Dedicated Druze

IDF uniform, Druze flag.

The IDF base of Michve Alon is home to soldiers from all over the world. On base, soldiers from over 40 countries are integrated into the army. They learn Hebrew, get basic training and help with army placements. There are also many Israelis on this base, including Druze soldiers, who are there to improve their Hebrew skills.

The Druze make up less than 2% of the Israeli population, yet their strong presence in the IDF, sports, culture and politics is remarkable. See this list of remarkable Druze in Israel.  In fact, more Druze draft into the IDF than secular and Orthodox Israelis.

Courtyard of Nabi Shu'ayb Shrine, tomb of Jethro.

The Druze are a religious minority of Arab descent who call themselves Al-Muwahhidin, which means 'The Monotheists.' Their most revered descendant and chief prophet is Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. And their most sacred place is Jethro’s tomb overlooking the Sea of Galilee.

They broke off from Islam in the 10^th century and their relationship with Arab Muslims has been tense over the years. In the 1940s, Arab Muslims unsuccessfully tried to take over Jethro’s Tomb, worsening an already tenuous relationship.

Yet the Druze pledge allegiance to Israel and when it comes to serving in the army, they are very patriotic. Says the Druze poet Beda Mansour, “We are the only non-Jewish minority that is drafted into the military, and we have an even higher percentage in the combat units and as officers than the Jewish members themselves. So we are considered a very nationalistic, patriotic community.”

Originally, the Druze were drafted into their own unit called Gdud Herev, the Sword Brigade. After being separated from the Israelis for 41 years, the Druze said they wanted to be integrated. So in May 2015, the army disbanded the Herev unit and started integrating Druze soldiers into all units.

Druze leaders visit the navy.

This is enabling the Druze soldiers to attain higher echelons of command. And they are starting to succeed. Colonel Ghassan Alian became the second ever Druze officer to be commander of an infantry brigade.

There is much motivation in this community. 

According to the IDF, 80% of Druze men and women are drafted:

39% go into combat, including paratroopers and crack infantry brigades;

18% take quality courses that advance them into leadership positions;

17% go into technical support positions.

In fact, the commander of the Michve Alon base is Druze. Right now, there is a unit on Michve who are there to improve their Hebrew skills. Just last week, the Druze participated in a cultural evening and performed a special dance. The audience, soldiers at Michve from all over the world, clapped along and whistled, warmly welcoming them to the diversity that is Israel today.

May these soldiers help strengthen the army,  protect the land and be integrated into a vibrant, diverse Israel.

Here Comes the Sun

Field of lupines near my house.

The longer I live here in Israel, the harder it is for me to leave, even for a few days. I am not sure why this is, but after I return from being abroad, I am always struck as to how deeply tied I am to this land. Perhaps being away awakens a refreshing appreciation for this special country.

Israeli garden in February.

In Israel, when you travel abroad, you say you are going 'chutz l’aretz,' or ‘Chul' (an abbreviation for these words). These words first appeared in the Jerusalem Talmud, written in the 4^th and 5^th centuries, and express that when you leave Israel, you are not simply going away, but are going outside of the land. You cannot use these words when you depart from anywhere outside of Israel; this ancient expression is reserved only for when one leaves Israel. Leaving must have stronger implications than we think.

So I went to ‘Chul,’ traveling to London to celebrate a family simcha (Mazal Tov Jacob on your bar mitzvah….you were fabulous!) It was wonderful to reconnect with family as we have no close relatives in Israel.

Yet this was London in February and someone had turned off the lights! Permanently. I was shocked at how affected I was by the grey skies and the damp cold that sank into my bones. I consider myself as hardy seeing as I can camp outdoors on a rocky desert in the midst of winter; but I am weak when it comes to light deprivation. And this recent foray into ‘winter’ was a cold reminder of what made me pack up and leave Canada.

I was feeling so terrible when I was away last week, I actually became quite sick. Still unwell and recovering back in Israel under a deep blue sky, I thought I would look into the benefits of living in warm sunshine.

Here is what I learned:

* Light regulates the natural rhythms of our bodies

* We metabolize sunlight into important Vitamin D (and being deficient in Vitamin D can lead to many illnesses)

* Sunlight is beneficial to patients with Alzheimer's

* There is a strong connection with lack of sunlight and developing Multiple Sclerosis (MS is more common in populations that live farther from the equator)

* Sunlight heals psoriasis (a study shows that outdoor sunbathing therapy helped clear symptoms in 84% of patients)

* Sunlight improves our quality of sleep--when sunshine hits your optic nerve, it sends a message to produce melatonin which will helps you sleep better at night (melatonin is also a powerful antioxidant and has cancer-fighting properties)

* Sunlight kills bacteria and heals wounds

* Sun rays lower bold pressure in those who have high blood pressure

* Sunshine penetrates into the skin and cleanses blood vessels (a study showed that sunshine was beneficial  to people with artherosclerosis)

* Sunlight helps increase the oxygen in our blood and gives us stamina

* Sunshine, accompanied by blue skies, offers its very own benefits; blue light has recently been used in the treatment of of psychological problems, addictions, eating disorders, impotence, and depression. 

* People are often more productive in blue rooms so that blue sky must energize!
* Sunlight contributes to enhancing a good mood by increasing the level of a natural anti-depressant in our brain. Did you know that the brain produces more serotonin on sunny days than on cloudy days?

My garden writing nook.

Understanding the healing aspect of the sun is not modern science. The ancient yogis of India called the science of sunbathing Atapa Snana, while the Greeks called sunlight therapy heliosis. Today, we have lost the art. Many of us are forced to spend up to 90% of our lives indoors. Imagine this: noon sunshine offers 100,000 lux, yet when we sit indoors in an office under artificial lighting, we get 150-600 lux.

This lack of light eventually causes a disconnect with natural outdoor cycles. And as Henry David Thoreau wrote in 1862, “In Wildness, is the preservation of the world.”

I feel blessed to be living here in Israel, to be able to sit barefoot outside in the heat February under sunny, exhilaratingly blue skies. For here, I can heal and write and truly connect with the wildness of nature.

I invite you all to come join me for some Atapa Snana in Eretz Israel.

Sources:

MindBodyGreen

SensationalColor

Care2

Rabbi (Rabbie) Burns

O my Luve is like a red, red rose

   That’s newly sprung in June;

O my Luve is like the melody

   That’s sweetly played in tune.

 Today marks the birthday of Robert Burns, Scotland’s favourite poet and national bard, affectionately known as Rabbie Burns. His birthday, January 25th, is celebrated as the biggest night of the year in the Scottish calendar. 

Across Scotland, people gather for a Burns Supper of whiskey, haggis and poetry.  Traditionally, guests sit around a table, whisky in hand and haggis is brought out on a large tray. The host stands up, and flourishing a ceremonial knife,  he recites Burns’ poem on Haggis.

Introducing a new 10-pound note in honor of Robert Burns.

Hang onto your haggis….how does an observant Jewish woman from Toronto know about this? And what’s the connection between Burns Day and life in Israel?

Ay. Israel is the home to Jews from all over the world. We have Anglo immigrants from every continent here and they all bring a wee bit of home with them when they make aliyah.  

The Americans take their Thanksgiving dinner very seriously, serving a classic roast turkey with cranberry sauce. In 2011, the Brits here went bonkers over the Royal Wedding and some held a special English Afternoon Tea in honour of the event. 

The South Africans import biltong (beef jerky) and have their own grocery store here in Ra’anana called Meatland--just in case they run out. For many Australians, the Aussie barbie is a sacred Thursday evening event. As for us Canadians, well, we keep a low profile, but tend to know the Leafs' standing in the NHL.

And the Scots? Well, here is a wee look at what happens when Glaswegians come to Israel….

On Saturday, we were invited to a Shabbat Kiddush after shul. This was not your average Kiddush; it was to honor Rabbi (aka Rabbie) Burns on his upcoming birthday.

Far from R'anana...Burns' cottage in Alloway, Scotland.

We warmed up with standard kiddush fare, eating herring, chopped egg and hummous. Suddenly, our hosts marched from the kitchen with a large tray. Here we were, Americans, Canadians, Brits and Australians sitting with our whiskey on a Shabbos morning in complete awe. Grasping a carving knife, Ellis started to recite Burns’ poem on Haggis and we sat spellbound as he eloquently delivered the rich words of the Bard.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An cut you up wi ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,

Like onie ditch;

And then, O what a glorious sight,

Warm-reekin, rich!

Traditional (not kiddush) haggis.

Our delicious mock haggis was a kosher, vegetarian rendition. One of the guests then stood up and recited A Red, Red Rose to his wife, explaining that this was his favourite poem in Yeshiva.

We all come from many places in the world and now that we are living in Israel, we share, learn and become enriched from each other’s rich cultures.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,

   And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;

I will love thee still, my dear,

   While the sands o’ life shall run. 

Thank ye Ellis and Susan

Sir Edmund Hillary

Here I go again. Writing about hiking.  You may wonder if I ever do anything else. Well, I do. But hiking opens my eyes and heart in such an incredible way, I become inspired to share these experiences. 

And the darker our world becomes, the more drawn I am to the simple life of the trail where I am focused solely on placing one foot in front of the next, gazing at nature’s wonders with every breath of fresh air.

On our last hiking adventure, we came across a beautiful person, a hero in my hiking story. As we were taking a morning break on the edge of a steep wadi, a head popped up in front of us. A slight young woman with an imposingly huge backpack, a khaki canvas hat and round glasses asked if this was the right trail. Turns out she was on the right trail going in the wrong direction.

We picked up our packs and headed off together, kindling a friendship with one very special woman named Hilary. She is walking the Israel Trail as I write this. This letter is dedicated to our new trail friend.  (Are you curious as to why we named her Sir Edmund Hillary?) 

Dear Sir Edmund Hillary,

We are in total admiration of your spunk, curiosity, zest and sense of adventure. After spending 18 months of volunteering in poor communities all over Asia, helping the poor, teaching them and inspiring them, you have decided to visit Israel.

You knew little about Israel and, being from a small town in Wyoming, had not met Jewish people before. In fact, your motivation for walking the Shvil Israel came from reading a National Geographic article. Was it the same article I linked to in my last post? The article intrigued you so much, you caught a plane to Ben Gurion airport and took a bus straight to Kiryat Shmona. On December 18, you started walking south from Nimrod’s Castle.

You are a woman traveling alone in the Middle East in a foreign land with a foreign language. You do not know a word of Hebrew and cannot even read the road or trail signs. Yet you have a goal.  A very ambitious goal.

The first night, you pitched your tent in the dark at the side of a road. Two soldiers found you and offered you accommodation nearby. You followed, wondering whether this was safe or crazy until you realized that you were in a country where people look after each other.

Since that first night, you have spent countless evenings in the homes of perfect strangers, trail angels who happily invite you into their lives. They provide you with hot meals, a snug bed, laundry facilities and warm company.

You experienced Shabbat for the first time and have had Friday night dinners at many Israeli tables. “I just love Shabbat,” you said. “It’s like having Thanksgiving dinner every week. It’s amazing that families are together so often.”

When one trail angel asked you where your coat was and you replied that you didn’t bring one, assuming Israel was always a hot country, she explained that winters in Israel are cold. “And you’ll be in the desert in January?” she asked in shock. “Take this,” she said, handing you a coat.

And as we walked together through the cold desert, you were wearing this same coat. In fact, you said you were wearing everything you had in your backpack. I was intrigued by the beauty of your life on the trail: the sheer simplicity of this in a world over run with stuff and where quality is gauged by quantity. Not so on the trail, where every ounce of weight in your backpack is a commodity and can weigh you down.

And now here you are, 759 kilometers later, strong and lean and determined to finish the trail.  You have seen more of Israel than most Israelis ever will in a lifetime. And we hope you will go home and tell your story. 

Thank you for being a true world explorer and coming to Israel when most reports about this country are so negative. Your open mind helps you to truly experience all of the wonders and beautiful surprises in this country.  

Spread the word about the warmth and hospitality you experienced here, about the beauty of the land, the generosity of the people and their love for life.

Come back with family and friends...we look forward to our next hike together.

From your admiring hikers and new Israeli friends