Elvis the Jew

When we moved to Reut last summer, we inherited the previous tenants cable channels. Even though I have made some feble attempts to get her cable cancelled and do our own subscription of channels it really hasn’t been top priority. So whenever I flip through the selection I have to wade through a plethora of Arab channels, plus the two Turkish channels and assorted German, French and Spanish channels, in order to get to the Israeli or English Speaking channels. Try watching Third Rock from the Sun dubbed in Turkish. It is hilarious!

So last night I’m surfing channels for a few minutes before going to sleep and after listening to some Woman warble in Arabic about god knows what on some variety show I come across Channel 8. This channel is the Israeli science show and it shows a rather eclectic variety of documentaries.

What captured me was the word Elvis and Jew. Apparently, a couple of Jewish documentary film makers from Canada, a strange chain smoking Orthodox Rabbi, and the Hasidic Elvis impersonator by the name of Shmelvis were in Tupelo Mississippi searching for Elvis’ Jewish roots.

I caught the show just as it they were searching an old graveyard for Elvis’ maternal great grandmother’s grave. They didn’t find it. The rest of the documentary showed them visiting Graceland, saying Kaddish over Elvis’ grave and even traveling to Israel to plant a tree in his honor. In between they would get into these arguments over what it meant to reclaim Elvis’s Jewish soul.

Oh yeah, and as far as Shmelvis went- he didn’t even know the King’s songs. The last part of the documentary was traveling back to Memphis to enter him in a Elvis impersonator contest where they wanted to announce that Elvis was Jewish and to sing Jewish songs. They ended up canceling, after the organizer of the event insisted on no religion and no politics, just plain old Elvis songs as a tribute to Elvis. Hmmm. What else would you have at an Elvis impersonator event?

I love late night TV.

Our New Neighbors – Hamastan.

I was not surprised at all that Hamas was victorious in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections I find it kind of surprising that the Israeli government is surprised at this turn of events. Perhaps they, like Fatah, were overconfident that Fatah, the “moderate” Palestinian Party would form the next government.

Now, we have a terrorist organization whose followers adhere to a political and religious ideology that believes that Jews have no right to a sovereign state in the Middle East and that Israel is an affront to Islam, and therefore must be wiped off the map. To achieve this they believe and teach, their men, women, and most disgustingly, their children, that they are doing Allah’s will if they strap bombs to their bodies and go and blow up Jewish men, women and children in their buses, pizza parlors, shopping malls and supermarkets.

How wonderful it is to see the blossoming of democracy in the Middle East.
The Palestinian people have spoken and they have chosen an organization that advocates war over peace, extremism over moderation, and the armed struggle over any compromise whatsoever.

I suppose it was just a matter of time. Ever since we let Arafat and his cronies from Tunisia in to set up their Fatahland in the West Bank and Gaza, their people have suffered under them: autocratic rule, squashing of opposition, the press, rampant corruption, no rule of law, the last five years of a fruitless war against Israel and the creation of this suicide bomber society. They have continually been fed a maximalist ideology and were never prepared for compromise or peace. Fatah mismanaged themselves out of power after 40 years of dominance. Saab Erekat said as much during an interview. They have only themselves to blame. Perhaps things would have been different if Arafat hadn’t stolen an estimated 100 million dollars a year from foreign aid donations and spent it on his people like he was supposed to.

We have ourselves to blame as well. The Oslo Accords are one of the biggest political and diplomatic mistakes that Israel has ever made. Most of us wonder if it could somehow have been different.

History is full of places to ask what if:
What if Rabin had said no to Peres and Beilin? I mean we already had a peace process going: The Madrid bilateral and multilateral talks. Yes, yes, I realize that the Palestinian delegation did nothing without orders from Arafat in Tunis. But still, what if, we had continued to ignore Arafat and sideline him. I mean, after all, in the early 90’s he was bankrupt and politically isolated because of his support of Saddam Hussein during the first gulf war.

What if we had actually spent 1993-2000 continuing to negotiate only with Palestinian Leaders from the West Bank and Gaza while engaging in a program of increased autonomy and democratization in the territories? Would it have ended the same-instead of Palestinian Statehood, a suicide bomber culture making mindless war on Israel? Who knows? At least morally and politically we could have held our heads a little higher. And, perhaps, the Palestinians would have been better off than they are now: putting their destiny in the hands of Hamas who might give them better government and may restore some pride, but, if they continue to have jihad against Israel as a major political and theological policy, can only bring the Palestinians more heartbreak and bloodshed.

Last Lunch at the Hadassah Youth Center

Last week I ate my last meal at the Hadassah Youth Center; also affectionately known as Beit Riklis. It was quite a day. After 38 years of hosting the Young Judaea Year Course in Israel, we were closing up shop. Year Course was moving to a brand knew home- the Judaean Youth Hostel. Hadassah had spent 22 million dollars building a brand new facility complete with (hopefully) state of the art classrooms, auditorium/gym, swimming pool (summers only), weight room, and 130 rooms. In addition to hosting Year Course, the location is being run by a management company who will rent the rooms to groups and individuals. Hadassah wants to make money off of this endeavor as well as host the oldest year in Israel program around.
All morning the porters moved boxes onto their trucks. The chanichim performed the age old ritual of moving their luggage down the stairs and out to the waiting buses. For one last time the building was a flurry of activity as we all, staff and chanichim said goodbye to the aging ediface.
Whether we had been associated with the place for years or just a few months it was a strange experience to be saying goodbye to a place that was a part of Young Judaea lore and had a personality all of its own. Built in the 1930’s Bauhaus architectural style, This drafty old building with its echoing halls, crappy food and Spartan, utilitarian classrooms was kind of a home away from home. It was where us old Judaeans thought of as the headquarters of Young Judaea in Israel. For many of us it was where we first learned Hebrew, where we set out to tour the country, and it was where we first fell in love with Israel. And yes, for many of us it was where we fell in love for the first time (and yea, OK, lust also). During our time in Beit Riklis we started to think about life, our place in the universe and the Jewish World. We took those first cautious stumbling steps towards adulthood. Man, did I do a lot of stumbling.

My relationship with Beit Ricklis began 23 ½ years ago as a year course chanich (participant), continued as a year course madrich (counselor) and has culminated these last few weeks as the assistant education director. In between, there were too many visits to count.

This afternoon, Keith Berman, the current Year Course Director and I took one last walkabout. We went into what was once a second floor classroom (the last few years it has been used as a machsan (storeroom). I remembered that during ulpan (Hebrew class) I would look out the window and see the Old City off in the distance. We wandered into the moadon (recreation room) and spoke to a few current chanichim, told them about how the room used to look. I suddenly had this image of Lisa Litt (my old year course girlfriend) coming into make tea in this big Goldstar beer mug she carried around. I remembered one night almost all of us gathering to watch The Three Musketeers on TV; and I remembered the wine and cheese party Gia Machlin (I think) and a few others organized. I think that was the night that Ronit Tuchman and Scott Copeland started going out (they are still together by the way). The chanichim, who were reminiscing about their few months in Riklis and about their summer course experiences of a couple years before, wanted to hear some stories from us. So I told them the incredibly morally uplifting tale of how, that first Friday night in Israel, I along with a few others went on top of the rotunda outside the moadon and drank. When I went to jump down to the big balcony just outside the moadon my pants leg got caught on an iron railing, I flipped, landed wrong and broke my wrist. Aww memories.

The meal, by the way, that last meal, was just as crappy as ever. It was a perfect way to say goodbye to Beit Riklis. The experiences we had there, from the food, to the classes, to the tiyulim (field trips/hiking around Israel), fed us, sustained us, but inspired us to do more, to seek more, to be more fulfilled. I hope we have all tried to do that, live our lives as fully as possible as adults, as Jews, whether here in Israel or in the US. I think that is one of the main things that Year Course was all about.

OK, so I’m waxing a little nostalgic and maybe even being a bit maudlin, but who cares.
One thing is for sure, the new building is amazing and within a couple of years Beit Riklis will be a distant memory. The impact that Year Course can have on lives, the lessons it will impart, from the idiotic (like don’t jump off a roof drunk) to discovering your worth and place in the Jewish world and the world at large will continue.

Keith told me after we had wandered around the building for a bit: “Ok, that’s enough. I’m not going to miss this place one bit. Don’t look back. Look forward.”

Sounds good.

A new year is a time of new beginnings. And yes, if we are to be politically correct involved Jews we are not supposed to really acknowledge, let alone celebrate the beginning of the Gregorian calendar, but… what the hell. Now I admit that I commemorated the beginning of 2006 by promptly falling asleep at least an hour before the clock struck midnight. Whoopee!!! However, it is a change, an opportunity take stock, reprioritize, and dust off long put off resolutions.

So one of my resolutions is to actually stand up to a goal I set two months ago in November and that was to keep a blog. So here we go, the first entry 2006. Promptly written on January 11. The first ten days of the year were spent warming up. But then again, living the Zionist Dream is tiring and does take its toll.

January did begin with yours truly three weeks into a new job. Yes, indeed, just when I thought I was out they drag me back in. I am back working for Young Judaea. This time as the assistant education director of Year Course. In the beginning of December there was a mini-staff shake up allowing an opening to surface. I was hired by my friend, the director of Year Course, Keith Berman to take the place of someone who was promoted to assistant director of Year Course. Now, before you start screaming nepotism, let me just say that I am very, I say, very qualified for the job. So there. Not to mention that I am going to be really good at it.

So I find myself walking down the hallowed halls of the Hadassah Youth Center-Beit Riklis on Mount Scopus once again, this time as a full time staff member. My office is just two doors down from my old Year Course room. Now it is the office of three faculty members. Luckily, where the two Orthodox instructors are sitting they can still study Torah.

It is comforting and familiar to be back and there are lots of faces that I know, plus, after five months of unemployment I am back working. The job could be a little more challenging, but I’m assuming that that will soon change. March first starts a new semester in which there will be 200 students. A little different then the 82 we have now. Next year they are hoping for 500-600 students. I have a feeling that there will be a little more work. I will also start teaching, come third semester.

The New Year also brings us six months into our Reut living experience. We are acclimating to the place. Adar and Nadav enjoy the school, their teachers, and have made lots of friends. Zoë is the star of her day care class. Joyce is getting used to being more and more out of the kibbutz. And I am getting used to being a workingman and to the 2 ½ to three hour commute between Reut and Jerusalem. Oh to have a car. Oh to be able to afford the gas for the car I wish I had.

Building the Zionist Dream does take patience (read money). At the moment, we are still not meeting our monthly expenses. Almost, but not quite. But, slowly, slowly, as they say we are getting there..