Israel-why a Jewish State?

THE REAL ISRAEL TODAY
As I wander around this amazingly diverse, noisy, friendly, pushy country, the things that people talk about and receive the heaviest coverage in the news media are rarely heard of overseas. This post will be a peek inside the real Israel as I previously attempted in the posts on Tu B’Shvat and The Germany colony.
Purim and Shabbat, takes us back to why Israel is, in fact, a Jewish state the questions of should she be or shouldn’t she be or why we need her is irrelevant in that she, in fact, is a Jewish state. Sometimes the most efficient road is the road to reality even though reality is often hard to accept. In regards to the Jewish people it is even counter intuitive.
Forgetting politics which rarely takes us in the right, as in righteous, direction here are some views of this country on this Purim that can only happen in a Jewish state. The fact that approximately 75% of the Jews in Israel describe themselves as “not religious” virtually 100% observe, to some extent, all Jewish holidays, major or Minor.
Even though we had rain in sheets during the Purim celebrations this didn’t daunt the holiday atmosphere. While every city had in their streets and parks events that may have been cancelled because of the enormity of the rainstorms, this was rarely considered more than a few moments before they were simply moved to shopping malls, schools, public buildings, even churches. After all here, rain is a blessing, not something that warranted costumes being unseen by their friends and neighbors. In places like the Ajami neighborhood in Jaffa, Purim was celebrated with Jews and Arabs dressing up, singing and dancing in the Arab-Jewish Community Center and simply partying together, even though this was not an Arab event, the outside world rarely sees how well Jews and Arabs live together in areas of the country in which Arabs are not pressured by politics. It isn’t perfect, but somehow they all seem to manage to separate politics from personal relationships in a manner not often seen in these emotional times.

I have attached a picture of a group of soldiers on an Egged bus. Each of them is in uniform from the neck down but above the neck one sees funny hats, face painting and other signs of Purim. The entire time they were on the bus they sang celebratory Purim songs which in no time pulled in all the bus riders. It was certainly the happiest bus ride I have ever experienced. Where else in the world would you experience this? For weeks before Purim everywhere I walked, clothing stores and variety stores featured large displays of costumes, face painting kits, Hamentaschen are everywhere and displays of gift bags and baskets(see attached pictures) of Mashloach Manot to fulfill the tradition of bringing baskets of fruit, nuts and baked goods to neighbors and friends and to the poor. Again, we have the Jewish tradition that no one should go without the basics of celebration.

I asked many people on the street and in the shops if they felt Purim was particularly significant during this time when Israel is existentially threatened by Persia (now Iran) given that Purim is a celebration of the survival of Jewish people from the genocidal threat of Persia during the 1st or 2nd century BCE. There were three basic responses, some said yes, others responded with a shrug and the comment “someone is always trying” (what Haman tried) and lastly “I never really thought about it, it isn’t really the same”. When I pursued the last answer asking “Why today is different” the response was variations of “now we have our own state” or “we have an army to defend us”. It would be interesting to ask American Jews the same question, perhaps I will do that next Purim.
Another purely Israel experience is Friday morning, it feels as though everyone is out on the street, rain or shine, last minute shopping and preparation for Shabbat---wait a minute, most of these people are not observant-- why this activity? This is a Jewish state, regardless of level of observance; Shabbat is a different day from every other day of the week. Shops begin closing around 2:00 on Friday, public transportation stops around 4:00 depending on how early the sun sets. The attached picture shows a young religious man, typical of many young men and women who appear at public shopping places or wherever there is heavy street traffic, asking men passing by, if they would like to learn to put on Tfillin, often someone stops and says yes. Women are asked if they will light Shabbat candles and are handed a set of candles, it has come to be something I look forward to as these young people are incredibly earnest.

This young man wanted to be sure I knew the blessing and as I removed the candles from the box I would notice a slit in the top of the box to use as a bank to put change into all week and then give to the poor the next Friday. He assured me that it is always a blessing and an obligation to give to the poor however on Friday morning it is a double portion as no one must go without food and wine to bless on Shabbat.
Next post will be on Jerusalem, what the Israeli on the street thinks and feels and what the news media is talking about.