Judaism in Israel:

Contemporary Jewish symbols shown in Holy, Cultural, and Historical Sights

1. -2. Western Wall/Wailing Wall/Kotel: This is a sacred place for the Jewish people. The wall is the piece of the outer wall of the Temple that was not destroyed. People visit the wall to pray to God and to put their prayers, written on scraps of paper, into the cracks of the wall. I included two pictures to show that the wall is divided by a screen (a side for men and a side for women). The orthodox Jews pray this way in temple and therefore the wall is set up this way as well. The Western Wall is symbolic in that is it all that is left of the Temple and therefore making it a very holy place to pray at.

3. Sign for King David’s Tomb: The Hebrew words on the sign show the language of the Jewish people. Also, the colors white and blue are symbolic for Judaism. The art decorating the border of the sign has Stars of David, which is the main symbol for Judaism. King David is important to the Judaism in that during his reign became the formation of a Jewish kingdom in Jerusalem (where his tomb is).

4. Prayer: The photograph shows a woman praying at the tomb of King David. She is covering her head (wearing a hat), which shows respect while in a temple or place where prayer or service is happening. Usually a male will wear a kippah to cover his head, which is a symbol seen in dress within a synagogue or in daily life for conservative and orthodox Jews, and woman will also wear a head covering (sometimes made of lace).

5.Mount Herzl Cemetery: The cemetery is the resting place for Israel Defense Force soldiers, prime ministers, presidents and other officials. The photograph shown is that of soldiers’ graves. On the headstones are small rocks which a traditional marking at Jewish cemeteries. When Jews visit the deceased, they put stones on the graves to leave a visible indication that the person has not been forgotten.

6. Theodore Herzl: He was a Zionist leader, referred as the father of the Zionist movement, in the late 1800s. “Zionism is the international political movement that originally supported the reestablishment of a homeland for the Jewish People in Palestine. The area was the JewishBiblical homeland, called the Land of Israel. Since the creation of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily as support for the modern state of Israel.” (Wikipedia- Herzl) He believed the Jews should form their own state, especially due to the large amounts of anti Semitism in Europe at the time. Herzl was a leader for the creation of the Jewish state and still today is a symbolic leader for preserving the state, even in difficult times.

7. Yad Vashem is the Holocaust memorial to the Jewish victims. Yad Vashem includes the Holocaust History Museum, various memorial sites, art, a synagogue, archives, a library, and an educational center. The Holocaust and Holocaust remembrance is very important to many Jews and this memorial is a sign of remembrance and respect to those who lived through the terrible oppression and to those who helped the Jews. The Holocaust in itself has become a symbol for the Jewish people because of the baggage it has and how widely effected Jews were. Today, Jewish people still feel connected to the Holocaust because of relatives that were directly affected and because in the history of religion, it is a fairly recent event that drastic affected a large amount of Jewish people.

8. Bagels: This type of bread is links with the Jews and is commonly eaten with cream cheese and lox. The history of the bagel does in fact have a connection to Judaism: “There was a tradition among many observant Jewish families to make bagels on Saturday evenings at the conclusion of the Sabbath. Due to Jewish Sabbath restrictions, they were not permitted to cook during the period of the Sabbath and, compared with other types of bread, bagels could be baked very quickly as soon as it ended.” (Wikipedia- Bagels). Today, the reason for bagels to be made and consumed by Jews is not the same, but there is still a symbolic connection.

9. Israeli Flag: The white flag has two blue strips and a blue Star of David in the center. The colors and the Star of David are all symbols of Judaism. The flag was actually designed after the Tallit, which is the prayer shawl worn during services in temple (another symbol seen in the way Jews dress).

10. Old Temple: This photography shows a miniature recreation/model of the Herod’s Temple, which was an expansion of the Temple in Jerusalem and the city around it (or what is may have looked like). People believe that the Temple was located on the current site of the Dome of the Rock. The Temple is an important symbol in Judaism because it is very present in the Jewish bible, where the Temple is said to be the center of ancient Judaism, and “According to classical Jewish belief, the Temple (or the Temple Mount) acts as the figurative "footstool" of God's presence in the physical world.” (Wikipedia- Temples in Jerusalem).

Baha'i Video/Website

The temple in Chicago seems very impressive and I feel bad that I have never visited it, especially since I live in the Chicago-land area.

But, some parts of the video and website bothered me. Like in our discussion in class, I felt that the Bahai say they are incorporating "all" the religions of the world, but that those who follow the other religions have strayed from the correct path and Baha'ullah is the prophet to follow now. Similar to the chart in our book on Baha'ullah, a graphic in the video shows different religious prophets from Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, etc, around a sun ( as if they are the rays of the sun). According the video, all these religions had prophets that are delivering the same message, just at different points in history and Baha'ullah is the most recent and up to date prophet doing so. In the video, his name is larger than all the names and as they fade away, his name is still present, showing his importance. All religions feel that their way is the right way but I feel that the Baha'i faith take it a step further with including the prophets of other religions but then saying those followers are wrong.

The video states "Bahai's recognize the unity of all religions" but this isn't really true; if they did, they wouldn't think other religions were wrong from believing that their stories and prophets are the correct ones to follow. There is so much stress on unity in this video that it starts to become overwhelming and almost cliche.

Also, the website seems more like advertising for people to come to visit rather than a place of worship. I do realize that the Baha'i Temple is a landmark, but on the homepage of the temple, the things that stuck out to me were " There is no admission fee", which makes it seem like a tourist attraction and the section on media coverage. Also, on the right side there is a list of links and the first one is "visitors information." I may be over analyzing this because the temple is the only one on the continent so many people would be visiting it, but the website seems focused on recruiting visitors and making itself known to the outside rather than services, its already committed Baha'i followers, etc.

Garden at Baha'i Temple

In class on Wednesday, I mentioned that when I visited the Bahai temple in Haifa, Israel, visitors were not allowed to walk through the entire garden. There was a certain fence that we were allowed to go up to (and not past), and could only look down the slope (the temple is at the bottom of a big hill and the gardens are above it) into the rest of the gardens rather than walking through the many paths. I knew this restriction was not always in place because my mom had been to this temple years before and was able to walk through the entire garden. I didn't have a good answer in class of why this restriction was in place, besides "vandalism" which I vaguely remember hearing when I was there. I think there was also a security check point before we were able to go into the little section of garden/ viewing area (but security check points are all over Israel so that wasn't out of the norm).

I wanted a better answer than just "vandalism"- and I think I found one. An article,"Haifa's Baha'i temple - a tempting target for Hizbullah?" from JPost, or The Jerusalem Post, from July 21 2006, states that: "Fear of missiles has forced the Bahais to close their beautiful gardens in Haifa to visitors. "We don't want to risk the lives of our gardeners, our guides and, of course, our visitors."

But that is just a small quote and small point from an article on a very serious topic. The article talks about the violence against the Baha'i caused by Shi'ite Muslims. This shows that the persecution that occurred to Baha'ullah and other Bahais in the early days of the religion is still going on today. A quote from the article describes the hatred for the Bahais:

' "Shi'ites consider a Baha'i an apostate who can be killed for nothing," said Lincoln (secretary general of Baha'i international community). "There are 350,000 Baha'i in Iran. They are excluded from higher education, including the last year of high school. If a Baha'i is killed in a traffic accident he is ineligible for compensation, because a Baha'i's life is worthless." Members of the Baha'i community have been persecuted, and sometimes killed over the years by Muslims, especially by Shi'ites.'

Although there is hostility towards the Baha'i, members of the faith still view life with optimism, as the article states and from the information I gathered from Baha'u'llah's biography. Lincoln states in the article that:

" Baha'i believe in the basic unity of all peoples and that the world is heading toward more oneness and the disintegration of borders and prejudices. But this unity and peace will not float down from the sky in a magical way. It has to take root in the hearts and conscience of people," he said".

JPost Homepage

Terraces of Baha'i Faith/ Hanging Gardens of Haifa

Bahai

A picture I took of the Bahai temple in Haifa, Israel when I visited this past summer (famous for its amazing gardens).

A new religion comes about when a person, such as Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad the Bab, makes a change in an already established religion or puts forth a new belief system. Bab "dared to put forward religious claims" basically saying that, "he was the Gate to the Hidden Imam, the Messianic figure that all of Iran's Shi'i Muslims were expecting" (pg 11). This caused a lot of stirring among Iranians and people either opposed him (such as religious leaders and authority figures) or joined the new religion, like Baha'u'llah. 

One element that goes into founding a new religion such as Bahai, is having a leader who creates the ideas that cause the new thoughts or change in thought. Bab and then Baha were these leaders for the Bahai faith. Other elements in founding a religion and its process include: followers (otherwise the religion will die out quickly), good reasons for the change or creation of the religion, and most likely persecution of the followers. The reason I included the last point (persecution of the followers) is not because a religion couldn't occur without this aspect, but because most religions in history have experienced it. The Bahais were persecuted (jailed, tortured, killed) because that was how the Iranian government decided to deal with a group of people who broke from the norm and developed their own religion. I think persecution is part of the process of many religions before they are fully accepted, which also shows that the founding/creation of a religion is usually a long and painful process. It is also interesting to note that the persecution to the Bahais was committed by the religion that they originally came from, Islam. 

The Baha'i Faith international website

Baha'i Faith US website

texts of Bahai

The Rude Boys

A part of the reading that really stuck out to me was the information on "the rude boys." The book states that " the most disturbing phenomenon of this period, from the perspective of the status quo, was the emergence of the rude boys. As White points out, the term covers a wide range of individuals, 'from the anarchic and revolution minded youth of the poorer classes to the young political 'goons,' ... and Rasta-spawned 'cultural' rude boys who rejected the aping of white standards and continued existence of 'white bias.'"The rude boys "united in their attitude of defiance and posture of toughness" (pg 109). In uniting, music was created. The lyrics of rock steady songs, which is like ska but slower and with more bass and drums, spoke about the rude boys. The lyrics usually were in celebration of the "rude boy" attitude towards the world.

In doing some research on the rude boys, I first went to wikipedia, which states that "The first rude boys in the 1960s were associated with the poorer sections of Kingston, Jamaica, where ska, then rocksteady were the most popular forms of music. They dressed in the latest fashions at dancehalls and on the streets. Many of these rude boys started wearing sharp suits, thin ties, and pork pie or Trilby hats; inspired by United States gangster movies, jazz musicians and soul music artists. In that time period, disaffected unemployed Jamaican youths sometimes found temporary employment from sound system operators to disrupt competitors' dances (leading to the term dancehall crasher). This — and other street violence — became an integral part of the rude boy lifestyle, and gave rise to a culture of political gang violence in Jamaica. As the Jamaican diaspora grew in the United Kingdom during the 1960s, rude boy music and fashion, as well as the gang mentality, became a strong influence on the skinhead subculture.^"

^{The way of dress described here is interesting and very different from the Rastafarian dress, along with their influences ( US vs. Africa) The rude boys are interested in what is new, cool, and Western ( US, rather than African) while the Rastas are into their past and roots from Africa/Ethiopia. Both groups were protesting but in different way. The great part about both groups protests were that they involved music ( but the rude boys used violence as well). The rude boys seem to be disliked by the overall population in Jamaica because of their attitudes and how they acted. At first the Rastafarians were not liked nor tolerated by the government/establishments in Jamaica but that definitely changed over time- I don't think the same is true for the rude boys. I think they stand apart from the Rastafarians mainly because they tried to stir up trouble and use violence to solve their problems.}

Rastafari in Jamaica

             Rasta vs. Boboshanti

The version of Rastafari life shown in the video is different than what I expected after seeing the faith through Marley and his music. The sect of Rastafari shown in the video, the Boboshanti, are very conservative and strict in their rituals (traditional). They wake early every morning(3 am, then 9 am) and pray many times a day, along with getting work done (physically) to survive, such as taking care of fields, building homes, dealing with water, etc.

The video presents the Boboshanti as hard workers and spiritual people at the same time. The view of Bob Marley, his music, and the overall view of Rastafari people (that I had before watching this video) is definitely one of great spirituality, but not a huge emphasis on hard work nor such care in the details of the rituals. 

The system of symbols reflected in the video include the turban, or crown, that they wear over their dreads. Unlike the Rastafari that we see in popular culture, such as Bob Marley, the look of the Boboshanti does not include dreads. The way the Boboshanti dress is not as colorful and wild as the less tradition/popularized Rastafari; in the video, they are wearing solid bright colors (Red, green) or neutrals (black, tan, white).  The colors of Rasta were present in the video; the flag of black, red and green is seen and the houses are painted black, red, and gold. There was one symbol that we had not read in the book yet; a big "R"  in red on the chest of the men. Signs with the 'Bible's teachings' and the group's ideals are around the community. these values are the same as what we have read about as the overall view of Rastafarians (examples: black over white, good over evil, equality and justice for all). 

Overall, seeing this video make me realize that there is a real depth to the religion of Rastafari and varying degrees of the faith as well (just like in Christianity or Judaism). I enjoyed learning about the Boboshanti because they are more traditional and didn't look like the popularized, Bob Marley-like Rastafarian (not that there's anything wrong with that)!

Operation Solomon

After talking about and watching the videos in class about Operation Solomon , I wanted to learn more about it. Operation Solomon took place in 1991. It occurred when Jewish organizations were concerned with the well being of the Ethiopian Jews, who are also known as Beta Israel. The reason for concern was the political unrest from rebel attacks. The time for the airlift also worked out well because the Mengistu regime, the power who once controlled Ethiopia and was now losing it, had made immigrating to Israel difficult for the Ethiopian Jews. Because the Mengistu was losing their power, the Israel Defense Force could do the airlift. There were 34 planes transporting 14,325 Ethiopian Jews in 36 hours. Two other airlifts involving Ethiopian Jews before this one: Operation Moses and Operation Joshua, both involving rescuing Ethiopian Jews from famine in Sudan.

Maybe being Jewish and feeling about Israel as a religious 'homeland,' puts me at a different perspective, but I feel that these operations/ rescue missions were very important and possibly necessary to the lives of the Ethiopian Jews who were involved. In class, it was mentioned that there is a negative cultural effect on Ethiopia because they no longer have their Jewish population. While having a diverse cultural, especially when a group has been in a specific part of the world for centuries is important, the well being, life, and happiness is much more important. Saying that for cultural reasons, the Ethiopian Jews should not have been taken to Israel via Operation Solomon does not make sense to me. They were obvious not treated well by those in control at the time ( example- not allowed to immigrate to Israel if they wished= not free to go to their Jewish homeland) and by providing the airlift, the IDF was giving the Ethiopian Jews a chance to come "home" during a time of unrest. I think Israel provided a incredible gift to these people and should not be viewed as taking, forcing, or causing harm with Operation Solomon.

Also, in Israel, there are many different cultural and ethnic groups; obviously it would be hard to move from one country to another, as the Ethiopian Jews did, but I think Israel is one place that wouldn't be quite so bad. So many religions believe it to be where their origins are (and therefore people of many beliefs) and there are many immigrants who live in Israel.

Links:

New York Times Article on the Airlift

Beta Israel Info

Religion in Ethiopia