I work as a Tour guide taking tourists all around Israel and Jerusalem. which is wonderful since I love hiking in this beautiful land. Every now and then when I'll be climbing up some mountain in the desert I thank the Lord I don't work in a cubicle office job. Thats it for now...
Mordechai