So I had quite a fun, and busy weekend, highlighted by the visit of my friend Lilah (from Wesleyan) and her friend Colin, who are both studying abroad this semester in Amman, Jordan.
Wednesday night, Lauren, Evelyn, Miriam and I went to the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra concert. It was really nice; a modern clarinet concerto and Lalo's Cello Concerto in d minor performed by Amit Peled, a famous Israeli cellist (who probably has the most expressive face of any musician I've seen). My friends and I kept commenting on how being at the orchestra felt like being in a different world--or at least we were getting to see a very different slice of Israeli society. Everyone was friendly, formal, polite, civilized--no pushing in lines here. I guess going to the orchestra is a similar experience no matter where you are...though several cellphones rang in the middle, and someone had to rush out onstage to bring the clarinetist her stand, reminders that we were still in disorganized, informal Israel.
Thursday night (Thanksgiving), I went to a really great concert of Iranian/Persian Jewish music at the Arabic Art Museum. It was part of Hamshushalayim, three weekends of free/discounted concerts and events happening in Jerusalem this month. Friday night, the Pardes egalitarian minyan (prayer group/community) had a Thanksgiving-themed Shabbat potluck in Yoni's wine-cellar-turned-apartment (I made stuffing for the first time). So much yumminess and good conversation.
On Saturday night, I was one of 2000 protesters in a march/rally to "Take Back the City", in response to Nofrat Frenkel's arrest last week (see my last post) and to recent incidents of Ultra-Orthodox violence regarding a parking lot and an Intel branch that are open on Shabbat. Here are some of the signs I saw:
"הכותל לכולם/ן" "The Kotel is for everyone"
"יש יותר מדרך אחד להיות יהודי" "There is more than one way to be Jewish"
"ירושלים חופשית" "Jerusalem is free"
"ירושלים גם שלי" "Jerusalem is mine, too"
My camera died, so I didn't get any pictures, but I will link to friends' pics if they post. It was inspiring to be with such a large goup of Jews from so many walks of life--there were Jews from the Reform, Masorti, Conservative, and Modern Orthodox movements, secular Jews, Israelis and Americans and Brits and South Africans, etc. Unfortunately, in the usual Israeli attempt to categorize Jews into either secular, dati (religious), or haredi (ultra-orthodox), the protesters seemed to have all been lumped into the "secular" category, by both the media and the general public. After the rally, a bunch of us went to get ice cream, and were asked about our shirts/stickers. When a friend answered that they were from the rally, the salesperson asked him, "You wear a kippa, and you went to the protest?" Maybe we need a new sign: "There's more than three ways to be Jewish." But change takes time, and it was definitely good to be a part of 2000 others standing up for intra-religious pluralism in Jerusalem.
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