Random notes

It’s really weird to drive through the winding streets of an ancient town and have all the residents you pass, whether they are driving, or walking, or working, or playing soccer in the street, or eating dinner on their porch, stop what they are doing to stare at you.

US college students, or maybe it’s just the ones I am around, like to climb on things. On everything. Everywhere. Dr. Barki should be proud of us: if there is a sign that says to not cross something or go no further, we pretend we can’t read. If there is no bridge to somewhere we want to go, we make bridges. We are observant. We are inquisitive. He told us to “Open your eyes and learn” – I think the number of things we have walked on suggests we are doing a good job of that. We went in search of Jacob’s alter through the ruins on Mt. Gerizim. We sat on the remains of a Roman amphitheater in Samaria. We pretended to be the gate in the gate walls of Shechem. We tried to eat green olives off the tree after being told it was a bad idea. (It was a bad idea. My tongue is still burning with the bitterness.) And that was just today.

Many Jews are totally secular. Yet many religious Jews would say that anyone who doesn’t practice the Jewish religion are not Jewish – they are Gentile. So Jews who become Christians are not considered Jews anymore (according to certain Jews, but not all of them). Let’s just be really confusing about the line between ethnicity and religion.

Many Palestinians are Jewish descendents who converted to Islam in order to stay in the land. Some of them continue to practice Shabbat by lighting candles – simply because all of their ancestors did it, they don’t know why. Palestinians who are Jewish descendents will often deny it and refuse to be associated as such.

Here, the religion you are born into is the religion you stay – Christian, Jewish or Islamic. Religion is not an individual decision but is completely integrated with community. No one would consider becoming an atheist here, they would simply refrain from attending religious services as much. Someone who is raised Armenian Orthodox would never consider becoming a Catholic much less becoming Jewish or Muslim. It would require a total abandon of family and community. Unlike in the West, religion here is still a main identifier and dictates who you speak to, who you spend time with, who is your neighbor.

The different religions share the same spaces in Jerusalem but rarely intersect – if you are Jewish you shop at Jewish shops, use Jewish mechanics, go to Jewish restaurants. The same for Palestinians. Even though I hear Hebrew and Arabic on an equal basis in the city, few people are bilingual because they rarely have occasion to speak to someone from the other side.

People here like to identify everyone, to categorize them and decide what to do with them. But people like me defy the normal categories. I don’t look Arab, so I can’t be Palestinian, I don’t speak Hebrew so I can’t be Jewish, I’m clearly Western, and when I speak they know I’m an American, but I act like I live here, unlike a tourist. I have a backpack, but no camera so I must be a college student. They recall that there is a non-Jewish University (Brigham Young University) with a campus on the Mount of Olives, so the obvious conclusion that they arrive at is that I must be Mormon.

The people in Bethlehem are very welcoming of US college students.

Bedouin dresses have secret pockets in the piece that covers the chest – there was a Bedouin woman on the bus next to me, she keeps her wallet in her secret pocket. NOTE: when you are constantly pulling your wallet out of a secret pocket on a public bus to check if it is still there, it ceases to be a secret pocket. This applies to all the “secret” places tourists keep their money, as well. But also note, unlike the tourist with their pants or waste pockets, the Bedouin woman will probably know if someone is trying to pickpocket her.

Yom Kippur is the most holy day of the year- more so than Passover. This year the fast begins Tuesday evening and goes all day Wednesday, September 26^th. The holiday revolves around spending time in prayer and begging God for the forgiveness of sin. People often dress in all white clothing and do not eat or drink water, bath, wear leather shoes, or work until sundown on Wednesday (Jewish days follow the rising and setting of the sun, not the hands on a clock). Wednesday night there is a huge celebration – people dance around with the Torah, I will describe it more when I see it for myself. Out of respect for our neighbors, the students at JUC are requested to not make noise outside the building and to not be seen eating or drinking off campus during the fast. It has been suggested that we use the day off from classes to remember the forgiveness of God as well and spend at least a portion of the day in prayer or reading Scripture. Yay for high holy days! I’m looking forward to seeing this one!