up at dawn, martin jake and i bus into tel aviv, the bus is direct, it departs from outside our front door into the heart of the city. tel aviv is vitality, youth, wild energy, trash meets class, funky up beat and exotic sophistication, fashion, passion and art whizzing around in a particle accelerator looking for the god particle. we wander through streets towards the meeting place where we meet our cousins, sara and erez their wonderful daughter zohar and our other amazing cousins, michelle and adi and michele's son the outrageously ‘out’ rohee who i think would love the sydney gay culture although tel aviv is equally as wild.
together we wander the markets, the sight and sounds are an assault, bombarding our sensory systems, smells, colors, noise following the sound of south american music we come to a group of musicians playing some incredible salsa, the family all dance except me, i’ve no connection to the south american musical tradition, i like their plants and girls but as far as the music goes it’s okay, i appreciate it but it don’t move me. however this band is amazing, four guys playing these incredible rhythms and weaving in and out like serpents in a tapestry of jungle fever. we continue the walk through the massive markets, a lithe figure does the indian rope trick, a marionette flirts with passers by, a shop filled with masks and masquerade accessories, there’s no limit to the art on display, it’s everywhere.
we drink coffee, laugh, erez tells me about a fig liqueur that i am interested in trying and i explain the hallucinogenic and dangerous properties of absinthe, warning him not to drink to much in one go.
we wander along some shops, amazing fashions and styles from all over the world in one street, lots of people moving around, young beautiful people, everything has an energy here, it’s alive and for the living. jake, erez and i have a beer and wait for the rest to catch up, we sit in an old cafe that was here when the british left, it’s falling apart but has character, a mix of people drinking beer, reading newspapers and arguing. the israelis argue all the time, it’s conversational but strange to watch, everyone is well educated and informed, everyone expresses themselves honestly and directly, no one is subtle, no one hides any part of themselves here, it’s all out in the open. it’s a freedom i am not used to but quickly appreciate.
i watch the girls walk past, all tattooed, pierced and tribal in their hebrew sandals and dresses and the israeli punk girls with their mow-hawks and attitude. the boys playing beach ball on the beach, the groups of people fire twirling and the joggers who run along listening to their ipods.
the sound of trance music emanates from a small bus, it’s the religious people, jewish outreach looking for lost souls. they drive a yellow graffiti covered van and dress as hassidic jews. they are singing and laughing and everyone seems to wave at them as they drive by, it’s a contrast i’m unfamiliar with, not in my realm of expectation. israel is like this, all preconceived ideas are wrong, what ever you have read in newspapers, heard about on the news or mental pictures you fabricate from bits of information that sit in cyberspace are absolutely 100% wrong or they are misrepresentations of an israel that does not exist or exists only as some hidden agenda. even the israeli national english newspaper ‘hararetz’ is a misrepresentation of information, the alternative the JP has a much more clearer representation of opinion and truth. it’s the strangest thing to have your mental conceptual frameworks taken apart like this but then again i am used to it.
we wander towards a restaurant near the coast where we have booked a table with ocean views, the hotel is immaculate and the marble restrooms have scented candles burning, incense and warm towels to refresh with, it’s quite special.
the meal is incredible, many trays of food appear, freshly baked breads, drinks, cocktails made from pink grapefruit and gelatos made from forest fruits, pear, watermelon and mangoes for desert. but even greater is the fact that i am with my cousins and jakob is here, for they are truly beautiful people. loving, happy and funny. we laugh and talk, exchange stories and tales and eat. outside i watch people pass by, strolling along the beach a melting pot of races. peoples, culture like a procession of life. the bill came to $30 each. incredible!
later we walk along tel aviv beach, the sun is ablaze, a red ball floating above the mediterranean, it’s a postcard, we walk for about an hour, a trail of family, as we walk the neon city begins to light up behind us.
a detour, we clamber over the rocks, it’s friday night, the beginning of the sabbath here, something i have never really taken any notice of before, my only interest in the jewish part of my religion is the kabbalah the mystical tradition which i have studied and found to be filled with esoteric wisdom and practical truth, in the same way buddhism has these qualities and now we are going to join with the kabbalists sabbath. i don’t know what this is but apparently a group meet each friday and hold an open ceremony on the beach near the old bombed ruins of the dolphinarium. i’m really hoping that it’s not some old guys with beards and shawls reading from a bible, that would do my head in, but i am curious to see how kabbalists bring in the sabbath.
so we wander along a section of rocks and turn a corner, i can hear the sound of drums, it gets louder and louder until it is upon us. i weave through a crowd of dancing people, my body starts to move, there’s about fifty drummers playing their skins, a powerful tribal ‘matrix dance party’ feel is in the air, my brain takes a massive synaptic connection, the matrix written by two jewish guys is very kabbaistic in it’s subtext. everyone around me is just dancing in ecstasy, it really is infectious and spiritual. i start dancing in the crowd, as the sun sets i see jake dancing, erez dancing, all my cousins, everyone dancing and celebrating life.
i’d have to say that this to me was more religious and moving than any other experience i could have here, no words, no temple like buildings, no authority, no talking, no rules, no fucking laws, no preaching, no constructs, just a bunch of people celebrating life in the purest way possible. sending out great energy.
jake and i agree tel aviv is where it is at.
we wander back, looking at the gay bars that have been bombed by suicide bombers, the blues bars that were bombed by suicide bombers, the night clubs that were bombed by suicide bombers even the shell of the dolphnarium that was bombed by a suicide bomber.
the strange state of war the country is in, right or wrong, the pressure these people are under and have been for 65 years from day one of creation and genetically down the ages, the distortions with the worlds perception and incredible misrepresentation the media make is so inaccurate and unfair i do feel an incredible sense of pride as here is the truth of the matter. israel is a place of incredible tolerance and joy. even amongst the one and a half million arab population that choose to live within israel they have access to education, housing, health and representation in parliament and they abide by the secular laws of the country because they have more freedom here than in any arab nation. ironically no jew in an arab nation has anything like this, yet that is never represented in the newspapers. they are not even allowed to come into israel.
anyway i don’t want to get into politics, my views are strong and based on a rational, objective reality, any one who wants to wake up from their own political mindset about israel should watch alan dershowitz’s ‘the case for israel’ which i’d like to ram down everyones necks but unfortunately that probably wouldn’t help. dershowitz has also written a trilogy of non fiction books which informs israeli position to the world.
i’ve been here many times, i spent six months on a kibbutz, not once have i ever felt any religious or spiritual connection to the land or the history, my connection is family. i understand this is the place i originate from and genetically there is a history within me that connects me but i am a child of the cosmos, i don’t believe in constructs, i believe in god and the god i believe in does not inhabit one geographical position or people. however i do understand political memes and forces that operate them and motivate them and here played out in this slither of middle eastern land is the key to the truth of human nature. the internal bagvahad gita manifested into external reality.