Edition 3 - The Power of Pluralism
This Week at Finn
To start the week, we got our 3rd and final intern of the summer - she even goes to school with a close friend of mine from high school. While the world is so big, times like these make it feel a heck of a lot smaller. On Tuesday, our Social Media Coordinator, Hillel, created a training meeting for all of the interns about Social Media Marketing. He walked us through each social platform, what they are typically used for, and which clients he works with for each platform. This meeting was extremely interesting and not only allowed us to learn more about social media but also how each of Finn’s specific clients benefit from the platforms. Wednesday was the 4th of July and because I was outside of the US, I expected a typical day in the office. However, since a majority of my coworkers made aliyah from the US, the head of the firm decided to buy a bunch of food for a little team BBQ. This office is truly a family and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Fourth Fun
Later in the day, I met up with a good friend from middle school and high school who was extending his Birthright trip. That night, a hostel near our hotel was hosting live music on their rooftop so a bunch of people from my internship program decided to go and have a nice, relaxing night. We swung on hammock chairs and enjoyed the beautiful weather together.
Breaking Out of Jerusalem
One aspect of my internship program is something called a ‘breakout seminar’. The breakout seminars are shabbatons or events that take place over the weekend (Thursday night - Saturday night). Each participant selects a theme that appeals to them and then experiences a new and different aspect of the country based on their theme. My breakout seminar, called Community Diversity & Activism in the Galilee, happened to be this past weekend, and I truly had an incredible experience!
We started the weekend off by driving from Jerusalem to Julis, a Druze village in the North of Israel. Once arriving at Julis we had a delicious, traditional Druze meal, met many community members, and had the opportunity to ask them questions about their lives in this community. A majority of the Druze religious practices are a secret and only those who are religious can know everything, but we learned as much as we were allowed to about the religion.
Later that evening, we were separated into small groups by the host homes where we would be spending the night. The homestay aspect of this trip made it a more realistic and interesting experience. I had 3 roommates here and the family that we stayed with was incredible. The wife was so kind to us and was just as interested in our culture as we were in hers. She is currently studying to get her master’s degree in architecture, has a dog (Scooby-Doo, pictured below), 3 little boys, and a beautiful home (also pictured below). Her husband is a police officer in Jerusalem, and he makes the long trek to and from Jerusalem every single day (about a 3-hour drive). One of the neighbors was getting married the next morning and was outside celebrating with friends and family. When we walked over, they welcomed us Americans in with open arms and invited us to celebrate outside with them for a little bit (yes, we crashed a Druze bachelor party). Afterward, another neighbor, who was hosting 3 of the guys from our trip, offered to take all of us out for some beers. This neighbor was 22 years old and it was astonishing to hear about the Druze culture from someone my age. Listening to the strict rules of marriage, how one is classified as a Druze, how one becomes religious in the Druze community, and their belief in the afterlife. Learning this from someone my age was powerful and allowed for the information to be deeply absorbed.
The next morning, our host family created a beautiful breakfast of eggs, Za’atar bread, tea, and vegetables. Later in the morning, we were able to speak to the Religious heads of the Julis Druze community, ask them questions, and learn about this Druze community in particular. We learned about their flag and what each color symbolizes. We learned about how children in this community are taught to respect each person’s religious beliefs - while their prophet might not be the same as someone who is a Christian or someone who is a Jew, they should respect the other communities. We also learned a little bit more about their belief in reincarnation. One Druze boy, who was 16 years old, told us a story about his past life. Yes, yes you read that right. My eyes widened when I saw this 16-year-old point to a picture hanging on the wall of an older, religious Druze man and a long white beard and say “That is me from my past life”. Incredible. Then, we took a tour of the Druze village, enjoyed a traditional Druze dance from some of the children, went to a gorgeous garden where many Druze locals get their wedding pictures taken (we saw 2 brides!), ate a delicious lunch and then hopped in another bus to travel to Kibbutz Hanaton, a pluralistic kibbutz in the north of Israel.
Once we arrived at the kibbutz, we received our roommate assignments for the night had had some time to explore and relax for a few hours before evening programming. Then, we had the option of either creating our own Kabbalat Shabbat service or participating in icebreakers. I chose to help create the service. With a diverse group of participants, we experienced firsthand some of the difficulties that come with pluralism. Creating a service that everyone feels comfortable participating in is no easy task. But, just because something is hard, doesn’t mean that it’s not worth it or possible. The service ended up having a very nice, campy vibe to it - it was relaxing and calming, a great way to finish out the week.
On Saturday morning, we went on a tour of Kibbutz Hanaton to understand the history of this particular kibbutz and the difficulties and compromises that come with being a pluralistic kibbutz. Our tour guide noted that compromises are never easy, but the positives that come from a pluralistic kibbutz community are the reasons why he and his family continue to stay and live on this kibbutz. Later, we had the opportunity to ask questions to a panel of different members of the kibbutz. Afterward, we had a closing discussion about the similarities and differences of the two communities we had lived with throughout the weekend. Listening to what everyone grasped and understood from the weekend was incredible. There was truly a great group of people on this weekend trip and I am so happy that I was able to spend such an important learning experience with them.
