Unpacked: A Walker Returns Home

This afternoon, I left my office in the center of Jerusalem to the following scene:

(If you cannot see this image, click here)

More than a thousand teens dancing through Jaffa Street in Jerusalem in the Rikudegalim, the Dance of the Flags, in honor of Jerusalem Day and the 40th anniversary of our capital’s reunification.

I wait every year for Rikudegalim. As a matter of fact, it is one of the reasons I’m in Israel in the first place:

When I was in 12th grade, I went with my senior class to visit Poland and the Holocaust. Following Poland, we spent a week in Israel, and were in Jerusalem for Jerusalem Day.

I remember seeing kids my age dancing with such love for their homeland, celebrating so happily and passionately to honor their capital city (I imagine that I was thinking, “Washington DC is very nice, but I don’t think I’d ever dance for it”). To watch them be so alive just days after I looked down at the probable death sites of their grandparents was perhaps the most moving experience of my life.

I had wanted to live in Israel for a while then, but I also wanted to live in the Canadian Rockies and Jamaica. Rikudegalim put Israel over the top. This passion was something I wanted to be part of.

I like to think of myself as a deep thinker: someone who chooses to believe that reality is complicated. That things are not that simple.

But Jerusalem Day reminds me that sometimes, things really are that simple. That there is a level in this world that is very perfect and very pure and that doesn’t need to be argued with or over-analyzed. For my nation, that level exists in our being in Jerusalem today. After a billion years of praying a billion times everyday to return to Jerusalem, we’re actually back. Home, after such a long, usually dreadful journey abroad.

I write this because Jerusalem gets clouded in complex political discourse. I guess that’s okay and important, but the arguments are for naught if we cannot tap into the simple narrative, too. Whether we judge it best to keep the whole city for ourselves, to divide it with our neighbors or to give the whole thing over to someone else, it’s the same miracle that we’re here to make the choice. Just like the politics of Jerusalem demand that we learn to value our neighbors, they require that we learn to value Jerusalem.

In order not to give you the wrong idea about why we celebrate Jerusalem Day, I’ll say quickly that it is not about expressing how powerful we are. If our celebration reflects the dream of Jerusalem, at least, then our dancing is a prayer for something different, entirely:

The word Jerusalem is derived from the phrase “Inheritance of Peace (Yerushat Shalom).” It’s ironic to think, but Jerusalem’s religious significance has little to do with religious people fighting over it.

Crusaders who traveled halfway across the world to kill the “wrong” caretakers of Jerusalem, the Mufti (Muslim Chieftain) of Jerusalem who aligned himself with Hitler, the Jordanian WAQF that doesn’t allow us to pray on The Temple Mount today- they miss the point. Same goes for us if we think that Jerusalem is to be an exclusively Jewish city. In our tradition, inviting everyone to pray in Jerusalem is not a matter of tolerance but religious imperative. And prophecy.

The dream of Jerusalem is the happiest, most hopeful dream there could possibly be, because it represents a reality where we realize that there really is no fight.

Okay so maybe I did start to over-analyze on Jerusalem Day. But that’s me. The point is, that we have so much to be thankful for today.

So what a blessing to celebrate Jerusalem Day!

What a blessing for heaven to watch Jewish teens dancing through Jerusalem! What a blessing to watch Rikudegalim on the way home from work! What a blessing to be here, to see a dream so simple and pure, and want so badly to achieve it no matter how complex its fulfillment has proven to be.

What a blessing.

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I’d like to Unpack this week with some quotes, from William Coperthwaite’s A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity.

So this is an important book. About breaking free from the over-stuff-ization that accounts for much of modern man’s struggles. I’ve been reading my sister Liron’s copy for a few months now, and Mr. Coperthwaite’s wisdom has been instrumental in helping me learn to Unpack the slowness and simplicity of the backcountry in my life in the city. Thanks Liron!

As you may recall, I apologized publicly to my kitchen knife a few months ago, after the knife complained of its woes in its kitchen drawer. Little did I know that Mr. Coperthwaite believes in apologizing to stuff, as well!

Says Mr. Coperthwaite:

“Have you ever had the experience of apologizing to an inanimate object? When we drop a cup and break it, we violate its nature. All things, be they living or inanimate, have their own nature, spirit, or essence. Whenever we come into contact with anything, we either promote or hinder that essential nature. Unless we seek to understand the nature of the things that surround us, we will be a hindrance rather than a help to our world.

“Developing sensitivity and awareness by searching for the basic nature of things is the road to understanding. When we drop and break a cup, we do violence to its spirit, its purpose, and to the work of the artisan who shaped it. We owe the cup an apology.

“Whether running a canoe aground, dulling a chisel on a nail, or puncturing a tire- instead of cursing, we owe an apology. You may respond that the object has no feelings. I would tend to agree with you. But apologies are both given and received, and the effect on the giver may be more important than the effect on the recipient.”

Mr. Coperthwaite brings some pretty incredible quotes with him in A Handmade Life, and while I’m already quoting, I’d like to share two of my favorites:

“You say, ‘Isnt it sad that a diamond, when seen to its essence, is nothing but common carbon?’ I say, ‘Isn’t it wonderful that common carbon, in its most developed form, is the finest of diamonds?’ You say, ‘Isn’t it sad that altruism, when seen in its basic structure, is nothing but base selfishness?’ I say, ‘Isn’t it marvelous that base selfishness, in its most enlightened form, is the purest of altruism?’”

-Pierre Ceresole (Swiss Engineer, 1879-1945)

And (You may recognize part of this quote from Liron Kranzler’s music/Doogree Records):

“When you work you are a flute

through whose heart the whispering

of the hours turns to music.

To love life through labor is to be intimate

with life’s inmost secret.

All work is empty save when there is love,

for work is love made visible.”

-Khalil Ghibran (Lebanese-American Poet, 1883-1931)

(I love that “work is love made visible” part. Kinda sounds like marriage…)

May our work open us up to what we already have,

A simple week to all,

Yannai

Heard any good quotes lately? Share Share!

It recently occurred to me: What unites us most as humans, is that we read in the bathroom.

I’ll explain:

I was watching our cat, Seamus, go to the bathroom the other day (His litter box is in our bathroom and we were going together).

Watching and pondering as one may do in that intimate space, it hit me: Seamus does not read in the bathroom.

Now I know what your thinking: He does read in the bathroom, just not in front of me.

But I have never seen any magazines- “Life as a Pet,” “Jerusalem Cat,” or “MouseHunter,”- or how-to books like “How to get the most out of your master” or “Who Says they’re the Owners” left beside Seamus’s litter box. So if he does read, he never leaves any evidence behind.

Others might argue that what makes us human is language or making tools. But other animals do that stuff. As far as I know, though, we are the only species to look for entertainment during our performance of such a basic bodily need.

It is amazing how badly we want to utilize every second of the day- to make the best of a few quiet minutes. We’re so determined to use this time in the bathroom to acquire knowledge, extra factoids, to be entertained. We’re a species with a real distaste for wasted time.

I know that when I am hard at work, I am very excited to go to the bathroom. In the bathroom, I have completed numerous non-fiction works, handfulls of issues of Backpacker Magazine and more. Sometimes, I find myself drinking coffee not to wake up, but to ensure that I am granted that hearty five minutes of quality reading time.

I remember when we were in the backcountry of the Pacific Crest Trail, spending three months in the wilderness and relieving ourselves outside everyday, that I would get very excited for those nights we’d spend in town, when I could go to the bathroom and read.

Perhaps we even say, “Go to the bathroom,” because we’re invested in the whole experience of the bathroom- the excretory one and the library one.

I guess it is a bit disturbing that we can’t just be happy with letting our body do its thing. Maybe we’re not just a species with a distaste for wasted time- maybe we have a distaste for quiet time by ourselves. In theory, I should really be okay without being entertained for a few minutes. Seamus, after all, is perfectly happy to go and be done with it.

I think it would be a healthy exercise for me, every once in a while, to go to the bathroom, and just “be.” Maybe I’ll meditate upon my body’s awareness of how to take care of itself. There’s definitely what to be said about savoring everything we do, even at the expense of accomplishing more.

In any case, I think we’re cool. Cool and interesting. Probably pretty funny to our colleagues in the animal kingdom.

I wonder sometimes what Seamus must think of us and the way we live. Maybe he’s an anthropologist in disguise?

But human anthropologist or just plain cat who thinks we people are a bit off, I am sure that when we leave for work, Seamus gets right up here to the computer, and writes for his award-winning blog for house pets, “The Oddities of my Human Roommates.”

An hour and a gas station’s chip-aisle, and I realize what I will miss most about the army: Following Orders. (more…)

Guest Blogger- Simcha Frischling

Tonight, we begin the Jewish holiday of Purim. Beyond the external aspects of the holiday the costumes, the parties, and mad drunkenness, I would like to delve into the deeper meaning of the holiday as an experience to deeper our relationship to G-d and all of the relationships in our lives. I think it would be most appropriate to start at the beginning, the creation of mankind. (more…)

Guest Blogger- Simcha Frischling

Hello everyone. Thank you, Yannai, for offering me the opportunity to share on your space. I’ve never done this before so for me it’s like taking a car out for a bit of a test drive. We’ll see how it goes. (more…)

Hi Everyone,

Like I wrote in my previous post, Here to Be us, I’m leaving on Sunday (3/16) for a month of Miluim, reserve duty in the Israeli Army.

I will therefore be taking a month’s break from Unpacked.

For a special treat, I’ve invited a very special teacher of mine, Rabbi Simcha Frischling, founder and director of Call of the Shofar to write guest posts for Unpacked while I’m away.

Call of the Shofar is an organization that offers workshops and weekly follow-up groups which explore Torah principles of relationship which, when applied, encourage individual wellbeing, relational health, and experiences of the greater symphony we are all a part of.

I’m very honored to have Simcha write for Unpacked. I have been involved with “Shofar” for over a year now, and my life- My relationships, my approach to being Jewish, my approach to myself, my approach really to everything, has been impacted in such a powerful and positive way. So much of what I have written on Unpacked has been in some way inspired by my experience with Shofar. If I’ve had a conversation with you in the past year and a half, chances are that a good chance of what I said- I learned from Shofar.

I feel so much thanks towards Simcha, to Benzion and the rest of the Shofar family. I hope you enjoy! (I know I can’t wait to read Simcha’s posts when I come home).

I feel very fortunate to have written for Unpacked for the last two and a half months and I thank all of you very much for unpacking with me. The army’s an intense thing- I’m sure I’ll have tons to Unpack with when I come home.

For now, enjoy the month, and enjoy Simcha’s writing. I can’t wait to return!

Thanks again,

Yannai

As I finish up the next post on Unpacked, I just wanted to draw your attention to something pretty wild.

This here video has been circulating around the internet for a little while now, but just in case you haven’t seen it, I suggest you give a watch. It sure pushes my sense of understanding the rules of how things work around here…

The video (maybe a minute long), was sent to me by Chana’s cousin and my friend, Shelby: A very smart, very insightful young lady in the sixth grade from Dayton, Ohio. Thanks Shelby!

The classic example for newsworthy, is “Not Dog bites Man, but Man Bites Dog.” So newsworthy probably is not Man Hugs Lion, but rather…

I won’t ruin the surprise: Click Here to have a see.

Enjoy!

Yannai

Just a follow up on yesterday’s post, Best Actor- The Guy in the Street. Best Film- Us.

Immediately after posting, I left for work.

My walk to work cuts through downtown Jerusalem. One feature of my walk, is passing a shekel and a half store- where everything is sold for a shekel (the Israeli currency) and a half.

This particular merchant has opted not to suffice with a standard shop awning that displays the store name, or even with the customary form of network marketing in this great country of mine- someone yelling that things are for sale.

No, Shekel VaChetzi, as it is ingeniously called, meaning “Shekel and a Half” promotes itself with a continuously playing and replaying rap song. The words to the song, which I imagine to be named Shekel VaChetzi, are “Shekel Vachetzi Shekel Vachetzi, Kol Pareet B’Shekel Vachetzi“- “A shekel and a half, a shekel and a half- every item for a shekel and a half.”

I’ve always marveled at this song. I mean it is a rockin’ tune. Try saying it to yourself- it sings naturally. But I never realized the sheer promotional genius of the Shekel VaChetzi song until yesterday:

As I walked past the store, with Shekel VaChetzi reminding us that everything at the shekel and a half store costs a shekel and a half, I could hear another passerby, walking by himself- just like me, probably coming to or from his work- muttering to himself, together with the rhythm - “Shekel VaChetzi Shekel VaChetzi, Kol Parit B’Shekel Vachetzi.”

Ah, golden we are. I love it!

Music for this week: It ain’t Me Babe, sung by Johnny Cash and June Carter.

Chan and I recently saw the movie Walk the Line, about Johnny Cash. Besides enjoying the music, we were amazed that a true story about a musician could have such a happy ending! Click Here to listen. (It’s YouTube, so we’re on an honor system here: Listen to the music, but keep reading, too!)
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The following stories are true. They took place on a mini-trip I took last week, to a buddy’s wedding in California:

Story #1- I am on the airplane from New York to LA. An hour into the flight, a stewardess makes an announcement: “I’m sorry, but the in-flight movie system is broken. We will therefore not be showing a movie this flight. Our deepest apologies.”

Ok, so no movie.

Roughly half an hour later, she comes back: “I’ve got good news and bad news, folks: The good news is that I fixed the movie system. The bad news is that we won’t show the movie we had planned to show. But that movie wasn’t good anyway, so don’t worry.”

The stewardess finished her announcement with, “When I pass you by in the aisle, you can feel free to tell me how good I am.”

Story #2- I get to LA and make my way to Pico Blvd., where my friend Elie is picking me up. With some time to spare, I make myself comfortable on a street corner and begin to read a just-purchased issue of Backpacker magazine.

All of a sudden, I hear a voice behind me: “Well, you’re wearing a Yarmulke (skullcap/Kippah). How about that!”

I turn around and find an elderly man who is very excited to see a fellow Jew. After shaking my hand, he tells me about his Jewish worship, why he doesn’t wear a Yarmulke, why he thinks it’s great that some people do, where he likes to pray, where he lives, where I should go while I’m in LA and so on. He tells me his Hebrew name is Aryeh.

Aryeh then tells me that he’s a writer. “I also love to write,” I say. He then does the obvious thing for one to do in such situations: He pulls out a giant wad of rubber bands, and says, “Well, hey! Have a rubber band! A writer can never have too many rubber bands, you know.” Fearing the dreadful things that might happen to me due to my lack of rubber bands, I say, “Well I better have one, then,” and take a rubber band.

After giving me a few more rubber bands for safe measure, Aryeh bids me goodbye and we part ways.

Story #3- I am flying back from LA to New York. As breakfast is being served, I remember that I did not order a Kosher meal, and resolve to feasting on the candy bar or two that I have in my backpack.

As the stewardess passes by with her cart, she looks at me, recognizes the same head-covering seen by Aryeh, and with sadness in her eyes says, “It’s an egg and cheese sandwich- do you want it?” (meaning “I know you can’t eat this”). I say “No thank you,” appreciative of her sympathy.

But without my asking, she continues: “I think I might have a Kosher meal somewhere on the plane. Give me a few minutes and I’ll find it for you.”

A few minutes later she returns with a tray of hot, tasty, Kosher airline delicacies, and my breakfast is served.

Story #4- That same flight arrives in NY eight minutes early. Before landing, a steward makes a heartfelt request: that passengers without connecting flights sit and wait till those with connecting flights make their way off the plane, so that they have ample time to make their flights.
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My point in all of these stories, is not that people are good, even though they are. It is also not that writers need rubber bands, though apparently, they do.

My point is that we are interesting. Interesting and thoughtful. And not satisfied with sticking to rules and expectations.

I think we do a good job at trying to be boring- suits and ties, etiquette and all. But I’ll tell you what: The stewardess with the movie-system: she was British! Thousands of years of etiquette and she couldn’t suppress being fun.

Chana and I once took refuge from an Ireland rain in a golf country club cafe. Manning the counter was a subdued, proper individual. Polite, but very somber.

But after a few minutes, he started to sing opera at the top of his lungs, right in the middle of the cafe. It felt like a scene from an Adam Sandler movie. But the greatest thing was that is wasn’t! This was a regular guy, at his job, stealing a moment of quiet to sing an Aria.

We, human beings, are just great. So much fun! Who needs any other form of entertainment, when we have each other?

I think laughing at ourselves is a super healthy practice. Did you encounter any interestingness or thoughtfulness of late? I know you did. How could you not? But if not, keep your eyes open- Let us know what you see!

So I unpack this week with our being interesting and thoughtful. Enjoy the week! Enjoy yourself! Enjoy us!